Lesson 1 - Webinar Scheduling Example: Overview

The following is an example description of how a workflow system can work. Workflow systems are created in Voicent's IVR Studio and the workflow's progress can be monitored through Call Center Manager. This is just one example, you can create and customize your own workflow system in many different ways to suit your specific needs.

In this example, we're going to create a workflow system for a customer signing up for a webinar and the presenter scheduling a webinar for the customer. When the customer signs up for a webinar, the presenter is notified and is allotted some time to schedule the webinar. If the presenter doesn't schedule a webinar within the allotted time, we will give the presenter a call and send a reminder email. If he still doesn't schedule a webinar, then we're going to schedule the webinar to the earliest upcoming webinar.

The customer will receive an email with the webinar time when it has been scheduled. The customer will also receive a text 15 minutes before the starting of the webinar.

The image below shows a basic flowchart of what our workflow is going to do. The only difference between the basic flowchart and our workflow is that in our workflow, instead of constantly sending email to the presenter when the presenter doesn't select a webinar, we're going to call him and if that doesn't work, then we're going to pick the earliest upcoming webinar for him.

Customer's View

From a customer's viewpoint, this workflow is very simple. The customer signs up online for a webinar or demonstration by filling out a simple form that includes the customer's name, email address, phone number, and an "info" text field.

Soon after the customer clicks on "Send Request" an email will be sent to the email address specified with the scheduled time for the demonstration: "Please attend a webinar on: 2014-02-28 10:00:00"

The customer will also receive a text message notification 15 minutes before the webinar starts: "The webinar will start in 15 minutes."

Presenter's View

After the customer sends the request for a webinar the system will automatically alert a presenter to schedule a webinar through email. This email will include a link to schedule the demo in addition to the customer's CRM information. If the presenter doesn't schedule an appointment within an allotted amount of time the system will automatically alert the presenter through text and/or a call. The presenter can then schedule a webinar. Scheduling the webinar through Voicent's Dashboard internet browswer (as opposed to your regular browser) will allow the system to include the customer's CRM information:

Note that the customer's category is automatically set as a "Lead" in this workflow. Once scheduled an email will be send to the customer with the webinar time.

The Workflow Engine's Process Step By Step

Wait for a customer to submit a webinar sign-up form.
Send an email to notify the presenter when a customer submits his/her information via sign-up form.
Wait for a message notifying the system that the webinar time has been set.
If within the allotted time a webinar time is set, move on to the next step. If no webinar is scheduled, the system will make a phone call to the presenter then it will go back to step three. After another set amount of time, the system will choose the first upcoming webinar and then move on to the next step.
Send email to the customer with the scheduled time for the webinar.
Schedule a text alert 15 minutes before the start of the webinar to the customer's phone number.

Voicent Tools Used

Voicent IVR Studio to design the workflow
Voicent Call Center Manager for executing and viewing workflow process
Voicent BroadcastBySMS for sending a reminder text to the customer
Voicent Dashboard for interacting with the customer's CRM record

The rest of this section covers:

Sample Files

This package includes many of the files you see when creating this application: Sign-up HTML page, sign-up handler php page, assign and assign handler php pages, webinar SQL, Windows Batch file to send texts, and the completed workflow.

Download Package for Workflow Lesson 1: Webinar