Use the self-service payment facility to enable callers to pay for goods and services over the phone without interacting with an agent. For more information about the self-service payment facility, see Self-service payment facility.
High-level call plan
The following visualization shows a high-level call plan for the self-service payment facility.
You can optionally configure other applets to perform other actions including:
- Welcoming the caller to the payment facility
- Asking a caller to confirm their account details and balance
- Checking the response from the payment system
To create a self-service payment call plan shown in the high-level example, perform the following tasks:
1. Retrieve data to send to Vonage Contact Center's automated payment system
Before Vonage Contact Center can transfer a call to the platform's automated payment system, Vonage Contact Center must retrieve some data about the caller. Such data might include the caller's account number, account balance, the caller's name and address, and so on. You can use one or more of the following applets to retrieve the required data:
- Data Connector applet. Use a Data Connector applet or applets to retrieve data from either a web service, Salesforce, or a third-party interface. For information about using the Data Connector applet to retrieve data from Salesforce or a web service, see Retrieving data from Salesforce, Retrieving data from Salesforce using Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL), and Retrieving data from and sending data to a Web Service.
- IVR Collect Digit applet. Use an IVR Collect Digit applet or applets to request the caller to provide a single digit value.
- IVR Collect Digit String. Use an IVR Collect Digit String applet or applets to request the caller to provide a digit string value. A string value might equate to their account number, for example.
- IVR Set Menu Digit applet. Use an IVR Set Menu Digit applet or applets to set a single digit value in an IVR slot for use later in the call plan.
- IVR Set Menu String applet. Use an IVR Set Menu String applet or applets to set a string value in an IVR slot for use later in the call plan.
The data that you retrieve using these applets is available at run time in appropriately named data sources.
Configure the last applet you create at this stage to route to the Data Connector applet you create in step 2 (Route data to the automated payment system).
2. Route data to the automated payment system
Before Vonage Contact Center transfers the call to the automated system, Vonage Contact Center must route the data retrieved in step 1 (Retrieve data to send to automated payment system) to the automated payment system. Configure a Data Connector applet to use a Web Service interface. For information about using a Web Service interface, see Retrieving data from and sending data to a Web Service. Send the data in the request as a header or in the body.
Configure the response from the automated payment system to include two values that you need to transfer the call to the automated system:
- The destination telephone number for the automated payment system. The Self Service Transfer to PCI applet in step 3 (Transfer call to the automated payment system) will use this number to transfer the call.
- The CLID that identifies payment details the Vonage Contact Center has sent to the automated payment system. The Self Service Transfer to PCI applet in step 3 (Transfer call to the automated payment system) will use this number to locate the data sent to the automated payment system.
Vonage Contact Center stores these values in data sources. You define the names of the data sources in the Interaction Definition field in the Data Connector applet.
Configure the Data Connector applet to route the call on success to the Self Service Transfer to PCI applet you create in step 3 (Transfer call to the automated payment system).
3. Transfer call to the automated payment system
To transfer the call to the automated payment system, configure a Self Service Transfer to PCI applet to transfer the call to the automated payment system. For information about the Self Service Transfer to PCI applet, see Self Service Transfer to PCI applet.
Select the data sources that contain the values retrieved in step 2 (Route data to the automated payment system) in the appropriate fields in the Transfer To PCI Self Service Settings section.
Configure the Self Service Transfer to PCI applet to route the call to the Data Connector applet you create in step 4 (Retrieve payment result from the automated payment system).
4. Retrieve payment result from the automated payment system
Configure a Data Connector applet that retrieves the payment result (and any other data you need) from the automated payment system. Vonage Contact Center stores these values in data sources. You define the names of the data sources in the Interaction Definition field.
Configure the Data Connector applet to route the call on success to the Data Router applet you create in step 5 (Route call according to payment result).
5. Route call according to payment result
Configure a Data Router applet to route the call based on the payment result retrieved in step 4 (Retrieve payment result from the automated payment system). You can configure, for example, the following scenarios:
- Payment success. Use an Announcement applet to inform the caller that the payment was successful. End the call.
- Payment failed. Use an Announcement applet to inform the caller that the payment failed. Use an IVR Collect Digit applet to ask the caller if they would like to try again.
- Cancelled card. Use an Announcement applet to inform the caller that their card has been cancelled. Use an IVR Collect Digit applet to ask the caller if they would like to try again with a different card.
- Any other result. Transfer to agent to handle the call.
