Using Interaction Plans Manager

Interaction Plans Manager is a component of Vonage Contact Center (VCC), essential in managing destinations and interaction plans, and mappings between them. Users with an admin license use Interaction Plans Manager alongside Interaction Plans Architect to configure the routes inbound interactions take to reach the most appropriate agent or service for their needs.

In this page

Accessing Interaction Plans Manager

How do I access Interaction Plans Manager?

To access Interaction Plans Manager, perform the following steps:

  1. Log in to the VCC Admin Portal as a user with an admin license. For information about logging in to the VCC Admin Portal, see Logging in to the Vonage Contact Center Admin Portal.

  2. Go to Manager (within Interaction Plans). Interaction Plan Manager appears.

  3. Interaction Plans Manager contains three tabs: Destinations, Interaction Plans, and Mappings. Existing destinations, interaction plans and mappings in your account appear on the applicable tabs.

Destinations

Destinations are used by customers to contact agents in a VCC account. A VCC account can have many destinations for different purposes: for customers in different locations, for different types of customers, and so on.

Interaction Plans Manager contains two types of destinations: PSTN destinations and API destinations. Previously, these destinations were referred to as lines and named routes respectively.

PSTN destinations are phone numbers. A customer dials a PSTN destination to initiate an inbound call which arrives at the associated VCC account.
Non-call interactions such as emails, live chats, and so on use API destinations to contact agents in the associated VCC account.


As an admin user, you can create, edit, and delete API destinations. You can only edit PSTN destinations; only Vonage can create and delete PSTN destinations.

How do I view existing destinations?

The Destinations tab displays the destinations in your VCC account. From the Destinations tab in Interaction Plans Manager, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Search for and filter destinations. To search for specific destinations, start typing part of the required destination's data in the Search field. The list of destinations is filtered as you type. Alternatively, filter the list to display only PSTN or API destinations. Click the funnel icon and click to select or clear API or PSTN accordingly.

  • Change the data that appears. To sort data, click one of the sortable column headings: Type, Destination, or Name. To add or remove columns from the list of destinations, click the eye icon and click to select or clear columns. You cannot remove Type or Destination columns.

Column

Description

Appears by default?

Sortable?

Type

The type of destination: PSTN or API.

Yes

Yes

Destination

The address used by a customer to contact the VCC account.

Yes

Yes

Name

The name of the destination.

Yes

Yes

Description

A description of the destination.

No

No

Data source

Key-value pairs that have been set for this destination.

No

No

Mappings

Mappings that the destination is included in.

Yes

No

Production plan

The interaction plan to use for interactions that arrive at the destination.

Yes

No

Testing plan

The interaction plan to use for test interactions that arrive at the destination.

Yes

No

Service name for reports

The value to use for service name in reports. 

No

No

How do I create a new API destination?

To create a new destination, perform the following steps:

1. From Interaction Plans Manager, click Create new and click API destination in the menu that appears.
2. A new API destination appears. Provide the following information:

Field

Description

Destination

The destination used by a customer to contact the VCC account.
Type the destination that a customer will use to contact the VCC account. Destination can be a maximum of 50 characters and must be unique.

Name

The name of the destination. If you have many similar destinations in your VCC account—such as 0123456789 and 0123456798, a suitable name may help identify a required destination.
Type a name for the destination. Name can be a maximum of 100 characters.
For example, Sales or Service.

Destination description

A description of the destination.
Type a description of the destination. Destination description can be a maximum of 280 characters.
For example, Destination used by customers in the United Kingdom.

Service name for reports

In Dashboards, Insights Stats API, Advanced Reporting, and Analytics, you can report on the service names of interactions that arrived at VCC using this destination. You can report on interactions based on their:

  • Destination name.
    Set Service name for reports to Destination name to report on the interactions that arrived at individual destinations. For example, to report on individual sales campaigns.
  • Interaction plan name.
    Set Service name for reports to Interaction plan name to report on the target interaction plan of interactions that arrived at VCC through different destinations. For example, to report on individual personal calls that were handled by the same personal queue plan.
  • Reporting group.
    Set Service name for reports to Reporting group to report on interactions that are routed to related interaction plans. For example, to group interactions to all interaction plans that handle support interactions.

The default value is Reporting group.

Data source

Key-value pairs that are set on interactions that use the destination. For more information about data sources, see Interaction Plans Manager.
Add up to 20.


Key

The name of the data source.
Type the key of a data source to add to interactions that use this destination. Key field values can be a maximum of 20 characters.


Value

The value of the data source.
Type the value of a data source to add to interactions that use this destination. Value field values can be a maximum of 20 characters.

3. Click Save destination. Your new API destination appears on the Destinations tab.

Only Vonage can create PSTN destinations.

How do I modify an existing destination?

To modify an existing destination, from the Destinations tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the pencil icon alongside the destination you want to edit.

The destination appears. You cannot edit the Destination field, but you can modify all other fields, and add and remove data sources. For information about the fields, see How do I create a new API destination?.

How do I delete an API destination?

To delete an API destination, from the Destinations tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the trash can icon alongside the destination you want to delete.

If the API destination is not mapped to an interaction plan, or plans, click Delete in the dialog box that appears to confirm that you want to delete the destination. The destination is deleted.
If the API destination is mapped to an interaction plan, or plans, a dialog box appears informing you that you must remove the destination from any mappings to enable deletion.

Only Vonage can delete PSTN destinations.

You cannot delete mapped API destinations. A mapped API destination may be involved in handling interactions that are in progress.

Interaction plans

An interaction plan is a series of applets that route interactions—calls, emails, live chats, and so on—from customers to agents. High-level settings for an interaction plan appear in Interaction Plans Manager, and the plan's configuration of applets is located in Interaction Plans Architect.

As an admin user, you can edit, clone, and delete an interaction plan. You can also open the interaction plan in Interaction Plans Architect.

How do I view existing interaction plans?

The Interaction plans tab displays the interaction plans in your VCC account. From the Interaction plans tab in Interaction Plans Manager, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Search for and filter interaction plans. To search for specific interaction plans, start typing part of the required interaction plan’s data, including tags name, in the Search field. The list of interaction plans is filtered as you type. Alternatively, filter the list to display only mapped or unmapped interaction plans. Click the funnel icon and click to select or clear Mapped and Unmapped accordingly.

  • Change the data that appears. To sort data, click one of the sortable column headings. To add or remove columns from the list of interaction plans, click the eye icon and click to select or clear columns. You cannot remove the Interaction plan column.

Column

Description

Appears by default?

Sortable?

Interaction plan

The name of the interaction plan.

Yes

Yes

Description

A description of the interaction plan.

No

No

Reporting group

A text string used to differentiate interaction plans.

Yes

Yes

Tags

Tags that have been added to the interaction plan, used for filtering interaction plans on the Interaction plans tab.

Yes

No

Allow DTMF transfer

Whether transferring an interaction using DTMF is enabled for the interaction plan.

No

Yes

Display in agent interface

Whether the interaction plan's name appears within the Make Call or Consult dialog box in ContactPad or other agent interface. This allows an agent to make a call, or consult with or transfer a call to the interaction plan.

Yes

Yes

StatusIndicates whether or not a destination has been mapped to this interaction plan. Status is either Mapped or Unmapped.YesYes

Data source

Key-value pairs that have been set for this interaction plan. For information about data sources, see Interaction Plans Manager.

No

No

Last modified by

The username of the user who last modified this for the interaction plan.

Yes

No

Date modified

The date or time that the interaction plan was last modified.

Yes

No

How do I create a new interaction plan?

To create a new interaction plan, perform the following steps:

1. From Interaction Plans Manager, click Create new and click Interaction plan in the menu that appears.
2. A new interaction plan appears. Provide the following information:

Field

Description

Interaction plan name

The name of the interaction plan.
Type a name for the interaction plan. Interaction plan name can be a maximum of 100 characters and must be unique.

Description

A description of the interaction plan.
Type a description of the interaction plan. Description can be a maximum of 280 characters.
For example, Interaction plan used during holidays for routing emails.

Reporting group

A text string used to differentiate interaction plans. Useful for grouping similar types of interaction plans and their associated interactions for reporting purposes in Dashboards for example. Reporting group was previously known as Service name.
Type a label for this interaction plan. Reporting group can be a maximum of 50 characters.
For example, Sales calls or Service calls.

Tags

Tags used for filtering interaction plans on the Interaction plans tab. Tags do not appear outside of Interaction Plans Manager.
Click to add existing tags to the interaction plan, or type to add new tags.
For example, Emails, Chats, or Spanish.

Allow DTMF transfer

Determines whether an agent can use their telephone keypad to transfer interactions that use this interaction plan to a third party.
Select the Allow DTMF transfer check box to enable agents to use DTMF transfer. Clear to disable.

Display in agent interface

Determines whether the interaction plan's name appears within ContactPad's address book or other agent interface. The agent can click the name to make a call, or consult with or transfer a call to the interaction plan.

Make call or consult

Whether the plan's name appears in the address book when the agent clicks to make a call, click to consult about an existing call, or both, depends on which features are enabled for  your account.

Select the Display in agent interface check box to make the interaction plan appear in ContactPad's address book or other agent interface. Clear to disable.

Show in Salesforce Omni-Channel flows

Determines whether the interaction plan's name appears within the list of VCC interaction plans in a Salesforce's queue mapping. Show in Salesforce Omni-Channel flows only appears if you are using Service Cloud Voice with VCC and if enabled for your account. For information, see Configuring Vonage Contact Center to use Salesforce Omni-Channel flows.

Data source

Key-value pairs that are set on interactions that use the interaction plan. For more information about data sources, see Interaction Plans Manager.
Add up to 20.


Key

The name of the data source.
Type the key of a data source to add to interactions that use this interaction plan. Key field values can be a maximum of 20 characters.


Value

The value of the data source.
Type the value of a data source to add to interactions that use this interaction plan. Value field values can be a maximum of 20 characters.

3. Click Save interaction plan. Your new interaction plan appears on the Interaction plans tab.

How do I copy an interaction plan?

To copy an existing interaction plan, from the Interaction plans tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the clone icon alongside the interaction plan you want to copy.

In the dialog box that appears, type the name of the new interaction plan. A new interaction plan is created and appears in sort order on the Interaction plans tab.

Copying an interaction plan copies the following data:

  • All values in the original plan’s fields including data sources in Interaction Plans Manager

  • All applets configured for the original interaction plan in Interaction Plans Architect

How do I modify an existing interaction plan?

To modify an existing interaction plan, from the Interaction plans tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the pencil icon alongside the interaction plan you want to edit.

The interaction plan appears. You can edit all fields, and add and remove data sources. For information about the fields, see How do I create a new interaction plan?.

Migrated interaction plans

If you previously configured interaction plans along with their destinations in Interaction Plans Architect, some of the data from your interaction plans will have been migrated into Interaction Plan Manager. The name of the migrated interaction plan will be the line or named route of the original plan, followed by a hyphen, and then the service name of the original plan.

Changing the name of the interaction plan in Interaction Plan Manager will also change its name in Interaction Plans Architect. If you remove the line or named route part of the name—these are now destinations—you can no longer use these values to search for the interaction plan in Interaction Plans Architect.

How do I open interaction plan in Interaction Plans Architect?

To open an existing interaction plan in Interaction Plans Architect, from the Interaction plans tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the link icon alongside the interaction plan you want to open.

The interaction plan opens within Interaction Plans Architect in a new browser tab.

How do I delete an existing interaction plan?

To delete an interaction plan, from the Interaction plans tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the trash can icon alongside the interaction plan you want to delete.

If the interaction plan does not appear in any mappings, click Delete in the dialog box that appears to confirm that you want to delete the interaction plan. The interaction plan is deleted.
If the interaction plan appears in one or more mappings, a dialog box appears informing you that you must remove the interaction plan from any mappings to enable deletion.

You cannot delete mapped interaction plans. A mapped interaction plan may be involved in handling interactions that are in progress.

Mappings

A mapping connects a destination to an interaction plan. When an interaction arrives at a VCC account using a specific destination, the mapping determines which interaction plan the interaction is routed to.

Many destinations can be mapped to a single interaction plan, enabling the interaction plan to be reused.

As an admin user, you can edit, and delete mappings.

How do I view existing mappings?

The Mappings tab displays the mappings in your VCC account. From the Mappings tab in Interaction Plans Manager, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Search for mappings. To search for specific mappings, start typing part of the required mapping’s data in the Search field. The list of mappings is filtered as you type.

  • Change the data that appears. To sort data, click one of the sortable column headings. To add or remove columns from the list of mappings, click the eye icon and click to select or clear columns. You cannot remove the Name column.

Column

Description

Appears by default?

Sortable?

Name

The name of the mapping.

Yes

Yes

Description

A description of the mapping.

No

No

Destination

Expandable list of destinations that are mapped to an interaction plan in the mapping.

The first destination in the list appears. The number of additional destinations appears alongside. Click the number to see the complete list of mapped destinations. 

Yes

No

Production plan

The interaction plan to use for interactions that arrive at the destination.

Yes

Yes

Testing plan

The interaction plan to use for test interactions that arrive at the destination.

Yes

Yes

Interaction source

The source of test interactions. The testing plan identified in the mapping applies to interactions from this source. An Interaction source is the address that an interaction was initiated from.

No

No

Data source

Key-value pairs that have been set for this mapping. For information about data sources, see Interaction Plans Manager.

No

No

How do I create a new mapping?

To create a new mapping, perform the following steps:

1. From Interaction Plans Manager, click Create new and click Mapping in the menu that appears.
2. A new mapping appears. Provide the following information:

Field

Description

Mapping name

The name of the mapping.
Type a name for the mapping. Mapping name can be a maximum of 100 characters and must be unique.

Mapping description

A description of the mapping.
Type a description of the mapping. Mapping description can be a maximum of 280 characters.

Destination assignment

The destination or destinations this mapping is connecting to the interaction plan selected in the Interaction Plan field.
You must map at least one destination.


Available destinations

The destinations available to connect to the interaction plans selected in the Production plan and Testing plan (optional) fields.

The icon that appears alongside the name of each destination indicates whether the destination is already mapped:

  • A green check indicates that the destination is already mapped
  • A red cross indicates that the destination is not already mapped
  • (migrated accounts only) An icon containing a tilde indicates that the destination is mapped by default to the interaction plan it was migrated from 

Move addresses from the Available destinations list to the Assigned destinations list to connect them to production and, optionally, testing interaction plans.
Optionally search for a specific destination or destinations using the Search field. Select the check box alongside each destination you want to connect to an interaction plan.
Click the right arrow button to move the destination or destinations into the Assigned Destinations list.


Assigned destinations

The destinations selected for connecting to the interaction plan selected in the Interaction Plan field.

Move destinations from the Assigned destinations list to the Available destinations list to remove them from the mapping.
Optionally search for a specific destination or destinations using the Search field. Select the check box alongside each destination you want to connect to an interaction plan.
Click the left arrow button to move the destination or destinations into the Available destinations list.

Production plan

The production interaction plan that the destinations in the Assigned destinations list will be connected to.

Testing plan (optional)The interaction plan that destinations in the Assigned destinations list will be connected to for testing purposes.

Interaction Source (e.g. tester's phone number)

The source or sources of interactions that the testing plan in this mapping applies to. Interactions from this source that arrive at one of the assigned destinations will be routed to the testing plan.
Click to add existing Interaction Source values (or caller IDs) to the mapping, or type to add a new Interaction Source. Each Interaction Source must be in E.164 format.

Data source

Key-value pairs that are set on interactions that use the mapping. For more information about data sources, see Interaction Plans Manager.
Add up to 20.


Key

The name of the data source.
Type the key of a data source to add to interactions that use this mapping. Key field values can be a maximum of 20 characters.


Value

The value of the data source.
Type the value of a data source to add to interactions that use this mapping. Value field values can be a maximum of 20 characters.

3. Click Save mapping.

If one or more of the destinations in Assigned destinations are already mapped to an interaction plan, a message appears informing you that the destinations will be reassigned to the new mapping.

  • To remove one or more of these destinations, click Cancel and make your changes as required.
  • To proceed, click Save. Already mapped destinations are removed from the Assigned destinations list the existing mapping and are saved in the Assigned destinations list in the new mapping. If the original mapping contains no other assigned destinations, the entire mapping is removed.

This message does not appear if the destinations appear in a default mapping. The default mapping is automatically replaced when you click Save mapping.

Your new mapping appears on the Mappings tab.

How do I modify an existing mapping?


To modify an existing mapping, from the Mappings tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the pencil icon alongside the mapping you want to edit.

The mapping appears. You can edit all fields, and add and remove data sources. For information about the fields, see How do I create a new mapping?.

How do I delete an existing mapping?

To delete a mapping, from the Mappings tab in Interaction Plans Manager, click the trash can icon alongside the mapping you want to delete.

Click Delete in the dialog box that appears to confirm that you want to delete the mapping. The mapping is deleted.

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