In certain cases it may be unclear if the transfer target for your caller is the best choice or simply needs to be notified first. With the consultation call you put the caller on-hold while you "consult" a contact from the Contact Search. The starting point of this scenario is a queue with at least one incoming call getting assigned via the Stratus queue distribution system.

Handling consultation calls


For a better understanding of the following content we'll refer to the following actors:

  • Caller = the outside 3rd person calling your service, usually shown via the Incoming Call Queue if you're not being called directly.
  • Contact (Target) = a internal or external contact, searched via or directly selected within your Contact Search.

Steps

Call Accept

(tick) Precondition: Caller is shown within the Incoming Call Queue. Once assigned to you the call is shown as "Incoming" in the Conversation Hub and your Teams Client is be showing the "ringing" call popup.

You accept the call.
→ The caller is transferred to your Conversation Hub area and set to "Active" 
→ You are now connected to the caller. 
→ The "Attendant State " widget in the User Interface area shifts to "Working " / "Conversation Active" to signal that you are handling a call for your service team.

(lightbulb) From here on you may put the caller on hold or end the call using the controls in the Conversation Hub.

Contact Search

Within the  Contact Search you can now search for a contact by typing any identifying element (clear name, SIP-address, telephone number). 

(lightbulb) Use common constructs in the search such as @domain to find multiple fitting results.
 (lightbulb) You can also type a E.164 standard  telephone number in the search box (+ country code) (subscriber number) to forward to that target
(lightbulb) You may want to use filters to narrow down large lists of results.

On Hold

You now decide to put the caller On Hold. There are several methods to do so:

  • Click the "Pause" Icon 
  • Drag and Drop the caller to the "On Hold" section within the Conversation Hub

  • Directly start the consultation call with any contact from your Contact Search (either via Search, Favorites or popular transfer targets)  → (info) Read next step for more details

→ The caller is now "On Hold" 
→ The "Conversation Active" timer will be replaced with a "Conversation on Hold" timer within the area. It will stay to count as long as the caller is put on hold.

(lightbulb) The "Conversation Active" timer will continue in the background and resume once you put the caller on "Active" again.

Quick Action - Consultation Call

Select a contact entry from your Contact Search and press "Blind Transfer" within the Quick Actions to forward the call.

Now consulting your contact, you quickly agree to speak to the caller once again before passing on the conversation to your contact.

  1. On your "Active" contact, click on the Swap button. 
    → Your contact and caller now switch places
    → Within the top status area the "Conversation on Hold" timer will revert back to the "Conversation Active" timer. The total conversation time was being tracked in the background and continues.

Call Merge (Conference)

Now speaking to your caller again, you have the following options:

(lightbulb) Note that switch & merge controls in the Conversation Hub "Active" and "On Hold" sections are functionally identical.

Conversation Controls

You have the following options (left to right):

  • Transfer the caller to the consulted "On Hold" contact, ending the call for yourself. 
  • Swap the caller and consultation contact again
  • Merge the call into a conference with all participants, including yourself
  • End the conversation  (warning) Don't forget to also resume and end the call with your "On Hold" contact. 

After the Consultation

  • When you left the conversation or ended the call with both caller and contact your "Attendant State " in the top area of the User Interface shifts back to "Active" (green). You're free to take on the next call → Step 1.
  • If a call was transferred to a contact target (with either accepted or lost call result) the search field is cleared automatically to show your default favorites and popular contacts. 

Notes on Call Merge and Consultation

Good to know

  • With 1 Active and 1 On Hold participant conversation hub area is filled. You cannot take additional calls from the queue or Contact Search.
  • Greyed-out controls on either contact list or conversation hub mean that this action will either not work in the current context or is not implemented yet.
  • A lot of controls are active during consultation calls. Don't forget that you can always mouse-over the various controls to learn more.