Outbound Calls are scheduled tasks that are added to a service queue for distribution among users.
PRECONDITIONS
- Contact Center Outbound Calls are a Contact Center Service Type feature. Services without this license may not be selected as target for Outbound Task creation within the Nimbus Power Automate Connector.
- "Outbound Conversations" must be enabled via Modality Service Settings for the corresponding service. Otherwise users are not able to dial out.
- Services using this feature need to have a PSTN number assigned in order to dial out to an external number. Otherwise only UPN (internal users and services) can Also see the "Known limitations" section below.
Outbound Task Creation
Outbound Calls are scheduled Nimbus tasks which are fed into the Nimbus queue. By using the Nimbus Power Automate Connector any administrator can leverage the Flow Action > "AddOrUpdateOutboundTask" to schedule outbound calls.
🔍 Also read our related Use Case - Creating Nimbus outbound calls from a list of scheduled tasks for a setup example.
Good to know
- An Outbound task will show up in Supervision Personal Dashboards and within the "Service Outbound Tasks Tabular" Dashboard Widgets.
- Also note that Outbound Calls can be subject to Supervision via Dashboards in the “Service Supervision” widget.
Known Limitations
INC Outbound Task Limitations
KNOWN OUTBOUND TASK LIMITATIONS
-
Audio delay for outbound PSTN and UPN calls: There is a latency after establishing an outbound call between agent and customer. The delay is due to Microsoft. In order to avoid latency after call establishing, an optimized approach was implemented and can be enabled by Luware Support in Extensions Tenant Settings for your tenant.
☝ Note that enabling the optimized approach requires testing on your tenant as Microsoft has not yet rolled out dependent functionality globally for all MS Teams tenants. - PSTN Licensing: When the selected service doesn't have a phone number (PSTN license) applied, the dial pad is disabled. A dial out to a UPN (e.g. a MS Teams User or Service) is always allowed.
- Reporting visibility: Terminated outbound calls are currently not reflected on any reporting view (Reporting, Dashboard, or Power BI). This is currently by design as (repeatedly / manually) started or scheduled Outgoing Calls could affect and skew service KPIs.
- Internal O365 Search: The outbound call dial pad in Nimbus allows to search for users. In order to retrieve and call to O365 contacts, a tenant admin needs to grant User.Read.All consent for all Nimbus users, as described on the Nimbus User Permissions page.
INC Transfer to PSTN Limitation
TRANSFER TO PSTN LIMITATION
Out of the box, Nimbus and related addons can only perform PSTN transfers according to Microsoft's licensing and constraints.
Which PSTN license do I need to acquire?
As of 2023, "Microsoft Teams Phone Standard" licenses are no longer supported by Microsoft. Previously, those licenses were viable for Nimbus. Regardless if you are using Direct Routing, Calling Plans, Operator Connect, the "Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" license is now always required.
| Your Setup | Required License |
|---|---|
| Direct Routing |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" |
| Calling Plan |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" + "Microsoft Teams Domestic Calling Plan" or "Microsoft Teams Domestic and International Calling Plan" or "Microsoft Teams Calling Plan pay-as-you-go" + "Communication Credits" (if these aren't already included as part of your plan) |
|
Operator Connect |
"Microsoft Teams Phone Resource Account" |
☝Please note that Luware staff cannot give recommendations on which license plan is best suited for your needs. Depending on your scenario, additional Teams App licenses may be required. Exact details are to be discussed with your Microsoft contacts.
Also see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-add-on-licensing/virtual-user
How does PSTN licensing affect service and call transfers?
Assuming that Service A has a PSTN license assigned - but further Services don't - the following scenario may unfold:
Scenario A - Service A workflow is configured to transfer the caller to Service B. The license of Service A is used, the PSTN transfer occurs. The PSTN license is re-used throughout further transfers to Services C...D…x…and so on.
Scenario B - Service B is called directly instead. Now the workflow of Service B attempts a redirect to either service A or transfer to C. The PSTN transfer fails due to a missing license on Service B.
🌟Learnings:
- For one first-level-response service: If you handle first-response calls always via the same service, you need a PSTN license for that particular first-level service.
- For multiple first-level-response services: If you handle first-response calls always via multiple services, you need a PSTN license for all those first-level services .
- Nimbus will attempt to use the PSTN license of the first service that responded to a call, regardless of how many further internal service transfers are performed thereafter.
- If no PSTN license is found on a service that requires it for a transfer, the transfer task will be considered as failed and treated accordingly by the system (e.g. workflow exit announcement, reporting "transfer failed" outcome).
☝Note that handling and tracking of running cost for PSTN licenses is outside of the Luware support scope. If you require assistance in extending and/or configuring your Nimbus services for PSTN, our support will gladly assist you:
Luware Support Address
| Luware Website | https://luware.com/support/ |
|---|---|
| Luware Helpdesk | https://helpdesk.luware.cloud |
| Cloud Service Status | https://status.luware.cloud/ |