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Answer a call and handle the customer's conversation

The Operator answers the call, becomes the responsible user of the customer's conversation (even when another user was), works from the on-call bar and ends with notes and an outcome; the call is kept in the conversation and as an activity.

When this happens: The Operator answers the ringing call.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Answers extension 101 on MicroSIP.

    EasyCRM posts call.answered with extension: 101. EasyCRM marks the call In progress, adds the call message to Maria Popescu's open voice conversation (or reopens a Resolved one within the reopen window, or starts a new one) and makes the Operator the responsible party (assignment kind CallAnswered), whoever was responsible before; the previous responsible user, if any, receives the transfer notification. If the contact had no owner, the Operator becomes the owner; otherwise the owner is unchanged. Turns the card into the bar On call with Maria Popescu 00:42 with Open conversation, Notes and Outcome; closes the card on the Operator's other tabs.

  2. 2

    Click Open conversation, sees the customer's earlier calls and messages from other channels (cross-channel history), and types in Notes: Wants an offer for 20 licenses by Friday.

  3. 3

    Ends the call; the phone system posts call.ended with endReason: answered and talkSeconds: 318.

    Completes the call, advances the Operator's read state past it, writes a call activity (Direction Inbound, 5 min, owner the Operator, linked to Maria Popescu and Alfa Trade SRL) and keeps the bar for 2 minutes.

  4. 4

    Pick the outcome Callback requested (details in UC-29.13).

Other paths

Link the call to an opportunity

On the call card, clicks Link to opportunity and picks one of the customer's open opportunities, Alfa Trade — 20 licenses. Adds it to the activity's links and the conversation's opportunity links.

Conversation already assigned to someone else

If the conversation is assigned to Ion Rusu and Elena Ceban answers. Elena becomes the responsible user, because the person on the phone owns the live work; Ion receives the transfer notification; the history shows Answered by Elena Ceban. The contact's owner is unchanged.

Answered elsewhere

Another extension answers first. The Operator's card closes on all their tabs with Answered by Ion Rusu. No activity or assignment is created for the Operator.

Transfer during the call

Transfers the call on the phone to extension 102. EasyCRM posts call.transferred and then call.answered for 102. Adds the system event — Call transferred from Maria Popescu to Ion Rusu —, makes Ion the responsible user, and notifies the previous responsible user. Ion's card becomes his on-call bar.

Two simultaneous calls

While the Operator is on a call, the customer's second call (or another caller) rings. EasyCRM shows a second stacked card; both calls are kept separately. While on a call the Operator receives no automatic conversation distribution.

Outcome required

With RequireCallOutcome on, the bar keeps asking for the outcome after hang-up and the call card shows Outcome missing until it is set. Other work is not blocked.

Answering user without the inbox permission

A Sales Rep who holds EasyCrm.Calls but not EasyCrm.Inbox answers on their mapped extension. The call, its call card and its activity are recorded as usual and appear in the customer's conversation history and the Calls list, but the conversation's responsible party and the contact's owner are unchanged.

If something goes wrong

Events out of order

call.ended is processed before call.answered. The answered event before the end time still makes the call answered; the activity is written once the state is known.

Unmapped extension answers

The answering extension has no mapping. The conversation's responsible user and the contact's owner are unchanged; the call is attributed to the extension only and no activity is written, because an activity needs a person. The call stays in the conversation and the Calls list. Mapping the extension later does not re-attribute it.

Customer hung up while ringing

call.ended with endReason: no-answer arrives before anyone answered. The call is missed, no activity is written, and UC-29.7 applies.

Notes too long

Notes over 4000 characters are refused with a message showing the limit.

Permission missing

A user without EasyCrm.Calls does not see the card, the bar or the call cards in the history.

Good to know

  • you who answers becomes the conversation's responsible party, even when another user was responsible; with a provider-routed system platform routing rules do not apply to calls. The contact's owner changes only when it was Unassigned.
  • Capacity limits and availability never stop a call being taken; the phone system decided.
  • Every identified call is a Call message in the customer's conversation following the append, reopen and new-conversation rules.
  • A call answered by a mapped user also writes a call activity owned by that user; a missed call, and a call no mapped user handled, write none.
  • Notes are up to 4000 characters, editable by the handler and holders of EasyCrm.Calls.Manage, and found by the conversation search.
  • An unmapped answering extension never changes the responsible user and writes no activity.
  • Only a user holding EasyCrm.Inbox becomes responsible through a call; other users' calls stay in the history and the Calls list.
  • A transfer is followed from the phone system's events and shown as a system event.