IVR Introduction
If you want me to use one sentence to sum it, that is :IVR enable you to make hundreds of personalized calls with a single click.
The IVR(Interactive Voice Response) technology allows a computer to detect voice and touch tones using a phone call. The IVR system can respond with pre-recorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct callers on how to proceed. IVR enable callers to interact with any software, over the normal phone or internet phone(like Skype). So callers can use their touch-tone pad to input request or just say what then want to do, such as requesting account balance information. Then the IVR will use the text-to-speech software to read information back.
IVR telephone notification software broadcasts voice messages by phone. Ideal for group event reminders, marketing, lead generation, political campaign promotions, school fundraising, church communications, emergency notifications, and much more.
IVR API
Since all these functions are implemented as a HTTP client communicating directly with a gateway, they can be run on any machine that has a connection to the host running the gateway.
Here we will use the CallText methods only, you can visit the Voicent Gateway Simple Outbound Call Interface for details.
SYNOPSIS
string CallText(string phoneno, string text, bool selfdelete)
DESCRIPTION
Make a phone call and play the specified text message. The text message is convert to voice by Voicent Gateway's text-to-speech engine.The options are: phoneno The phone number to call text The message for the phone call selfdelete Ask the gateway to automatically delete the call request after the call is made if it is set to '1' The return value is the call request id <reqId>.
EXAMPLE
CallText("123-4567", "Hello, how are you doing", true);Make a call to phone number '123-4567' and say 'Hello, how are you doing'. Since the selfdelete bit is set, the call request record in the IVR will be removed automatically after the call.string reqId = CallText("123-4567", "Hello, how are you", 0);Make a call to phone number '123-4567' and say 'Hello, how are you'. Since the selfdelete bit is not set, the call request record in the gateway will not be removed after the call. You can then use CallStatus to get the call status, or use CallRemove to remove the call record.
SYNOPSIS
string CallAudio(string phoneno, string audiofile, bool selfdelete)
EXAMPLE
CallAudio("123-4567", "C:\my audios\hello.wav", true);
SYNOPSIS
string CallStatus(string reqId)
EXAMPLE
string status = CallStatus("11234035434");
SYNOPSIS
void CallRemove(string reqId)
EXAMPLE
CallRemove("11234035434");
SYNOPSIS
void CallTillConfirm(string vcastexe, string vocfile, string wavfile, string ccode)
EXAMPLE
CallTillConfirm(
"C:\Program Files\Voicent\BroadcastByPhone\bin\vcast.exe",
"C:\My calllist\escalation.voc",
"C:\My calllist\escalation.wav", "911911");
Application View
This application is based on a gateway.Here, we use the Voicent Gateway for the server, this is not a free software, so you have to put up with its ad. And you also can visit this website for more information about the IVR.
Code:
----------------
File Voicent.cs:
----------------
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
namespace Voicent
{
/// <summary>
/// Interface class for making telephone calls
using the simple
/// API of Voicent Gateway.
/// </summary>
public class Voicent
{
/// <summary>
/// Default constructor use http://localhost:8155
/// </summary>
public Voicent()
{
m_host = "localhost";
m_port = 8155;
}
/// <summary>
/// Constructor with host and port
/// </summary>
/// <param name="host">
/// Hostname of Voicent Gateway
/// </param>
/// <param name="port">
/// port number of Voicent Gateway
/// </param>
public Voicent(string
host, int port)
{
m_host = host;
m_port = port;
}
/// <summary>
/// Call the specified phone number and play the
/// text using text-to-speech engine
/// </summary>
/// <param name="phoneno">
/// telephone number to call
/// </param>
/// <param name="text">
/// text message to play
/// </param>
/// <param name="selfdelete">if set to one,
automatically remove call record on
/// gateway after the call is made</param>
/// <returns>Call Request ID on gateway</returns>
public string CallText(string
phoneno, string text, bool selfdelete)
{
// call request url
string urlstr = "/ocall/callreqHandler.jsp";
// setting the http post string
string poststr = "info=Simple Text Call " +
phoneno;
poststr += "&phoneno=" + phoneno;
poststr += "&firstocc=10";
poststr += "&selfdelete=";
poststr += (selfdelete ? "1" : "0");
poststr += "&txt=" + text;
// Send Call Request
String rcstr = PostToGateway(urlstr, poststr);
return GetRequestID(rcstr);
}
/// <summary>
/// Call the specified phone number
/// and play the audio file
/// </summary>
/// <param name="phoneno">
/// telephone number to call
/// </param>
/// <param name="filename">
/// audio file path name
/// </param>
/// <param name="selfdelete">if set to one,
automatically remove call record on
/// gateway after the call is made</param>
/// <returns>Call Request ID on gateway</returns>
public string CallAudio(string
phoneno, string filename, bool selfdelete)
{
// call request url
string urlstr = "/ocall/callreqHandler.jsp";
// setting the http post string
string poststr = "info=Simple Audio Call " +
phoneno;
poststr += "&phoneno=" + phoneno;
poststr += "&firstocc=10";
poststr += "&selfdelete=";
poststr += (selfdelete ? "1" : "0");
poststr += "&audiofile=" + filename;
// Send Call Request
String rcstr = PostToGateway(urlstr, poststr);
return GetRequestID(rcstr);
}
/// <summary>
/// Get call request status
/// </summary>
/// <param name="reqID">Call request ID</param>
/// <returns>status code</returns>
public string CallStatus(string
reqID)
{
// call status url
string urlstr = "/ocall/callstatusHandler.jsp";
string poststr = "reqid=" + reqID;
// Send Call Request
String rcstr = PostToGateway(urlstr, poststr);
if (rcstr.IndexOf("^made^") != -1)
return "Call Made";
if (rcstr.IndexOf("^failed^") != -1)
return "Call Failed";
if (rcstr.IndexOf("^retry^") != -1)
return "Call Will Retry";
return "";
}
/// <summary>
/// Remove the call request on the gateway
/// </summary>
/// <param name="reqID">Call Request ID</param>
public void CallRemove(string
reqID)
{
// call status url
string urlstr = "/ocall/callremoveHandler.jsp";
string poststr = "reqid=" + reqID;
// Send Call Request
PostToGateway(urlstr, poststr);
}
/// <summary>
/// Invoke Voicent BroadcastByPhone and start the
call-till-confirm escalation process
/// </summary>
/// <param name="vcastexe">
/// BroadcastByPhone executable file path
/// </param>
/// <param name="vocfile">
/// BroadcastByPhone call list file path
/// </param>
/// <param name="wavfile">
/// Audio file, must be PCM 8KHz,
16bit, mono wave file format
/// </param>
/// <param name="ccode">
/// Confirmation code, numbers only
/// </param>
public void CallTillConfirm(string vcastexe,
string vocfile,
string wavfile,
string ccode)
{
// call request url
string urlstr = "/ocall/callreqHandler.jsp";
// setting the http post string
string poststr = "info=Simple Call till Confirm";
poststr += "&phoneno=1111111"; // any number
poststr += "&firstocc=10";
poststr += "&selfdelete=0";
poststr += "&startexec=" + vcastexe;
string cmdline = "\"" + vocfile + "\" -startnow";
cmdline += " -confirmcode " + ccode;
cmdline += " -wavfile " + "\"" + wavfile + "\"";
// add -cleanstatus if necessary
poststr += "&cmdline=" + cmdline;
PostToGateway(urlstr, poststr);
}
protected string PostToGateway(
string urlstr,
string poststr)
{
Uri url = new Uri("http://" + m_host + ":" +
m_port.ToString() + urlstr);
HttpWebRequest HttpWRequest = (HttpWebRequest)
WebRequest.Create(url);
HttpWRequest.Headers.Set("Pragma", "no-cache");
HttpWRequest.Timeout = 60000;
HttpWRequest.Method = "POST";
HttpWRequest.ContentType =
"application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
byte[] PostData =
System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(poststr);
HttpWRequest.ContentLength = PostData.Length;
Stream tempStream = HttpWRequest.GetRequestStream();
tempStream.Write(PostData,0,PostData.Length);
tempStream.Close();
HttpWebResponse HttpWResponse = (HttpWebResponse)
HttpWRequest.GetResponse();
Stream receiveStream =
HttpWResponse.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader readStream = new
StreamReader(receiveStream);
string rcstr = "";
Char[] read = new Char[256];
int count = 0;
while ((count = readStream.Read(read, 0, 256)) >
0) {
rcstr += new String(read, 0, count);
}
HttpWResponse.Close();
readStream.Close();
return rcstr;
}
protected string GetRequestID(string rcstr)
{
int index1 = rcstr.IndexOf("[ReqId=");
if (index1 == -1)
return "";
index1 += 7;
int index2 = rcstr.IndexOf("]", index1);
if (index2 == -1)
return "";
return rcstr.Substring(index1, index2 - index1);
}
private string m_host;
private int m_port;
}
}
--------------------
File TextVoicent.cs:
--------------------
using System;
using System.Threading;
using Voicent;
namespace csapi
{
/// <summary>
/// Simple class to test Voicent C# Simple Interface
/// </summary>
class TestVoicent
{
/// <summary>
/// The main entry point for the application.
/// </summary>
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
string phoneno = "8147838"; // Replace it with
your number
Voicent.Voicent voicent = new Voicent.Voicent();
// Test CallText
string reqId = voicent.CallText(phoneno, "Hello,
how are you", true);
Console.WriteLine("Call request ID = " + reqId);
// Test CallAudio
reqId = voicent.CallAudio(phoneno,
"C:/Program Files/
Voicent/MyRecordings/
sample_message.wav",
false);
Console.WriteLine("Call request ID = " + reqId);
// try to get status
while (true) {
Thread.Sleep(20000); // wair for 20
seconds
string status =
voicent.CallStatus(reqId);
Console.WriteLine("Call Status: " +
status);
if (status.Length != 0)
break;
}
// remove the call request on the gateway
voicent.CallRemove(reqId);
// Test call-till-confirm
voicent.CallTillConfirm("C:/Program
Files/Voicent/
BroadcastByPhone/bin/vcast.exe",
"C:/temp/testctf.voc",
"C:/Program
Files/Voicent/MyRecordings/
sample_message.wav",
"12345");
}
}
}
Points of Interest about IVR
Ideal inbound & Outbound IVR solution
Self-service
Allow callers to get answers to standard inquiries simply and easily, and in seconds, without the need for an agent
Reach the right agent
Automatically capture relevant information from your callers and direct them to the appropriate agent to handle their call
24/7 customer service
Enable your customers to get the information they need, when they need it. Your IVR application is working even when you're not, or it can transfer calls to your cell phone.
Automated Outbound IVR
Fully integrated with BroadcastByPhone Autodialer. Fully automated interactive outbound call applications to generate sales leads and keep in touch with your customers.
Inbound & Outbound IVR Solution Key Features
Point-and-click call flow design
Deployed on any PC with Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista
Transfer call to any phone, such as your cell phone
Interactive touch tone response
Speech command response
Automatically convert text to speech
Easy integration with your website
(Developer feature) Integrate with any program through Java
Support Skype or voice modems for making calls
Support single phone line or multiple phone lines
Natural Text-to-speech engine for playing any text over the phone
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