Avaya Aura 8 and Mindful Integration Guide

Your Avaya telephony environment can be integrated with your Mindful Callback account to deliver calls via SIP while maintaining UUI and User-to-User data.

This guide presents configuration requirements for the following integration components. 

• Mindful Callback for callback registration and processing
• Providing a callback offer through Mindful Callback, including the option to hold
• Avaya Communication Manager (CM), including queuing VDNs and vectors for the appropriate skills
• Avaya Session Manager (SM)
• Avaya Session Border Controller Enterprise (SBCE)

We also discuss routing configuration and best practices, as well as a detailed call flow.

Overview

This integration guide covers the following topics.

• Components and architecture
• Step 1: Configure your Mindful account
• Step 2: Configure your SBC
• Step 3: Configure the Avaya environment to route inbound calls
• Step 4: Configure the Avaya environment to receive callbacks
• Call flows
• Optional: Offer Second Chance Callback

Components and architecture

Expand the following content to to review the definitions of acronyms and terms used throughout this guide. You can also view a high-level overview of the components and architecture of the integration before getting started.

Step 1: Configure your Mindful account

At least one Call Target should be configured on the Callback platform before addressing your Avaya environment. 

For complete step-by-step instructions on building a Call Target, see How do I set up a Call Target? in the FAQs section. Once you have a Call Target set up, use the guidelines below to integrate it with your Avaya environment.

Registration

Quick access: Callback > Call Targets > Your Call Target > General tab > Registration

• Offer ASAP Callback: Select this checkbox to offer callbacks to be returned as soon as possible.
• Offer Choose Hold: Select this to offer callers the option to wait on hold rather than accepting the offer of a callback.
• Offer Scheduled Callback: Select one of both of these checkboxes (Voice and/or Widget/API) if you wish to offer callback scheduling for specific dates and times.

Contact Center Settings

Quick access: Call Targets > Your Call Target > General tab > Contact Center

In the Contact Center section, configure the Callback Phone Number field with the SIP address of the VDN that leads to a holding queue staffed by agents. This holding queue should have a higher priority than regular inbound calls.

Call Target Metadata

In order to obtain Avaya UUI data and attach it to callbacks, you must configure a Metadata item for any Call Target used in the integration. For complete instructions on working with Metadata items, see How do I work with user data and metadata? in the How To section.

Quick access: Call Targets > Your Call Target > Metadata tab

Configure a single Metadata item with the following parameters.

• Name: User-to-User
• Type: Sip Header
• Max Length: 10
• Persist forever: enabled

Provision a phone number for the Call Target

Each Call Target used in the integration must have a unique phone number assigned to it in the Callback application. For the examples in this guide, the phone number +12512500865 was used.

Step 2: Configure your SBC

Mindful Callback integrations can function with different Session Border Controller (SBC) products regardless of the ACD platform used in your environment. Click any of the links below for instructions on integrating your chosen SBC.

• Avaya Session Border Controller Enterprise (SBCE)
• Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE)
• Audiocodes Mediant

Step 3: Configure the Avaya environment to route inbound calls

Configuration is needed in both Avaya Communication Manager (CM) and Avaya Session Manager (SM). For inbound calls, we will begin with CM and then proceed to SM.

Configure Communication Manager to forward inbound calls

To configure CM, you will need to update the vector script of the queuing VDN and add an entry to the ARS Digit Analysis table to assign a route to Session Manager.

1. In the vector script on the queuing VDN, add a route-to step to send the call to the Call Center Phone Number configured in the Callback application. 

EXAMPLE

Using the SAT command change vector xx, we have configured a route-to step as Step 04 in the example vector below.

IMPORTANT

The number designated in the route-to step should match a route to the Session Manager. 

In the preceding example, we allow the Call Target phone number (12015841234) via an entry in the ARS Analysis table. In the screenshot below, Dialed String 1201 determines that numbers matching the 1201 prefix with a length of 11-digits will use Route Pattern 1. In our configuration, Route Pattern 1 uses an existing SIP trunk to the Avaya Session Manager.

The change ars analysis 1201 SAT command was used to perform this configuration.

With these items complete, CM is ready to handle inbound calls with a route over to Session Manager. Next, we will configure Session Manager to send calls into the Callback application.

Configure Session Manager to handle inbound calls

To complete the inbound configuration, you will need to perform the following updates in Session Manager:

• Prefix the plus (+) symbol to customer phone numbers for compliance with Mindful Callback.
• Create a new SIP Entity for the SBC.
• Create new Routing Policies.
• Create new Dial Patterns.

Create an Adaptation to prefix the plus (+) symbol

When sending SIP calls to the Callback application, the SIP URI must be in the format sip:+<phone number>@sip-callback.vhtcx.com. Using our example phone number of 12015841234, the format would be sip:+12015841234@sip-callback.vhtcx.com.

The plus (+) symbol is required, and any SIP calls to Callback without the plus symbol will fail. To insert the symbol in front of the number, you will need to create an Adaptation in Session Manager.

Use the image and guidelines below to create the Adaptation. If you are already using an Adaptation, you can add a new row rather than creating a new Adaptation.

Quick access: System Manager > Elements > Routing > Adaptations > New

1. Adaptation Name: Enter a description name of your choice.
2. Module Name: Select DigitConversationAdapter
3. Module Parameter Type: Select Name-Value-Parameter, then add one parameter with the following values:
   1. Name: fromto   
   2. Value: true
4. Digit Conversion for Outgoing Calls from SM: Add one entry with the following values:
   1. Matching Pattern:  Enter the number or pattern being dialed. This is the number used to call the Callback application (for example, 12015844063).  
   2. Min/max: Enter a minimum and maximum value. The example uses 11 digits in both the Min and Max fields. 
   3. Delete Digits: Enter 0.
   4. Insert Digits: Enter the plus (+) symbol.  
   5. Address to modify: Select destination.

NOTE

In our example configuration, Communication Manager already strips the 9 prefix off of numbers if it is present. If CM is not already configured to do this in your environment, you will need to strip the 9 prefix in the Adaptation by entering 1 in the Delete Digits field. This instructs the adaptation to delete the first digit from the number.

Create a SIP Entity for the SBC

There should already be a SIP Entity configured in System Manager for your SBC. Add the Adaptation created in the previous step to the existing SIP Entity for the SBC, as shown in the following image.

If needed, use the following steps to create the SIP Entity.

Quick access: System Manager > Elements > Routing > SIP Entities > New

1. Name: Enter a descriptive name for this SIP entity.
2. FQDN or IP Address: Enter the address of the SBC.
3. Type: Select SIP Trunk.
4. Adaptation: Select the Adaptation that you created in the previous section of this guide.
5. Leave all other settings at their default values, or the values needed in your environment. 
6. Entity Link: Update the existing Entity Links for all protocols.
   1. Select your new SIP Entity in the SIP Entity 2 field. 
   2. For TCP and UDP, enter 5060 in the Port field next to SIP Entity 2.
   3. For TLS, enter 5061 in the Port field next to SIP Entity 2.
   4. Select trusted in the Connection Policy dropdown menu.

Create Routing Policies

We have already created Routing Policies on the SBC, but we must now create Routing Policies in System Manager to route specific numbers to the SBC or Avaya CM.

When creating the new Routing Policies, select the SIP Entity that you created in the previous section of this guide to use as the SIP Entity as Destination. Do not add a Dial Pattern at this time.

Create Dial Patterns

Next, we will create Dial Patterns to link VDNs with the Routing Policies created in the previous step.

Step 4: Configure the Avaya environment to receive callbacks

Similar to inbound calls, you will need to update the configuration in System Manager to handle callbacks received from the Mindful Callback application.

Configure Session Manager for outbound callbacks

When a SIP call arrives from Callback, Session Manager will receive an INVITE to the Call Center Phone Number configured for the Call Target.

Create a Dial Pattern

Quick access: Elements > Routing > Dial Patterns > New

Use the graphic and steps below to configure a Dial Pattern to route calls from the Call Center Phone Number to Communication Manager.

1. Pattern: Select a pattern matching the Call Center Phone Number, as shown in the example.
2. Min/Max: Set to the exact length of the Call Center Phone Number.
3. SIP Domain: Set to ALL.
4. Originating Locations and Routing Policies: Add the Routing Policy that leads to Communication Manager. This Routing Policy should already exist in Session Manager.

In the preceding example, any calls that come into Session Manager from a 9-digit number beginning with 8099 will be sent to Communication Manager.

Create a SIP Entity for Avaya CM

There should already be a SIP Entity configured for Communication Manager in your environment. However, you can use the following image and instructions to create one, if needed.

Quick access: System Manager > Elements > Routing > SIP Entities > New

1. Name: Enter a descriptive name for this SIP entity.
2. FQDN or IP Address: Enter the address of the SBC.
3. Type: Select CM.
4. Adaptation: Select the Adaptation that you created in the previous section of this guide.
5. Leave all other settings at their default values or the values needed in your environment. 
6. Entity Link: Make the following additions to the Entity Link that is already configured for Session Manager.
   1. Select your new SIP Entity in the SIP Entity 2 field. 
   2. Enter 5060 in the Port field next to SIP Entity 2.
   3. Select trusted in the Connection Policy dropdown menu.

Create the callback call vector

The agent leg of the callbacks from the Mindful Callback application will be sent in via a SIP request to sip:20062 – the SBC, via URI Groups and a Routing Profile. Session Manager will use a route pattern to send this to CM where 20062 exists as a VDN number using vector 62.

The queuing vector shown here does nothing more than queue the call to skill at high priority. If any decision making needs to be done on the callback, based on the inbound UUI data (now present on the callback), vector variables can be used to do so.

Call flows

Expand the following content to view call flows for both inbound and outbound calls.

Optional: Offer Second Chance Callback

Expand the content below to learn how to make additional callback offers in your holding queue after a customer has declined the initial offer.