Call Details

Call details relates to all of the information that you can enter about each call including name, location, point, and more advanced data such as disposition information, warnings, and prize information.

Shown below is the Call Details window. Each of the elements is explained below in further detail.

Note: The Call Details window may change slightly depending on what information is being looked at, for instance if you double click a call in the Call Log to bring it up in Call Details you have a dial button as above, but if you are looking at an active call you have a Set Next Button.

Name¶

The Name field will automatically show the name of the caller if their number is already stored in the PhoneBOX database. Each name can have 2 phone numbers associated with it. The name data may be modified at any time by the user.

Area¶

As with the Name data, the Area field will also automatically be filled if an Area has previously been registered against the caller Id. If multiple Areas are registered against the CLI then these will appear in the drop down list (see right hand side of Area field). If no Area has previously been registered then PhoneBOX, using its own dialling code database, will look up the listed Area for that dialling code and present that as the Area. The Area data may be modified at any time.

Numbers¶

As with the name data, the number field will also automatically be filled if caller Id data was presented by the caller. If no caller Id was sent, the number may be entered manually and PhoneBOX will then immediately scan its database for name and area information for the number entered. Any other information (such as alerts data – see below) for the number entered will also be immediately presented. This means that even if the caller deliberately withheld CLI information, if you then ask for their phone number, PhoneBOX will still make you aware of who they are and their history assuming they are a previous caller. In this version of PhoneBOX it is now possible to enter two numbers for a caller (often their landline and their mobile)

To enter a phone number for someone click the Change Person button, this will bring up the following screen.

From this screen you are then able to enter details for that caller and then save the changes back to the database which will automatically update the call details pane you are looking at. If you want to search from the above screen in order to check if the person has called from a different number, click Find, as you can see in the above example, Mark Brown is showing in the database and has two numbers allocated to himself.

General tab¶

The General tab of the Call Details window contains the secondary information about a caller - for example, their topic and point (Name, Location and Phone Number are considered Primary information.

The Point field is the most important field here and is used to contain information about the call and what the caller wishes to say on the air. Also in this tab are the dispositions that have been setup on the system and the Call use drop down which allows you to set whether the call is ready to go on air or should be rejected. You can also set the call as callback indicating that the caller should be called back or as used which means that the call has been used on air.

Personal tab¶

Personal is the 2nd tab in on the Call Details section, clicking this will switch away from the General tab where point info and dispositions are stored.

On this tab, alerts can be added to show warning information against an individual CLI. If a call is received from that CLI then the line box of the ringing call will indicate that the call is from either a ‘Warning’ caller or a ‘Banned’ caller. It’s also possible in here to set whether you want that warning to come up on all shows or just the show you are working on.

The Notes field is designed to contain the details pertaining to the Warning or Banned status.

If you hover the mouse over the line number of a line containing a call from a caller that is set to Warning or Banned status, you can read these Notes without having to open Call Details.

If you are speaking to the caller however, you can see that the information in the Alerts tab, the exclamation mark in a yellow triangle indicates a “warning” level alert for this caller.

If you want to mark the caller with a more serious level of alert then you can set them to Banned.

Note – you are strongly advised to ensure that any warning notes held relating to your callers are factual and inoffensive. In some jurisdictions (such as the UK where such matters are covered under the Data Protection Act), the public are entitled to request to see any data held on them on a computer system if they so desire. It is well worth instigating station-wide policies on how the alerts section of PhoneBOX can and should be used. You are advised to take legal advice if you are unsure of your responsibilities as a holder of data.

Many of these fields are long term. This means that the data they contain remains visible to users beyond the current day. This data will be kept for a preset period as defined in the PhoneBOX server, for most installations we recommend 6-12 months. Fields that are not long term such as the point and dispositions will retain their data (from a user perspective) for only 6 hours. This means that if a call drops by accident but is re-established within 6 hours, this short term data will also automatically be shown. All data is kept (from a server perspective) for a period as defined in that server’s configuration.

Prizes tab¶

The prizes section is for use on phone based competitions. A summary of the prize won, further notes about the occurrence, and the address of the prize winner can all be stored in the window shown below.

In order to add prize details you need to click on the prize box on the right hand side of the Prizes tab. Once you do this the following box will come up and you can go ahead and enter your prize details.

Once saved, the prize information will then be displayed in the Prizes tab view.

PhoneBOX can automatically trigger an email to a prize coordinator when this section of the Call Details window is completed.

The email address that messages are sent to is defined in the PhoneBOX Server and different email addresses may be defined for each Show if necessary. Please contact your System Administrator for more information.

Info tab¶

The info tab contains general information on a caller.

Dispositions¶

Dispositions are also discussed in more details in ‘Dispositions’ section later in this manual. Below you can see that the Age Group drop down has been selected and it is then possible to choose an option from the list, in this case choose what age group the caller fits into.

Dispositions allow a number of additional pieces of information about the caller to be noted, such as age, gender and so on. This data can then be used to sort calls in the Call log, so that callers meeting certain criteria can be identified. Icons are also displayed on the line boxes on screen, so other PhoneBOX users are made aware of the additional information. All Dispositions are user definable on the PhoneBOX Server or using our optional web manager product. Please contact your system administrator for more information about how to setup and use Dispositions.

Options¶

The options button offers a sub menu of 13 Options:

Clear - Selecting this menu option will clear all of the details for this particular entry in the call log.
Queue call - The Call will be set as the next item in the current queue.
Make call private - Selecting this means that point information is not available after that call is completed.
Copy details to clipboard - This option copies all the useful information from the current call to the clipboard so it can be pasted elsewhere.
Copy main number to clipboard - This option copies the main number to the clipboard so it can be pasted elsewhere.
Copy secondary number to clipboard - This option copies the Secondary number to the clipboard so it can be pasted elsewhere.
History – Person - This produces a History report against the Name currently displayed in the Name field. See History section later in this manual for more information.
History – Number - This produces a History report against the Number currently displayed in the Number field. See History section later in this manual for more information.
History – Search - This invokes a History report against the Name and Number currently displayed in the Name and Number fields. See History section later in this manual for more information
History – Prizes - This invokes a History report against the Name and Number currently displayed in the Name and Number fields, but returns only entries with prize information attached.
Create Message - Instead of the call being used on air, you can create a message from the call, if made from a call taken by someone like a call screener or producer you would generally select phone message, this could then be read out on air by the presenter.
Add Call
Add call to running order for (date) - It’s possible for a producer to build up a running order for a show so calls can be called back in a particular order that works well for the show.

Set next button¶

The Set next facility bumps the call that has this flag set on it to the top of the queue, it’s a quick way for the producer or call controller to move a particular call right to the top of the list so that the presenter will deal with that call as quickly as possible. When looking at the call details tab for a particular call, if the set next button (one with a heart icon) is pressed then that caller goes to the top of the queue, switching the lines view to queue will confirm this.

When a call has been marked as next, a small cross appears on the Get Next icon to indicate that the button will actually remove it’s set next status if you click it.

So if you do click the button that call will no longer be marked as next. You don’t need to unset a caller marked as next before setting another, which ever one you set removes the mark from the one previously set.

For a full explanation of queues see ‘Call & Message Queues’ later in this manual. This is designed for use by call screeners who require constant visibility of the whole group of lines, but also need to insert certain callers into the queue.

Calls can then be dragged across from right to left in the order that the producer wishes them to go onto air, so previously they were showing on the right going Line 1, Line 2, Line 3 but after the producer has chosen the order and put them into the queue things look like this…

Queue¶

If operating in Queue mode, The Set Next button will be replaced by a queue button. For an explanation of queueing, see 'Call & Message Queues' section.

Entering Call Details¶

The call details window will, by default, contain the call details of the call which was last routed. If you dial a new call, the call details window will contain the details pertaining to that call. If that call is then placed on hold, and you take a different call off of hold and route it to a device, the call details window will then reflect the details relating to that call. The details window will only be cleared out if you reconnect your client, that way your last call can be edited until another one comes in.

A call details windows on a freshly opened Phonebox client.

A call details window on a freshly opened Phonebox client.

Viewing Call Details for a specific call¶

If the call details window does not contain the call details you wish to access follow this procedure:

Using your mouse click and drag a call from either a line or device to your call details pane and drop it there.
You need to ensure that you drag and drop in a clean motion, if you are dragging a call from a device please take care not to click the box to the left which would change your default device.

Dragging and dropping the call in this manner (into the call details box) will not affect the caller, take care not to drag and drop the call to a different device however as this will change the callers location.

Caller Dispositions¶

Dispositions allow you to grade and group calls. It is intended that dispositions will be set by call screeners in most cases, and the producer or presenter then use the disposition information set to determine which callers to call back, and in what sequence to take those callers on the air. This data can also be used to facilitate a new generation of more advanced reporting using PhoneBOX stats. If you don’t already own a copy of PhoneBOX stats please contact Broadcast Bionics or your local PhoneBOX dealer.

There are two types of disposition, call dispositions and person dispositions. Person dispositions are applied to the long term data stored in PhoneBOX about that individual. Call dispositions are more temporary and refer to today’s call and may not be relevant or appropriate after the current phone-in. All dispositions and the sub options of each disposition are definable by your system administrator on PhoneBOX web manager.

Graphics may also be added for each sub option of each disposition to aid speedy identification of the dispositions set. You may have up to five dispositions defined on any show and these five can be any combination of person and call dispositions. Age and gender are examples of person dispositions. These will not tend to change and will be as relevant in 3 months time as they are today. Call State, Quality, and For/Against are examples of call dispositions. These are very likely to change, and the meaning attached to them could be changed as well on a show by show basis.

The first two dispositions for a call will be displayed on the line box of that call. This means that the presenter can see some additional information about the caller before they take the call. All other dispositions are only visible in either the Call Details window (where they are set), and the Call log window (where they may be filtered and grouped).

Note: ‘Call State’ is a special disposition that will be changed automatically by the system under certain circumstances, e.g. when a call back number is dialled back.

Practical examples of use of dispositions¶

Call Screener: It is assumed that the call screener(s) set the five dispositions for each call during the screening process.
Producer: If a producer was involved in the programme and they were charged with phoning back only the most appropriate callers they could use the Age, Gender, and Quality information to base their judgement on. The producer could use facilities in the Call log to filter only calls meeting certain criteria. The producer could later use PhoneBOX Stats to produce a report of all of the calls used in the programme and could show the spread of calls received, such as the number of calls from men and the number of calls from women.
Presenter: When the callers to be used had been called back and were on hold waiting to go on air the presenter could see on screen the two call disposition settings. The presenter can therefore make decisions as to which calls to take in which order and they can also use this information in their discussion with the caller.

Dispositions in Use¶

All five dispositions are set through the call details window. See the ‘Call Details’ section of this manual for information on how to set dispositions.

In order to view only callers that meet certain preset criteria, the following filtering process must be used. (This assumes that dispositions have been setup on your system and have been used to set caller gradings via the call details window).

Click on the Call log icon in the information pane
Click on the far left hand grey button (normally marked Calls)
Choose dispositions from the list
Click on the second grey button in from the left (marked Filter)
The dialogue box shown below will pop up:

When in filter view you can filter down your calls by dispositions, so in the list above you can click the drop down by “Any Age Group” and choose a particular age grouping, you can also filter down by the Call Use system disposition.

So if “51-60” was selected then it would show all callers in the log who have been noted to be in the age group 51-60. It is then possible to save these filters for later use, so if you had a show where they wanted to see how many people aged 51-60 they had used on air and see their details on the list, they could select the options for the first time and then Save the filter, from then on it would be available in the drop down list on the call log screen.

If you wanted to span back further the main Call Log screen has a tick box which can be unchecked so it shows callers further back than the past 6 hours, once unchecked you can then specify a date for your search.

Saving Your Disposition Filters¶

Once you have set the options required in the drop down list, you can save those selections as a filter, to do so click “save filter”, choose a name for the filter and click yes.

Applying the Filter¶

Once saved, the filter will then appear in the drop down list at the top of the Call Log tab, you can select this filter and it will automatically update the list based on the criteria you set when saving the filter.

Sorting calls after the Filter has been applied¶

To sort your calls clicking on the headings at the top of the list.

Making an outbound call to someone in the filtered list¶

It’s quick and easy to make an outbound call to anyone in the list. You can do this in two ways:

Click and hold on the entry you want to call back
Drag to a Device
The call dials automatically on a free line
Or
Click on the entry you want to call back
Click the Dial button shown at the top of the list

Caller History¶

One of the advantages of the PhoneBOX system over most other available broadcast call handling systems is the facility to produce instant reports on the number of appearances a caller has made on the station. This allows you to better handle frequent prize winners and so on. History reports scan the entire PhoneBOX database. The length of time data is stored in that database will be defined by your System Administrator, but is likely to be at least six months.

Caller History reports may be produced for a Number (regardless of how many separate people have called from that number), or People (regardless of which number they called from). The History report will show the date and time of all calls, the Name and Area of caller, their Point, which Show the call was answered by, and the phone number the call was dialled from.

There is a further option, which is to produce a report on a name or number entered manually. This allows users to build a report for a given phone number even if they don’t have a name, or to produce a report for a name even if they don’t have a phone number.

History reports are most useful during the call screening process, as you have the option, depending on the data returned, to make decisions about whether or not to use the caller on air.

Producing a History Report for a call currently being screened¶

It is assumed that a live call is in progress, and the Call Details window is currently open. It is assumed that the Name and Number fields have already been filled:

Click on the Options button in the top right hand corner of the Call Details window
A menu will appear with 8 options. Choose either History – Person, or History – Number
A History – Person report will show all calls stored against the Name that is currently entered in the Call Details ‘Name’ field. There may well be multiple people listed, though because they have the same name, you may need to look at the different locations to work out which of the listed calls are actually from today’s caller.
A History – Number report will show all calls stored against the Number that is currently entered in the Call Details ‘Number’ field. There may well be multiple names in the report. This would occur if for example a number of people in the same family, with the same phone number had called in.
The report will popup in a new window.

Producing ad-hoc reports for a Name or Number¶

The History – Person, and History – Number reports can be produced while a call is in progress or when a call is brought up from the call log history into the call details window. You can also produce a report based on searching for a particular name and/or number, for this use the History – Search option.

Click on the Options button in the top right hand corner of the Call Details window
A menu will appear with 6 options. Choose History – Search
A dialogue box will appear (see below)
Enter either the Name (or part of it), or the Number
Click on Search
A report will appear

Note – this search will scan data for ALL SHOWS regardless of which show you are logged in as. If you do not wish to allow your Users to search the database in this way, which may be due to your data handling policies, you can choose to disable this feature in PhoneBOX Server. Ask your system administrator for more information. You can also determine how many days data this search will process, which again is a PhoneBOX server setting.

Call Back Calls¶

The Call Back facility is designed for use on programmes where callers are called back before they are used on air. The original inbound call may be terminated, but the callers’ line box relating to the call is retained on screen so the Presenter can see which callers are coming up, and to prevent line capacity being utilised by other calls. When the Producer or Presenter wants to get Call Back callers back on the line, they can quickly do so.

Setting a Call Back call¶

To set a call for Call Back, follow this procedure:

Choose Call Details on info pane control bar
Ensure that the details shown in Call Details are those relating to the call you wish to set as Call Back
Click on the Options button in the Call Details window
Choose ‘Mark for callback’
The line number of the Call Back call disappears and is replaced with a ‘C’
You can now terminate the call when required
The line box for the call in question goes grey, but remains on screen

Re-establishing a Call Back call¶

To re-establish a Call Back call follow this procedure:

Set your chosen active device on which you wish to re-establish the call
Now click on the line box of the Call Back call
The call will be re-established on the original line, or using the device chosen

Cancelling a Call Back call with re-establishing¶

To cancel a Call Back call without re-establishing it, simply terminate the call following the normal call termination procedure. See ‘Terminating a Call’ elsewhere in this manual if you require further information.

Automatic Call Back from a lost locked call¶

When a call is locked it cannot be hung up from the local end on the phonebox system, however PhoneBOX cannot prevent the caller from hanging up or losing their end of the call (a common problem if they are on the move on a mobile phone)

If a call is locked however and lost due to the other end, it will remain on the line as a callback call as above, so the call can be quickly re-established without having to dig out the caller from the call log.