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This article attempts to shed some light on the lead ordering.
Standard Prioritisation and Callback dates
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Eligibility
Before lead ordering is even considered, a lead must first be 'eligible' for dialing.
A lead is NOT eligible for dialing if any of the following is true
- The Allocation is 'Stopped'
- The lead is closed
- The lead is on your Private DNCR list
- The lead is outside its defined Contact Hours
- The lead's callback date is in the future
So what leads are considered to be eligible for dialing.
- new leads (no Disposition has yet been set)
- leads with a callback date which is in the past
The 'past' being anytime before 'right now'.
Leads that have been 'finalised' (closed) are never considered for dialing.
Once the list of 'available' leads is selected then the leads need to be prioritised.
Leads are priorities based on (the order is important)
- Priority
- Callback Date
Lead Ordering
Once a lead becomes eligible for dialing it must then be ordered with other eligible leads to see when it will be dialed.
The order a lead is dialed in, depends on where it is in its life cycle.
Ageing Date
The Ageing Date of a lead is a key facet of the control system that decides the order in which leads are dialed.
When a lead first enters the system the Ageing Date and Creation Date are identical. This is always true except for leads that are marked as Client Approved Callbacks.
The ageing date is a measure of how 'fresh' a lead is. The system always aims to dial the freshest leads based on their Ageing Date.
Call ordering
Depending on the current state of the lead the following ordering is used when ordering leads.
The system always select the leads with the highest 'priority' and then considers the additional ordering fields as detailed in the following table which is dependant on the leads current stage in their life cycle state.
| Priority | Life Cycle Stage | Sort Order | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Client Approved Callbacks | Priority(asc), ‘Ageing Date(desc), Callback DateTime(desc) | When a lead is set to Callback Approved the ‘Ageing Date is reset to be equal to the Callback Date. This refreshes the lead so that on the date/time that they are due to be called they will be the freshest lead available. |
| 4 | Fresh Leads | Priority(Aasc, ‘Ageing DateTime(desc), Callback DateTime(desc) | The Callback DateTime will have no effect unless the leads are bulk imported (in which case the ‘Ageing DateTime will be identical). |
| 6 | Callbacks | Priority(asc), ‘Ageing DateTime(desc), Callback DateTime(desc) | The Callback DateTime will have no effect unless the leads are bulk imported (in which case the ‘Ageing DateTime will be identical). |
| 4 | Busy | Priority(asc), ‘Ageing DateTime(desc), Callback DateTime(desc) | The Callback DateTime will have no effect unless the leads are bulk imported (in which case the ‘Ageing DateTime will be identical). |
(asc) - ascending order, (desc) descending order.
Client Approved Callbacks (CACs)
The primary aim of Client Approved callbacks is to dial as close to the designated time as possible.
The inclusion of the Ageing Date (note we ignore time) means that we will focus on the most recently created Leads. After we identified the most recently created leads the Callback Date is used to focus on the leads that need to be dialed ‘closest to now’. If we have missed a callback by an hour, then making the caller wait another fifteen minutes is not going to make much difference. In this case it’s better to call a lead that is expecting a callback right now.
Resetting the Ageing Date
CACs are unique in that it is Setting a Client Approved Callback should ‘refresh’ a lead as it reflects renewed interest from the client.
The ‘Ageing Date is used to age a lead, so that we dial CACs from new leads before old ones.
To enable this ‘refresh’ process the leads Ageing Date is set to the leads Callback Date giving the lead a renewed youth and the associated escalation in importance.
Using the callback date to refresh the Ageing Date is important as some customers set the Callback Date to 6 months in the future and we want the leads to still be ‘youthful’ when that callback date comes around.
After a CAC is dialed it may result in a No Answer. In this case the Callback Date will be set according to the No Answer rules. The Ageing date however is not reset.
This results in the CAC begins Ageing once its callback date is expired and it will continue Ageing unless it is dispositioned as a Client Approved Callback again.
Remember that a CAC is always a CAC even if its last disposition was a No Answer.
New leads by default have a priority value of '4' all other leads will have a priority based on the last disposition set on the lead.
Note: if a lead is ever set to a disposition of type 'Client Approved Callback' then the priority of the disposition will never be lowered (where a priority of '1' is higher than a priority of '6').
Having determined a leads lead's priority the dialer will start by dialing all leads with the highest priority (a lower no. is a higher priority).
If more than one lead has the same priority (almost always) then the leads Callback Ageing Date is used .and fin
New leads don't normally have a callback date.
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This means that new leads will be dialed after callbacks that have the same priority.
How priorities change
Over the life cycle of a lead its Priority will change as will its Callback date.
Every time a lead is called, its Callback Date will change and its priority may change.
Disposition Priorities
Each defined disposition has an associated priority. When an agent select a disposition at the end of a call, the disposition's priority will be used to update the leads priority.
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Changing a disposition via the Call Editor or the Noojee API can also have the same results.
Client Approved Callbacks
Leads which become 'Client Approved' have special rules for their disposition. Leads reach this state if they are ever dispositioned with a disposition of type Client Approved Callback.
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At 10 am the agent calls the customer but the customer doesn't answer. The agent dispositions the lead with a 'No Answer' which would normally set the priority to 6, but because this is a Client Approved lead the priority remains at 2.
Changes to the Callback date
This one is fairly self explanatory. Ever time an agent calls a lead we set a new Callback Date on the lead.
Callback dates can also be changed by the Call Editor and the Noojee API and trickle feed.
Last In First Out
Noojee's dialer uses a Last In - First Out method for dialing.
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This means that Callbacks that a callback date that was set for 1 second ago will be dialed before a callback that was set for 1 hour ago.
Implications of Last In First Out
In the real world you don't always have enough agents to dial every lead when the callback is due. In some circumstances you might even get hours or days behind in your callbacks.
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Once your team catches up with the 'current' callbacks the dialer will automatically start working it's way back through the older callbacks.
How to prioritise New Leads
If you are using one of Noojee's API to directly inject leads into a Campaign you may actually want to prioritise New leads.
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In these cases you probably want to set your new leads with a priority of '1' and a callback date/time of 'now'.
Virtual Allocations
Now the fun begins. Virtual Allocations add in a whole new level of power and complexity.
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You can overcome this to some extent by turning down the Ratio on the Allocation that you know has older leads.
Call Scheduler
Some times you just need to break the prioritisation of leads. The Call Scheduler allows you to do this but there are consequences.
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The result is that any 'Last In/First Out' ordering is lost. After all, by moving the leads you have just told the system that you want to dial them now.
Lead Caches
Whilst not directly related to call prioritisation, the dialer's lead caches do affect when a lead gets dialed and to some extent the order a lead gets dialed in.
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