09.4 Virtual Allocations

Owned by PeterF (Deactivated)
Sept 06, 2016
5 min read

Virtual Allocations allow you to combine one or more Allocations into a single 'Virtual Allocations'.

So why would you want to combine Allocations into a Virtual Allocation?

Virtual Allocations can serve a number of purposes.

  • When mopping up the tail end of an Allocation you may run out of leads that are available to dial for an hour or two. Combining the tail end of the Allocation with a new Allocation allows you to keep dialing at full speed but still use every last lead of an Allocation.
  • You want to change what Allocations your team are working on without the team having to stop dialing. With a Virtual Allocation you can add a new Allocation and then remove the old Allocaiton. The dialer will continue uninterrupted and you team don't even need to know that you have changed Allocations.
  • You want your team to work on a couple of Allocations simultaneously (e.g. the Sydney Allocation and the Melbourne Allocation). A Virtual Allocation containing these two (or even more) allocations will randomly select leads from the two allocations.
  • Large Allocations (>50K leads) can impact the dialer performance. Virtual Allocations let you create Allocations in manageble size chunks and you can add the new allocation to the Virtual Allocation when the existing Allocation is getting low.
  • You have an Allocation that needs to use different dialer settings from other Allocations that belong to the same Campaign Template.
  • You have Allocations from different Campaign Templates that you need your team to work on simultaneously.

From an Agents' prespective a Virtual Allocation is no different to a normal Allocation. A Virtual Allocation appears in the Dialers 'Allocation selection' list just like any other Allocation.

So there are lots of good reasons for using a Virtual Allocation and they are fairly easy to use.

Due to the dyanmic nature of Virtual Allocations they are maintained via the Live Data Tiles.

To create or maintain a Virtual Allocation add the 'Virtual Allocation List' tile to Live Data Tile layout.

The click the '+' button on the top right hand corner of the Virtual Allocation Tile.

Two new windows will now open:

1) Virtual Allocation Members

This tile will eventually show you the list of Allocations which are 'Members' of your new Virtual Allocation.

2) Virtual Allocation Settings

Name

This window allows you give the Virtual Allocation a name. This name is show to Agents so make it something that is meaningful to your Agents.

Description

The description is really just a field for your purposes. It should be some ancillary information that helps you remember why you created this Virtual Allocation.

Dialer Campaign Template

Allows you to select which Campaign Template the Dialer settings should be taken from. Virtual Allocation can contain Allocaitons from different Campaigns and even different Campaign Templates. This setting allows you to control which Campaign Template the Dialer settings (e.g. Predicitve, Preview, Pool etc) will be taken from.

Enter Settings

Enter the above details and then click the Save button. You can now close the Virtual Allocation Settings dialog.

Add Allocations

You now need to add Allocations to the Virtual Allocation Members tile. Click the '+' on the top right hand corner of the Virtual Allocation Members tile.

Select one or more Allocations to add to the tile.

Click the 'Update' button at the bottom of the selection window.

You Virtual Allocation now exists and is ready to use.

Maintaining Virtual Allocations

To remove or add additional Allocations from/to your Virtual Allocations open the Virtual Allocation Member tile as follows:

Add the Virtual Allocation List tile to your Live Data Tiles layout.

You should see a list of your existing Virtual Allocations.

In the above image you can see a Virtual Allocation called 'Test'. To edit the list of Member Allocations right click the word 'Test' and select the menu item 'Virtual Allocation Details'.

The Virtual Allocation Member tile will then open with the list of Allocation that belong to the selected 'Test' Virtual Allocation.

To add or remove Member Allocations click the '+' button at the top right hand corner of the Virtual Allocation Member tile.

Then select or deselect Allocations as required:

Once done click the 'Update' button at the bottom of the Member Selection window and you are done.

The changes will take affect over the next minute or two. There is no need to interrupt you Agents as the change will be completely transparent to your agents.

One word of warning. If you switch in an Allocation for a different product or screen layout then you should give your Agents a warning so they know that their sales pitch will need to change.

Deleting a Virtual Allocation

Deleting a Virtual Allocation has absolutely no affect on the underlying Allocations.

To delete a Virtual Allocation open the Virtual Allocation List data tile and right click on the Virtual Allocation you want to delete.