API - Desktop Automation

babblevoice is designed to work in call centre environments. We continue to provide as many different ways babblevoice can be included into the workflow of a call centre agent. It is becoming increasingly important that phone calls between agent and client are handled in an efficient manner.

Imagine, an inbound call, as the call navigates any auto attendant, this information should be passed onto the agent who handles the call. All too often calls are passed onto the agent who has no knowledge of the information they entered already - which for the caller is very frustrating.

Our automation framework/API is designed to bridge the telephony/application bridge. Allowing a call centre operator to retrieve appropriate information in a timely fashion.

A call can use standard auto attendants, Baaxml to build IVRs, and now automation to ensure calls are handled in the most efficient way.

The default script provided on install configures the following system wide hotkeys:

• ctrl-1, ctrl-2, ctrl-3 - dial mobile, home, work respectively (depending on app support)
• ctrl-w - search application for phone number (of the current/last connected call)
• ctrl-shift-b - toggle the display of babblevoice Desktop
• ctrl-h - hangup a call

Automation is available in babblevoice Desktop for Windows version 1.0.11 onwards, you can find details of how to install it here.

What is Automation?

Automation is simply a way of providing as many tools as possible to integrate babblevoice into your Windows Desktop application.

Automation is part of babblevoice Desktop. Plugins to the application can be done, but to integrate to applications then our automation scripts are probably the best way to go.

Automation scripts are written in Lua and we provide a host of functions which extend Lua to pull information out of babblevoice into an application, and vice versa from an application back out to babblevoice.

Scripts register system wide hotkeys (for example, you can map ctrl-d in your application to a script) which then performs several functions. They don't even have to be telephony related - you can just use it to create macros for users to run. A script may simulate mouse clicks, keyboard typing and/or pulling information straight from Windows controls.

In our default script we use ctrl-d to try and dial the phone number from the currently focused application.

Files

In the main Program Files folder for babblevoice (where babblevoice Desktop is installed) there is settings.lua and automation.lua. The former configures which file to run for automation (the default is automation.lua - but if you write your own we suggest you change this as an update will delete your copy).

I would recommend you use automation.lua as your starting point - make a copy and change the filename in settings.lua.

Once you have done this, then review our automation api to see what is capable.