External Property

Nodes and Palette Options > Detailed Palette Option Descriptions > External Property

	External Property

Type

Variable item

Available from

AppRoot node (see Setting Global Application Properties: AppRoot Node)

Form Node

Purpose

The W3C VoiceXML 2.0 Recommendation uses the <property> element to set values that affect system behavior. These values can include properties like timeouts, recognition processes, and caching policies. Dialog Designer uses the Property item to set many of these common properties, but some IVR systems make it possible to set other properties that are not part of the standard Dialog Designer set.

In addition to the standard properties that Dialog Designer supports, some IVR systems have custom properties available. Use the External Property item to set those properties on the IVR system.

Note:

For more information about the standard properties supported in Dialog Designer, see Property.

Behavior

The External Property item takes a named property value and passes it to the IVR system. The format, content, and resultant behavior of the value depend on what the IVR system expects and can process.

An example of using an External Property item can be described in the usage of the VoiceXML property fetchtimeout as an External Property item. In this case, the voice browser (AAS) waits a given amount of time (that is, the fetch timeout time) to get a page response back from the application. This timeout is configurable on the platform and applies to all fetches done for all applications. Some applications may exceed this timeout during long operations. Such operations could be database access, a CTI dial operation that has a long ring timeout, Web service calls.

Instead of changing the platform timeout, set the fetchtimeout property in a node or in the AppRoot (for an application-wide change) and change the timeout to a more appropriate value. For example, set Name to fetchtimeout and value to 30 seconds (15 seconds more than the default timeout).

Note:

A very long fetchtimeout can have a negative effect on the efficiency of the browser in cases where the application has a catastrophic error and the browser is waiting for a page response or exceeding the timeout.

Properties

Name - Enter the name to identify the property. This name is sent, along with the Value, to the IVR system on which the property is to be set.

Value - Enter the exact value to be sent to the IVR system. This must be in the form and format that IVR system expects and can process.

Variable - Select the variable you want to use. If the variable you select is a complex variable, you must also select a Variable Field.

Variable Field - Select the variable field you want to use. The contents of this list depend on which variable you selected in the Variable property.