Administering prompts

You can configure each node in a caller application, whether a caller application node or an application (action) node, to either use a prompt or not use a prompt. If you use a prompt, you may use only one prompt per node. Any action to be taken by the node occurs after the prompt has played. Therefore, careful planning of prompts is required when designing caller applications.

The administration of prompts in a caller application is done from the Prompt tab of the applicable Properties dialog box.

To get to the Prompt tab of the Properties dialog box:

Click the node for which you want to administer a prompt.

Click Action > Properties.

The system displays the Properties dialog box for the node.

Click the Prompt tab.

Configuring prompt properties

The process of configuring prompts consists largely of making a series of decisions about whether and how to use prompts.

To prompt or not to prompt?

The first option on the Prompt tab is whether to assign a prompt to the node or not:

If you do not want to use a prompt with the node, clear the Play entry prompt check box. Performing this action de-activates all other options on this tab.

If you want to use a prompt with the node, select the Play entry prompt check box. Performing this action activates the other options on this tab.

Application prompt or Announcement?

If you decide to assign a prompt to the node, the next decision is whether to make the prompt an Application prompt or an Announcement:

Application prompts are embedded in the caller application and can only be changed by changing the application itself. For this reason, it is not a good idea to use application prompts for prompts that you know will need to be changed on a regular or frequent basis.

If you want to create the prompt as an application prompt, you must create a prompt entry for it. See Creating prompt entries.

Announcements are recorded from within a mailbox, and although they are called by the caller application, they are not embedded within it. These are somewhat harder to set up, but if you know you will need to change a recording on a regular basis (such as a daily announcement or bulletin board type of arrangement), then this is likely the better choice.

Mailboxes can be set up to allow authorized individuals to record announcements using the TUI, and the system stores them in these mailboxes. You must set up this authorization in Subscriber Options.

You can use Caller Applications Editor to display a list of announcements available for use by an application, but you cannot edit the content of these prompts. For information about viewing the list of announcements, see Displaying a list of announcements.

Record your own or import professionally recorded prompts?

This choice applies almost exclusively to application prompts. You can, if you want, record your own prompts, using either a telephone or a multimedia PC to record them directly within the Prompt tab. For the procedures to do this, see Recording application prompts.

However, recording your own prompts can be hazardous. Microphones and telephones do not do a good job of filtering out unwanted background noise, or of producing high quality recordings. The internal recording device also does not allow you to edit your finished recording, for instance, to trim out unwanted silences at the beginnings or ends of your recordings.

Therefore, if quality is an issue for you, you may prefer to have your prompts professionally recorded, or at least record them using a digital audio recording software package. You can then import them into your caller application. For the procedures to do this, see Importing prompts.