Chapter 5: Modifying the System Tree

Figure 44--The Record box

Be sure to remember to click the "Stop" button. If you just hang up the handset, the respondent will hear the noise of the phone hanging up after each speech.

A beep sounds, and the script begins scrolling up through the "Script" field (if you have enabled the "Auto Prompting" option). Read the script as it goes by. When you finish recording, click the "Stop" button. The recording stops, and the length of the recording displays above the Speech Position scroll bar. You can hang up your phone. To hear your new speech, pick up your phone and click the "Play" button. If you don’t like the way the speech turned out or you ‘tripped over your tongue,’ you can record the speech again.

Don’t forget. . . anywhere there is a Cancel button, you can experiment all you want without changing anything permanently.

After the Record box closes, you can then click "OK" on the object box to save your speech changes. Clicking "Cancel" at this point discards any changes to this object, including speech and script changes.

Changing an Object’s Description and ID Speech

If you want to change an ID speech the procedure is only a little different. Instead of using the "Script" field and the "Record" button to record, you use the "Description" field and "Record ID" button. These controls appear on Question Headers, Prompts, and Control Points. The text in the "Description" field acts as the script when you record the object’s ID speech. As you may recall, an object’s ID speech plays to a respondent when you have activated the "Auto-Menu" function on a Prompt. For this reason, it is important to record ID speeches.

Use the following procedure to change a tree object’s ID speech:

• First, double click the tree object you wish to modify in the system tree.

• Move the mouse pointer to the "Description" field, then click on it. A small blinking line appears in the line of text. This blinking line is called the ‘cursor,’ and it shows where your typing appears when you type in a field.

• Remove the existing object name, or modify it as you see fit.

Remember that you can use the arrow keys (wyxz) to move the cursor around the field. The c key allows you to remove text from a line a character at a time.

Now you can record the description to replace the existing ID speech for this object. Click on the "Record ID" button, and the Record box appears as shown: Figure 45--The Record Box

Be sure to remember to click the "Stop" button. If you just hang up the handset, the respondent will hear the noise of the phone hanging up after each speech.

A beep sounds, and you read the ID description. When you finish recording, click the "Stop" button. The recording stops, and the length of the recording displays above the Speech position scroll bar. You can hang up your phone. To hear your new ID speech, pick up your phone and click the "Play" button. If you don’t like the way the ID speech turned out or you ‘tripped over your tongue,’ you can record the speech again.

Don’t forget. . . anywhere there is a Cancel button, you can experiment all you want without changing anything permanently.

After the Record box closes, you can then click "OK" on the object box to save your speech changes (or any other changes you’ve made). Clicking "Cancel" at this point discards any ID speech and script changes.

Disabling and Enabling Tree Objects and/or Speeches

Disabling and enabling a tree object or its speech involves the use of the "Enable" controls on the object. You will use this when you want to use a multiple branch format, but not run all of your messages. You can change the menus that respondents hear by enabling and disabling various Question Headers. You will also need to know how to disable speeches in order to run your system in Attended mode. This section discusses the procedures necessary to disable and enable tree objects and their speeches.

Disabling / Enabling Tree Objects

Concepts

Disabling a tree object comes in handy when you want to temporarily put an object ‘out of commission’ without deleting it. This means that you could later enable the object and use it again, whereas deleting the object removes it from the system tree. In practice, you could disable an old message, then later update the speech and enable it. You could also close off a whole set of messages by disabling the parent Prompt of the messages. (Although you haven’t disabled the messages, you have disabled the parent that they run off.)

When you ‘disable’ a tree object, the program treats the object as if it weren’t there. The advantage to this is that the object is still there (so you can use it later), whereas deleting the object removes the object from the system tree. Note that when you disable a tree object, the parent object’s auto-menu no longer includes the object’s ID speech. Also, respondents can not access a disabled tree object, even if they enter the touch tone for that object.

Procedures

Use the following procedure to disable or enable an object in the tree:

Disabling/Enabling Speech

Concepts

Disabling the speech on a tree object means that the object performs each of is functions except playing the speech. Note that when you disable an object’s speech, the auto-menu still includes the object’s ID speech. The system still knows the object is there, but it will ignore the main speech. In Outbound Telenotification the System Greeting, Question Headers, and Prompts are the only tree objects that have this capability. Practically, you will use this when you run your system in Attended mode, because, if your system plays the greeting at the same time the Attendant is reading it, the respondent will hear both speeches.

Procedures

Use the following procedure to disable/enable an object’s speech:

• Locate the "Enable Speech" check box in the "Script" control group.

• To disable an enabled speech, you click the "Enable Speech" check box. The "X" disappears from the check box, and you have disabled the main speech for this object.

• To enable a disabled speech, click the "Enable Speech" check box. An "X" appears in the check box, and you have enabled the speech.

• When you finish choosing a setting, click the "OK" button to save this setting and return to the system tree. If you do not wish to save these settings when you return to the system tree, click the "Cancel" button. Don’t forget...anywhere there is a Cancel button, you can experiment all you want without changing anything permanently.

Committing Changes To The System Tree

When you finish modifying the system tree, it’s time to make these changes final. So far, all you’ve done was save the changes to the tree in the editing session. Now it’s time to ‘commit’ the system tree. Committing is simply the process of saving all of the changes you made in the current editing session to the system.

If you have been practicing, and do not want to change the original set up of your system, simply do not commit the changes when you exit. This means it is safe to play with your system all you want to learn it and get comfortable with it. You can change every element in the tree, but if you don’t commit the changes, respondents will never hear your practice runs.

If you do commit the changes though, the new system tree takes effect. You can even commit changes while the Outbound Telenotification program is up and running. If a respondent is in the system when you commit the changes, the program puts them ‘on hold’ while the system updates. While the respondent waits (for about 30 seconds), they hear the standard brand of elevator music that you normally hear when put on hold. When the system finishes updating, the respondent returns to the system and can continue their tasks.

If a respondent is in the system listening to or recording a speech, the system waits until they finish before committing the changes. An Advisory message appears, telling you that there is a respondent in the system. You have the option of canceling the operation, or waiting until the respondent finishes recording their speech.

Use the following procedure to commit the changes to your system tree:

• While viewing the system tree, click the "File" menu heading located on the Menu bar. The File menu appears.

• Click the "Commit Changes" menu option. The mouse pointer turns into an hourglass while the program makes the necessary changes. When it finishes, you return to the system tree. You can now continue editing, or you can exit the program.

• If you have a number in the "Next Prompt" field of the System Greeting or in the "Goto" field of any other object that is non-existent or not a valid object, you will get an advisory message like the following.

Figure 46--Advisory message for an invalid Next Prompt command

• Click "OK," then go back and change the number to a valid one. Then commit the changes again.

• If the system is busy (i.e., a respondent is in the system), then an Advisory message appears, telling you that it is not possible to commit the changes at this time. You can either cancel this operation by clicking the "Cancel" button on the Advisory message box, or you can retry this operation by clicking the "Retry" button.

• If you ‘cancel’ the operation, the system does not commit the changes to the system tree. You must try again later. If you ‘retry’ the operation, then the system attempts to commit the changes again. If the system is free (i.e., there is no respondent in the system), then the program commits the changes. If there is still a respondent in the system, then the Advisory message box appears again.

Summary

In this chapter, you’ve learned how to modify the system tree. In the next chapter, you will learn how to create and edit phone lists.