We are often asked to comment on how to increase answer rates on cold calls. Calls either made manually by an Agent in an outbound contact center, or an auto dialer or campaign dialer. Generally, in the era of smartphones, we generally reject calls from unknown numbers and all 800. numbers are unknown! Some of the strategies we have developed include matching the area code of the number we are calling. If we are calling someone with a 212 area code, we present a 212 area code in our outbound number. Not fool proof, but it does increase the answer rate. Historically, sip trunks were used to fake outbound caller id. It was a simple trick to make it appear that Bill Clinton was calling you! Now, with calling number ID restrictions, it is much more difficult to “fake” caller id and you must use a number that you actually own!
If you cant match the area code with a number you have, the second strategy is almost effective. Do not use a toll free number! Use a DID number and even though it may not be known by the individual being called, it peeks enough curiosity to have the call answered. Generally, Amazon Connect will not allow you to present a caller ID that is not a phone number on your contact center. AWS has made an accommodation, by allowing you to display a caller id in which you have provided documentation that supports your ownership of the number. In that case, even though the number is not directly on your contact center, they will let you display it on an outbound call.
Lambda and Dynamodb to the Rescue!
To accommodate the change of caller id on an outbound call, we need to apply some software engineering. First, we need a database of phone numbers that we legitimately own. Index the database by area code and it is a simple task for a python function to take the number dialed, look it up, and then return it as an attribute to an Amazon Connect contact flow. Change the default outbound contact flow, to invoke the lambda function that looks up the dialed number, and return it to a caller id attribute that is displayed to the called party. This simple strategy increases answer rate measurably more than using an 800 number.
Amazon Connect Campaign Dialer?
The V2 of the Amazon Connect campaign dialer is an astonishing step forward from the previous “high density outbound calling” solution. Though there is still a requirement that non-technical managers need to have permissions in the AWS Console to configure and load lists into Pinpoint, the V2 configuration is almost entirely accomplished through the Amazon Connect dashboard. Generally managers of a call center would need to contact the IT team to load lists, as security concerns abbreviated the assignment of IAM permissions to none technical users accessing the AWS Console! V2 all but eliminates this concern.
Unfortunately CID is fixed!
The Lambda strategy for area code swapping discussed above, will not work with the V2 campaign dialer as of the date of this publication. (Things move quickly in AWS, so this is subject to change, check often). When you create a campaign you select the number the system should use to place each phone call. We are not currently able to change that number as we can with a manually dialed number. From our desk, this is a serious short coming in the world of campaign dialing! The only option currently available is to divide the “list” into smaller lists segmented by area code. This increases the administrative burden on list creation.
We are hopeful that AWS will address this market requirement while making DNC and list scrubbing an important subset of the campaign dialer feature set!