Menu

N2FE Flow Operation - Menu

The Menu selects an exit according to the digit entered by the user when prompted. It contains some special handling for * and #, as well as support for a “Fast Time-Out” option.

The Menu operation must have at least one exit. The Menu operation is only useful when it has more than one exit, although this is not enforced by the operation definition.

Config Parameters

The Menu operation config attributes are as follows.

Parameter Type Description
main_announcement Announcement
Object
[Required] The main_announcement parameter is an Object using the shared announcement configuration structure as defined in the Flow Introduction documentation. This announcement is played as the prompt on the caller's first attempt to enter input.
timeout_announcement Announcement
Object
[Required] The timeout_announcement parameter is an Object using the shared announcement configuration structure as defined in the Flow Introduction documentation. This announcement is played as the prompt on the caller's second and subsequent attempts to enter input when the previous input failed due to a timeout expiry on input.
bad_digit_announcement Announcement
Object
[Required] The bad_digit_announcement parameter is an Object using the shared announcement configuration structure as defined in the Flow Introduction documentation. This announcement is played as the prompt on the caller's second and subsequent attempts to enter input when the previous input failed due to the user entering an unrecognised digit.
max_iterations Integer The maximum number of attempts that the caller may have to enter a valid digit.
(Default = 3)
first_digit_timeout Integer The first digit timeout is the length of time in seconds to wait for an selection by the caller. Only relevant if the "T" branch is connected to another node. If the "T" branch is configured, if the caller does not enter a selection within the `first_digit_timeout` period, the "T" branch is immediately taken (instead of the timeout announcement being played).
If the `first_digit_timeout` is 0, the system default first digit timeout period is used.
If the "T" branch is not configured, the first digit timout is not used and instead the Timeout announcement will be played.
(Default = 0)
repeat_main Integer If present and non-zero, indicates if the main_announcement should be repeated before the timeout_announcement or bad_digit_announcement on the second and subsequent attempts to collect user input.
_(Default may vary per site)_
digits Array of
Object
[Required] The digits Array must contain none or more Objects.

Config Digits

A Menu operation digits Object is as follows.

Parameter Type Description
digit Character Specifies the single input character (typically digit) which the user must enter via DTMF in order to select the indicated exit. The permitted values for this digit are 0-9,A-F,*, #, and T. See the notes following in regards to the interpretation of non-numeric options.
exit_idx Integer The zero-based index number down which to route calls from callers with address matching a prefix within this geographic entry.

The digits 0-9 all follow their natural interpretations. If a matching digit is entered, the associated exit is immediately followed.

Digit T indicates a “fast timeout rule”. If the user does not enter any digit at all when prompted to do so, a T rule will immediately follow the associated exit and no further prompting will occur. Contrast this to the normal case (no T rule defined) when timeout during digit input will cause the user to be re-prompted until max_iterations is reached and reached and the Not Collected exit is followed.

N2 Configuration Comments

On the N2 platform, all announcements for a given Menu operation must reside on the same SRP.

NCC Configuration Comments

Use of hex digits A-F, * and # needs to be carefully considered in relation to the NCC configuration parameters DialledStarEncoding and DialledHashEncoding as specified in the NCC acs.conf file which controls the behavior of the slee_acs process on the NCC SLC platform.

Specifically:

Note that the NCC Control Plan Editor has a parameter suppressedDigits in the /IN/html/sms.jnlp file on the NCC SMS platform. That parameters controls which digits are offered in the SelectionDependingRouting feature node (the NCC CPE feature node which corresponds directly to the Menu operation).

The N-Squared Flow Editor should be configured to also suppress those same digits.

Example Operation

Here is an example Menu operation in JSON representation.

    {
        "id": 5,
        "type": "Menu",
        "base_node": 13,
        "config": {
            "max_iterations": 3,
            "main_announcement": {
                "set": "Public Announcements",
                "entry": "16740",
                "duration": 0,
                "repetition": 1
            },
            "timeout_announcement": {
                "repetition": 1,
                "set": "Public Announcements",
                "entry": "16698",
                "duration": 0
            },
            "bad_digit_announcement": {
                "repetition": 1,
                "entry": "50",
                "duration": 0,
                "set": "Public Announcements"
            },
            "digits": [
                { "digit": "1", "exit_idx": 1 }
            ]
        },
        "exits": [ 4, 17 ]
    }

In this example, entry of the digit 1 will proceed down down exit 1 to operation ID 17, while all other scenarios will down exit index 0 to operation ID 4 (possibly after re-prompting).

Exits

The first exit is always the “Not Collected” exit.

Exit Index Name Description
0 Exit #1 (Not Collected) [Required] All Menu operations must have at least one exit.
1 Exit #2 + Additional exits may be present.