How to document a call flow before you build it
A call flow that exists only in someone's head gets built three times: once as understood, once as corrected, and once after the first holiday. Writing it down first takes an hour and removes the second and third builds.
Start at the entry points
List every number that leads into the flow, and who publishes it. A main number, a direct line printed on invoices, and an old number that still forwards are three entry points, and they may need different treatment.
Describe each step as one of four things
- A treatment. Something the caller hears: a greeting, an announcement, music.
- A decision. A branch on the time, the caller's choice, the number dialed, or whether anyone is available.
- A destination. A person, a group, a queue, a mailbox, an outside number.
- An end. The call is disconnected on purpose.
If a step cannot be described as one of these, it is more than one step.
Ask what happens when it does not work
The usual path gets drawn first. The quality of a design shows in the others.
- Nobody answers. After how long, and where does the call go next?
- Everyone is busy. Does the caller wait, and for how long?
- The caller presses nothing, or a key that is not offered.
- The office is closed, or it is a holiday. Who keeps the holiday list current?
- The destination is unreachable because a site or a trunk is down.
- The mailbox is full.
Every decision needs an exit for each of its outcomes, including the one nobody expects. A branch with no exit is where callers hear silence.
Write the words down
Record the exact text of every announcement and menu. The wording decides how many options there are, and it is what the business will want to change most often. Note who approves it and whose voice records it.
Name the owner of each part
For each queue, group and schedule, record who decides its members and hours. A flow with no owner drifts until it matches nothing on paper.
Define the test before the build
- One test call for each path through the flow, including the failure paths.
- For each, the number to call from, the keys to press, and what the caller should hear.
- What will be recorded as evidence that it passed.
If you cannot write the test for a path, the path is not designed yet.
Where Studio helps
Studio's call flow designer uses these same building blocks on a canvas. It checks a flow for steps with no exit, lets you step through each path before anything is published, and generates the configuration for the platforms that will carry it.