Spawn

The icon for the Spawn action - a curved piecve of paper with an ellipsis (...) next to it and an arrow pointing from the paper to the dots.

Fires off an IVRClosed Automated phone menu that allows callers to interact through voice commands, key inputs, or both, to obtain information, route an inbound voice call, or both. script that places a one-time "wake-up call" for a different script.

For a script to spawn successfully, the skill associated with the to-be-spawned script must meet two conditions:

  • The skill must be active.
  • The skill must match the script type. For example, phone scripts must correlate with phone call skills. You can find the skill type on the Details tab of a skill.

This also applies to spawning a script directly from the platform (Click the app selector and select ACD. Go to Contact Settings > Scripts and select a script, then click the Spawn tab.). Scripts with the Generic type work with any active skill.

Spawned scripts run parallel to the calling script. When a calling script triggers a Spawn, the spawned script begins immediately while the calling script continues processing.

The Start Date for the Spawn action and the to-be-spawned script both use the business unit's time zone.

Supported Script Types

The icon for a Generic script type - a rectangle with < and > symbols inside it.

The icon for the Email script type - a large @ symbol in a diamond.

The icon for the Chat script type - a chat bubble with an ellipsis inside (...), in a diamond shape.

The icon for the Phone script type - an old-style phone handset with curved lines indicating sound coming out of it.

The icon for the Voicemail script type - a symbol that looks like a cassette tape - two circles sitting on a horizontal line.

The icon for the Work Item script type-a piece of paper with one corner folded down and a bullet list on it.

The icon for the SMS script type - a smart phone with a chat bubble coming out of it.

The icon for the Digital script type - a computer monitor with a smartphone next to it.

Generic

 Email Chat Phone Voicemail Work Item SMS Digital

Input Properties

These properties define data that the action uses when executing.

Property

Description
Caption

Enter a short phrase that uniquely identifies this action in the script. The caption appears on the script canvas under the action icon. The default is the action name.

ScriptName The script you want to spawn. You can click the Choose Script link at the top of the action's properties box to select a script stored for your business unit.
SpawnIDVar The name of a variable to receive the unique identifier, the Contact IDClosed A unique numerical identifier assigned to each contact, of the spawned script. The Master ID is the common identifier for a parent script and a child (spawned) script. The Master ID is a pre-defined variable that is automatically created for the contact.
Skill Select an ACD skillClosed Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge. If you select Default, the script uses the default skill assigned to the associated point of contact. You can use a variable in this property.
StartDate The start date for the spawned script. The action and the to-be-spawned script both use the business unit's time zone.
Parameters

Click the ellipsis icon in the field and a Add a variable for each parameter you want to send to the spawned script. Enter one variable per line in the editor window. Use meaningful variable names. Variable names do not have to match the name of the corresponding variable used in the spawned script.

Parameters that are passed into a script appear in that script's trace output in the Begin action.

Result Branch Conditions

Result branch conditions allow you to create branches in your script to handle different outcomes when an action executes.

Condition

Description

Default

Path taken unless the script meets a condition that requires it to take one of the other branches. It is also taken if the action's other branches are not defined.
OnLinked Path taken if the spawned script issues a voice Link action with the calling voice script. The Spawn action will not suspend the script waiting for the OnLinked branch condition to trigger. Instead, the Default branch condition will be triggered and the OnLinked branch condition will be remembered. This is an Interrupt event.

Later, when the child script executes Link, the parent script will stop processing and jump to the action attached to the On Linked branch.
OnTerminated Path taken when the spawned script finishes. The Spawn action will not suspend the script waiting for the OnTerminated branch condition to trigger. Instead, the Default branch condition will be triggered and the OnTerminated branch condition will be remembered. This is an Interrupt event.

Later, when the child script terminates, the parent script will stop processing and jump to the action attached to the OnTerminated branch condition.
Error Path taken when the action fails to execute properly. For example, when there is an unexpected problem such as poor connectivity, syntax errors, and so on. The _ERR variable, with a single underscore character, should be populated with a condensed explanation of the problem.

Tips & Tricks

  • To have a Spawn action create a one-time script schedule, simply specify a start date at least 10 minutes in the future. If a start date is not specified, the targeted script is immediately spawned.
  • The Spawn script action can trigger a new script. Use Spawn to perform actions that must occur at the same time. Typically, actions happen one after the other. The first action must complete, then the second action is triggered.