Usage and Access
With Pattern Menus you can prompt a caller to enter a sequence of digits (a pattern) on his keypad and route the call according to his input. Calls can also be routed based on the phone number of the caller or the number he dialed.
The asterisk (*) symbol can also be used in the pattern, but the hash (#) symbol is reserved by the system to let the caller indicate he has finished dialing the pattern when his input pattern is shorter than the maximum allowed number of digits expected by the system.
In the example figures, we have a pattern menu that recognizes New York City boroughs and routes the calls to agents handling each borough's customers. Pattern menus have similar functionality to IVR menus, but can handle more complex input than IVRs' single-digit key press. In the example we use both by having the IVR route sales calls to the pattern menu which then routes them to the relevant agent.
The Pattern Menus page is accessed at Admin Center Menu>Voice Features>Pattern Menus listing the existing pattern menus by name and description. You can delete pattern menus by checking them and clicking 
, but be aware that this cannot be undone.
Adding New Pattern Menus
To be able to add or modify pattern menus, a user needs to have an Account Owner role or a role with Pattern Menus view permission. Roles are further explained here.
To create a new speed dial select ADD PATTERN MENU from the Patter Menus page or the Voice Features Quick menu.
Pattern Menu Settings
Selecting or creating a pattern menu shows its settings page with two expandable categories and the patterns it can process. When making any changes SAVE each category separately.
The arrow buttons let you select the next or previous pattern menu without having to go back to the main list.
General Settings
- Name: Self-explanatory.
- Description: Description of the function of the pattern menu. This is optional.
- Ask caller to enter digits: Here you can select the number of digits the caller is prompted to enter.
The selection is for the maximum number of pattern digits the system will accept, but callers can enter shorter patterns by pressing #.
For our NYC boroughs example, we can select Maximum 3 but if we decide to enhance it to allow callers to dial user lines we will select Maximum 7. You would need to instruct callers to either enter the first three letters of their borough followed by # or to enter a user's seven-digit line number.
- Timeout: Select how many seconds the system waits for the caller to enter the next pattern menu digit. This is measured from the end of the Welcome Announcement greeting. If the caller doesn't provide a timely entry the Invalid Entry audio is played. The value of the default choice is 20 seconds.
Greeting Files
Here you can apply, record, or generate audio files to guide callers in using the pattern menu. Callers do not need to wait for the entire greeting to play. They can dial patterns while a greeting is playing.
There are three greeting files you can modify.
- A Welcome Announcement: Plays when a caller is initially routed to the pattern menu and instructs him what kind of input he should enter.
In our example that would be something like "Please use your telephone keypad to enter the first 3 letters of your New York City borough. For example, enter 276 for Brooklyn. If you are not a New York City resident dial 100. Dial 900 to go back to the main menu".
If you don't add your own sound file the system will play the default announcement "Please enter the number you wish to call followed by the pound key". - Invalid Entry: Plays after an incorrect entry when the caller's input does not match any of the menu's patterns. It also plays if the caller doesn't make any input for the duration set in the Timeout option.
If you don't add your own sound file the system will play the default prompt "The number you entered does not exist". - Goodbye Message: Plays after five failed attempts by the user to enter a valid pattern. The call will then disconnect.
If a greeting has not been assigned yet, you can select Add Sound, otherwise you can Change an existing greeting or Remove it. Use a greeting's audio player to listen to it and click the mini-menu (
) to Download a WAV file of the greeting or change its Playback Speed.
Patterns
This is the list of patterns that can be identified by the pattern menu and route calls accordingly. Select a pattern or create a new one by clicking Add Pattern to show the pattern options.
- Description: Description of the function of the pattern. This is optional.
- Priority: A priority value between 1-10 can be assigned to a pattern. Patterns with higher priorities will be matched first.
- Route matching calls to (routing type) / Destination: This is where the call gets routed if the caller's entry matches the pattern. Select a routing option, like a user's phone line, and then the actual destination, like a user's name.
The Admin Center's list of routing options and features is discussed here. Not all routing options require a destination because some, like "Hang up call", "Busy tone", "Music", etc., function as a destination by themselves. - Pattern Type: This tells the system how the pattern is matched to the caller's input.
We will use seven-digit input here (for a scenario that includes user phone lines) to better illustrate this. Remember that # is used for shorter input by the caller.- Exact Match: Self-explanatory, for example the caller needs to dial 783# for a Queens borough match.
- Contains: This is also rather obvious, but it is worth mentioning the matching is done as a sequence. So 4000783 is a valid match, but 4700803 is not!
- Regular expression: Regular expressions allow more complex matching scenarios by including special symbols and format in the digits field.
Regular expressions are used in popular programming and database languages like mySQL, Python, Java, etc to perform string modification and comparisons and it will take an entirely separate article to discuss. However since the pattern menu input is limited to digits, many regular expression functions are not applicable.
Here are some common regular expression symbols you can use. Pay attention to the location of the symbol:
. is for wild card – the dot symbol tells the system any digit is acceptable which is helpful for erroneous caller input. For example 9.. will route the caller back to the IVR menu even if he dials 915# or any other number starting with 9.
? is for an optional character – the digit before the question mark symbol is optional. This means matching can be done with that digit or without it. For example, 900? will route the caller back to the IVR menu if he dials 900# or 90#.
pattern^ – tells the system to match against the beginning of the caller's input. For example, ^783 will accept 7834000 (or 783#) as a valid input while 4000783 will not be accepted.
$pattern – tells the system to match against the end of the caller's input. For example, 783$ will accept 4000783 as a valid input while 7834000 will not be accepted.
(value|value|...) – matches the caller's input against several values. Values can be of any length. For example, if we have the same agent handle both the Bronx and Brooklyn boroughs we can create two separate patterns that route calls to the agent. But this will also work as a 27(3|6) regular expression that will route calls to the agent when the caller dials either 273# or 276#.
[digit-digit] allows matching against a range of digits. For example, 10[0-3] will provide a match for 100#, 101#, 102#, and 103#.
- Exact Match: Self-explanatory, for example the caller needs to dial 783# for a Queens borough match.
- Digits: The numeric digit sequence that the system compares against the caller's input. For regular expression matching you can also use symbols.
- Calling number: If you provide a phone number here, the pattern will only apply to calls from this number.
- Called number: If you provide a phone number here, the pattern will only apply to calls where the number that was dialed matches this provided number.
Routing Calls to Pattern Menus
To use a pattern menu you need to add it as a destination where calls can be routed to. Most commonly this will be either an extension, phone line, or an IVR menu, but phone numbers or any other Admin Center feature that can route calls is also applicable.
For an extension, open and edit the extension and select Pattern Menu (found under Voice Features of the drop-down list) in the Route to field of the Routing and Forwarding settings. Select the pattern menu you want to assign to the extension in the Destination field and SAVE your changes.
For an IVR menu, open and edit the IVR menu, expand the Key Press Options, and select Pattern Menu (found under Voice Features of the drop-down list) for the key you want callers to use. Select the pattern menu you want to assign to the extension in the Destination field and SAVE your changes.
