Customizing TCN

Collect! and TCN Broadcasting work together to enable you to deliver messages to any phone, any time. You complete your setup with TCN, select the accounts for your campaign and let TCN and Collect! take care of the rest. TCN Service saves valuable time, increases productivity and maximizes your returns. Collect! ships with default templates that match the templates used by TCN for scheduling calls and returning results.

TCN Campaign processing requires that you have set up an account with TCN and that you have entered the appropriate settings in the TCN Setup form in Collect!.

TCN Service is an extension module enabled in every Collect! Professional version and higher, from CV11.3.2 and newer. If you have upgraded from an earlier version, you may need to request a new license from Comtech Systems to enable the feature. You also need to register an account with TCN Broadcasting.

Collect! provides several default reports for submitting your call campaign to TCN and several default imports for processing returns. You can modify them as needed to suit your criteria if you make sure that you have matching templates set up at the TCN web site.

To obtain the latest TCN reports and imports for use with TCN Service, please visit the Collect! Member Center Widgets site.

Latest TCN Call Campaign Reports and Imports

This topic will introduce you to customizing templates but it is only an introduction. You may want to get help from TCN to create or modify their templates to match your customized Collect! reports and imports.

There is one rather confusing point, although it is really just use of language. TCN "imports" data from a Collect! report and Collect! imports data from a TCN "report." So it may be rather easy to get confused when you are working with the templates. To simplify this, just remember the function that you are performing.

There are only two TCN batch processing functions:

TCN Schedule Calls
This process uses a Collect! report, there are three defaults shipped with Collect!. Each one has a matching Import Template at the TCN site.

TCN Reports shipped with Collect!:

TCN Schedule Calls Home#/ZIP
Sends File Number, Name, Home Phone number and ZIP.

TCN Home#/POE#Cell#/Other#/ZIP
Sends File Number, Name, four Phone numbers and ZIP.

TCN Schedule Calls All Data/ZIP
Sends File Number, Name, four Phone numbers and additional information such as Owing, Charged, Worked and ZIP.

TCN Download Report
This process uses a Collect! import, there are three defaults shipped with Collect!. Each one matches the Report Templates at the TCN site.

TCN Import maps shipped with Collect!:

TCN Download Report - Contact
This import map brings in the results for each call and creates a Phone Contact.

TCN Download Report - Notes
This import map brings in the results for each call and writes results to the Debtor Notes.

TCN Call Report with Call ID
This import map brings in the results for each call and creates a Phone Contact. In the Attach field, it stores the name of the WAV file for the recorded call.

When using these import maps, it is very important that you select the correct Report Template from the TCN site, either "Record" ( Last attempted call) or "Call" (every attempted call). You probably do not want to create a Contact for every attempted call, for instance. So if you are bringing in a Call report, you may want to select the TCN Download Report - Notes so that Collect! simply writes the results to the Debtor's Notes.

If TCN is recording your calls, they will return a file to you with all the WAV files. So you will want to use the "TCN Call Report with Call ID" to store this information in the Phone Contact.

If you are receiving Recorded Call WAV files from TCN Broadcasting, as part of your agreement with them, you can set a global path in the TCN Setup form. This enables you to store all your WAV files in one folder. Then you can open them from the Phone contact that Collect! creates when you process your call campaigns, using the TCN Call Report with Call ID.

When you process campaigns, Collect! fills the pick lists with the available templates that you can choose from the TCN site. You select the Collect! report or import that matches this.

Knowing that, you can modify both the Collect! templates and the TCN templates, as long as you make sure the fields and columns still "line up."

TCN Report Template

At the TCN web site, you can set up your own templates, or you can use the defaults provided by Collect!.

Here is an example of a TCN Report Template.

TCN Report Template

This template is used by TCN to generate a CSV results report.

Sample TCN CSV with Campaign Results

Collect! uses an import map to map to the data in the CSV. As long as the fields match, Collect! can input data into the correct account areas.

You can add to the default import map in Collect! or create your own to suit your requirements, as long as you keep to the same order as the Report Template at the TCN web site.

TCN Import Template

At the TCN web site, you can store your own templates and Collect! will retrieve them when it populates the pick lists in the TCN batch processes.

Here is an example of a TCN Import Template.

TCN Import Template

This template is used by TCN when Collect! sends a call campaign. TCN imports the data in the order specified in the template.

Collect! uses a report to create a CSV to send to TCN, making sure that the report's data is in the same order as the TCN template. As long as the fields match, the TCN import can read the CSV and schedule the campaign.

You can add to the default report in Collect! or create your own to suit your requirements, as long as you keep to the same order as the Import Template at the TCN web site.

Verifying A Call Campaign

Please ensure that you are sending only the accounts that you intend to send when generating your call campaign lists. You can print your report to screen beforehand and examine the information you are about to send. This is actually a very good way to ensure that you are satisfied with the criteria you are using to find the accounts in Collect! to include in your call campaign.

You can have several different reports for your campaigns, for instance, new accounts in one campaign, old accounts in another and so on. Please contact Member Services for help to ensure that you are creating your call campaigns correctly.

TCN Scrub By ZIP

Scrub by ZIP is a service that TCN provides for establishing do not call areas. You must activate this with your TCN provider and they will ensure that your TCN templates are updated to process ZIP codes. For details, please speak with your TCN Service representative.

Currently, Scrub By ZIP only works with United States Postal Codes.

Collect! ships with reports that send the Debtor's ZIP Code along with Phone and other details. If you are not set up to send the ZIP Code in your TCN reports, you can download the updated reports from the TCN Service section in the Collect! Member Center Widgets area.

Download TCN Phone with ZIP reports

Summary

This topic was a brief introduction to how templates are used in the TCN batch processes. The screen shots show the areas at the TCN web site where you can modify templates or create new ones. As long as you make sure that you have reports and imports in Collect! that match these templates, you can select them for your TCN campaign processes.

When you run the TCN batch processes, Collect! fills the template pick lists with the available templates stored for you or by you at the TCN web site.

For more information about using the TCN web site, you should ask your TCN representative.

See Also

- TCN Service Topics