What are result codes?
Your result codes determine what happens to leads once a user has dealt with their call/interaction on the system. Result codes can also be used in IVRs by assigning them to stages of your inbound routes. This can help to determine where customers abandon calls, which routes they take and to identify certain types of calls, such as voicemails (making it easier to search for the recordings afterwards).
Result codes are grouped into 'result codes plans' and then assigned to lists. This enables you to give your users the right result codes depending on the call, for example, having 2 pots of data for product A and product B would mean you may want a 'product A' specific set of result codes and a 'product B' set as this will help you with reporting on them in more detail.
You can also create result codes and result code plans specifically for interaction channels such as, webchat, email and SMS (particularly useful as a result code such as 'Answer machine' would be irrelevant for web chat and so on).
Use case for result code plans
Calls
A sales company has 2 products they are selling to its customers. They have separate lists of data for each service. To be able to report more accurately on sales from both services, they use a separate result code plan and separate result codes for each service. This enables them to track performance live, via dashboards and wallboards and also allows them to use the reporting suite for historical data on their sales.
Email
A BPO working on behalf of several clients have email channels for each. To be able to track and report back to clients, they setup separate result code plans for each email channel such as 'enquiries', 'customer service', 'sales' etc.
As part of onboarding, you may have provided several result codes for us to configure for you. As well as the defaults on the system, you're not limited to result codes previously created and can add as many as you want to the system, change the configuration or remove them where required.
Select the images for a more detailed view.
Fig 1. To access the page, head to SETTINGS> GENERAL> RESULT CODES
Page breakdown
The page consists of 3 main areas; The settings across the top, the Columns on the left (Lists, Result code plans and Result codes) and the editing pane on the right.
By accessing this page, you can edit your existing result codes and add new ones.
The system houses some default result codes as well as ones added during implementation via your onboarding document. To aid the smooth setup of these, please ensure all required result codes are added to the document. All result codes can be edited at any time and can be added or removed from result code plans at will. There is no limit to the number of plans or result codes you can have on the system.
Settings
 | Create new result code. By selecting this, the right hand pane will display a new result code for you to configure. There are no limits to the number of result codes you can have on the system. You can always edit to replace with a different configuration or make them inactive when no longer in use. |
 | Create new plan. Selecting this will create a new result code plan which can be assigned to a list for calls or a channel for interactions such as webchat/SMS etc. |
| Filter. The filter allows you to display all/inactive/active items on the page. | |
 | Advanced filter. This option allows you to display result codes that match selections of a further drop down, particularly useful when you have a lot of result codes and only want to edit certain types. You can display result codes of a certain status type, contact type or success type.  |
 | Reset filters. If you have made any changes to the filters above, this button will simply reset them so you see everything again. |
| Show channels. By default, the page displays Lists in the left hand column. By toggling this switch, you can see the channels active on the system. | |
| Interaction types. The dropdown here lets you quickly filter the result codes to see which have been assigned to certain types of interaction. Note - result codes can be associated with multiple types of interaction i.e. 'SALE' could apply to calls and webchat. 'AWAITING REPLY' could apply to emails and SMS interactions. | |
 | Save. It's essential that you hit save whenever you make changes on the page. You will get a dialog box warning if you don't save a new result code when trying to create the next for example. You wont however, if you try and navigate away from the page. |
Left hand pane - columns
The left hand portion of the screen contains 3 columns displaying Lists, Result code plans and result codes. The lists column can be changed to show channels. You can assign result codes and plans to lists in the same way you can assign users and teams on the CTU page.
Fig 3. Columns on the left hand side of the screen.
The lists column will display all active lists on the system and when you select a list, the centre column will change to display which result code plan is assigned to that list. You cannot see inactive lists on this page as they are not needed to be present here. If you need to see and edit lists, including inactive ones, navigate to the lists page. Lists guide.
The result code plans column displays all the active plans on the system, selecting a plan will change both the left hand and the right hand columns to display where the plan is assigned and what result codes are part of the plan. You can change plans on lists on this page and it will stay assigned, even without saving so ensure you have selected the correct plan if you are going to change them.
In the result code column, you can see all active result codes on the system (for the selected plan). You can add or remove result codes by selecting the plus/minus icons and can edit them by selecting the result code, which will change the right hand side of the screen.
Right hand pane
This area of the screen allows you to edit/create result codes.
Fig 4. The right hand pane contains 2 tabs for editing result codes.
Editing tab
| Result code | This name needs to be a maximum of 10 characters and can only contain letters and numbers. Effectively, this will be the shorthand name/code for the result code which will appear in web agent for your agents. They will not need to memorise these shorthand names as the description will also display. |
| ★ | Favourite result code. Selecting this will allow the result code to be visible throughout calls rather than in dispositioning only. Any result code set as a 'post call action' result code, will automatically be starred as a favourite. See the post call action example at the bottom for this guide. |
| Active | With this checked, the result code will be visible by default. When inactive, it will be hidden by default. This is our way of 'deleting', ensuring if done accidentally, it can be brought back without losing all settings etc. |
| Agents can see this | With this checked, the result code will be visible in the web agent if being used (as long as its part of a result code plan being used), if it's unchecked it won't be visible in the web agent. The result code can still be used however, on things like IVR's and could also be used in scripts. |
| Description | Your description on each result code will be seen by the agents in the web agent so needs to be easy to read, descriptive and fairly short! It has a maximum character limit of 40 for the description. |
| Associated interaction types | This selection box allows you to set which types of interaction the result code can be used on. This allows you to still use the same result code plans but have different result codes appear on interactions. To add an interaction type, click on it when grey and it will be added and moved above in blue. To remove, select the blue interaction type and it will be moved below in grey. |
Use case for associated interaction types
A business has one calling campaign and 2 interaction channels, email and chat. They have a 'SALE' result code, an answer machine result code and an 'awaiting a response' as part of their defaults. The 'SALE' result code has 'Call, email and chat' added to it. The answer machine has 'call' only and the awaiting a response just has the 'email' assigned.
All of these result codes are on the same plan but only appear on the relevant interaction types for the agent.
| Lead status | This drop down allows you to group result codes. The main reason for doing this are to increase efficiency when using lead management and to improve reports. If there are 100's of result codes for many campaigns, being able to group them by status will greatly increase the speed of resetting them for example. The options you can classify result codes as are
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| Success | This means any interactions using a result code with this selected will be recorded as a success on the system, i.e. a sale/booking/payment or anything you wish to determine as a success on your portal will be recorded on dashboards, wallboards and in reports. Further to this, you can then use the collect revenue option to allow an agent to record the amount taken on the successful interaction. This can be collated at user/team/list and campaign level on dashboards, wallboards and reports. For more on this feature, see this guide. The success type can be fixed and entered in the successes count box, i.e. 1 for a single tariff, 2 for a dual fuel tariff in the utility industry. Alternatively, the success type could be set to flexible, allowing an agent to type in the number of successes if that fits with your result code.  Fig 5. The success option selected displays further options. |
| Contact type | Here you can select from 'not a contact', a 'contact' and a 'decision maker contact' (DMC) to specify how the result code will be counted toward your contact rates on the system. This is mainly for reporting purposes and will effect your contact rate on the real time dashboards and wallboards. |
Contact types can be described as
Not a contact - someone answering but the incorrect person entirely.
Contact - someone answering that is related/not related to the 'target' of an outbound call, they cannot make a final decision on the outcome. E.g. business partner, wrong person, colleague, partner, son/daughter etc.
Decision maker contact - someone answering who is the intended target of the call or are able to make a final decision in terms of the outcome.
| Result code filtering | These options can be used in combination and allow you to control where result codes can/cannot be used. Display only on manual calls - With this selected, an agent will only see this result code when they are on a manual call. Display only on transferred calls- When an agent transfers a customer to another destination from an interaction, you can set certain result codes to track this via record history or reports. As part of the transfer process, they are required to select an outcome and result codes with this selected will only show up as a choice. Keep lead with agent. Only visible when the above 'display on transferred calls' is selected. This option is for 3rd party transfers. When this setting is enabled, during the transfer process, after combining the customer with the 3rd party, the lead will remain with the user in a dispositioning state so that the user can complete any notes/actions with the customers details still on screen prior to choosing an outcome. When not used, the call will be dispositioned at the time of combining the customer with the 3rd party and the user will be put into a ready state so another call can be initiated. Allowed only through scripts - This option means that the agent cannot use the result code in the web agent (it wont be visible) and can only select it from the preconfigured location within a script.Display only on inbound calls - This option allows you to have certain result codes displayed on inbound calls only. Enabling agents to have more relevant choice when dispositioning. |
Filtering result code examples
Manual calls - Part of a companies process is to make manual calls periodically. These calls are of a specific nature from certain members of staff. Because of this, specific result codes can be created to track outcomes of these calls.
Transferred calls - To enable a business to track the types of transfers, perhaps to an accounts team, 3rd party booking system or another department, separate specific result codes are created to track when these transfers are made. The result codes only appear in this instance, reducing the risk of agents selecting incorrect outcomes.
Keep lead with agent - Some customers have to perform 'after call duties' such as filling in information on a separate system, paper files etc. Using this setting allows them to transfer the customer elsewhere without losing their details from the screen. This enables them to look through the script/CRM and use the details to update the other system or visa versa.
Allowed only through scripts - When using a bespoke MaxContact script, you may only want agents to be able to select certain outcomes at certain stages of a conversation/script. Using this option means they will only see the result code via the script (In the specific location you choose).
Display only on inbound calls - To track inbound call outcomes, some clients have specific result codes setup for these calls. This option means they will only be visible on the relevant calls avoiding mis-disposition opportunities.
Advanced tab
Fig 6. The advanced tab visible in the right hand pane.
| Recall | This option determines what happens next with the lead if an agent uses the result code. |
| Never recall lead - 'make ineligible' - If a result code is selected with this option enabled, the lead will be deactivated and won't be called again. This will deactivate any other phone numbers linked to the lead. The only way this individual lead will be able to be called again, would be if the lead was reset using the Lead Management page. Setting up a result code with this option and using it against leads makes it a 'final' or final result'. Do not recall this phone number - The ‘Do not recall this phone number’ radio button will not call the specific phone number again. It will not deactivate the lead unless the number in question here is the only number that the lead has, or the last number that was eligible for the lead. This is also a 'Final or 'Final result' however the lead is still active and could potentially be called again on a different number. Recall- Choosing ‘Recall’ will enable the ‘Recall time’ box to appear. Setting a result code to Recall will mean that at some point in the future (that point being the amount of time in days/hours/minutes you enter in the Recall time) the lead phone will become eligible to be dialled again. |
It's important to note here that although the setting is called ‘Recall’ choosing it doesn’t guarantee that the lead will be called after the exact given time. The lead is just made eligible to be called after the given time and must exist in a campaign/list that’s active and mustn’t have been marked as a ‘Do Not Call’ between being closed off originally and then becoming eligible.
Leads with a higher lead priority (newly imported leads for example) will always take precedence over historical leads meaning the result code set to recall after x amount of time will effectively go to the bottom of the list, behind uncontacted leads.
Recall examples
Recall - By default, certain recalls are set to Ofcom compliant values. Answer machine, for example is set to 1 day. This means that if an agent dispositions a call as answer machine, the system will not be able to recall the lead for a day. And as previously mentioned, that lead may not be called in exactly a day, it could be several hours (or even days) before it works its way up the list to be called again.
Never recall lead - 'make ineligible' - Should a client sell to a customer, they may not want to call them again so would use this option. This means the lead in the system will not be called again to avoid trying to sell to them again after a purchase. It also means that the lead could be called again in the future if the client wanted to be reactivating the lead.
Do not recall this number - Some leads may have multiple numbers. A B2B campaign may call one business and find they are speaking to a business partner who doesn't deal with the subject being discussed. That partner may ask to call the other partner about the subject and to not bother them again. Here, you could use this option to final that number so you don't call it again. The next time the system dials the lead, it will use the other number(s).
| Rollover type | Using this feature allows you to move a lead from its current list to a different list via the result code used at the end of the call. |
| Do not rollover. Selecting this (selected by default) does nothing to the lead and ensures it stays on its current list. | |
Rollover to list. Selecting this option provides a dropdown where you can select a 'destination' list for the lead once an agent dispositions with the result code. |
Rollover example
Agents for a company call customers to advise them of a salesman who will be in their area to offer quotes for products/services. Customers who book an appointment are dispositioned with a result code that rolls them over to a 'managers list'. The manager(s) log into their campaign at a later date to call the customer to confirm the appointment and ask them if they were happy with the original call.
| Close interaction | Keep interaction open. Used for interactions only. Selecting this option will keep the interaction ticket 'open' as you would be expecting a response from the customer. |
| Close the interaction. Used for interactions only. Using this option will close the ticket meaning you are not expecting any more correspondence over the ticket. Customers can still contact you further down the line and create new tickets. |
Expected handle time | The expected handle time is the amount of time you would expect the agent to take when using this result code on calls only. |
| Min user time (s) | This is the lowest amount of time you expect an agent to spend on this outcome (talk time and disposition time). |
| Max user time (s) | This is the most amount of time you expect an agent to take for this particular outcome (talk time and disposition time). |
Exceptions and burns
Exceptions
Using an example of ‘NI – Not Interested’, you could expect an average talk time of 3 minutes for the agent to have done their job correctly. They could, in theory, go through this in 2 minutes and you wouldn’t want them on the phone more than 5 minutes given this will never be a sale. Therefore, agents using this outcome with a talk time less than 2 minutes or more than 5 minutes will be flagged as an exception. This will be displayed in a column on the recordings playback page and the coaching page.
Typical values for exceptions on the most common Result Codes could be;
| Common result code | Final? | Expected handle time (s) | Minimum user time (s) | Maximum user time (s) | |
| Answer machine | ANS | no | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 'Call me back' | CALL BACK | no | 30 | 20 | 60 |
| Not interested | NI | yes | 60 | 30 | 180 |
| Constant ringing | NO ANSWER | no | 20 | 10 | 25 |
| Sale, booking etc. | SUCCESS | yes | 300 | 100 | 600 |
| Do Not Call | DNC | yes | 60 | 30 | 120 |
Its important to remember that these figures are only rough guidelines and each customer has specific requirements for their exception handling. For example, one customers 'SUCCESS' could last only a few minutes whereas another could last up to an hour depending on their type of business. Likewise, where one company wants their agents to get off 'NI' calls quickly, others may want their agents to try and up sell to the lead so their 'expected handle time' will differ.
Burns
(Also falls under the umbrella of exceptions) - If the call duration is below the expected handling time and the agent dispositions the call with a 'final' result code, the lead will be 'burned' as the system will never call it again. (A final result code is one with the 'Never recall lead – make ineligible’ setting selected on the Recall option of the result code). If the result code is a 'final' with the ‘Do not recall this phone number’ option selected, only the number called for that lead will be burned, not the lead itself.
So, an agent who is dispositioning a call under a minimum user time is usually not waiting long enough to disposition the call. As long as the result code isn't a final result code, the number will be called again.
Another example of a burn: A 'Not Interested' has an minimum handle time set of 30 seconds. If the agent hangs up after 5 seconds as 'Not Interested', you know they didn't try hard enough. You can't possibly tell that someone isn't interested in 5 seconds! They have burned that lead simply because it falls outside the expected handling time set.
So in technical terms, a burn is;
A 'final' result code and NOT a 'Success'
or is 'Wrong Number'
or is 'Not Interested'
and is under exception
Other behaviour | Allows agent to set a call-back If used on a result code, this will allow the agent to specify a recall date and time and either choose private or public call back. A call-back result code used within a script also presents the agent with a notes box for the call-back. A useful reminder for them to add notes when required. |
| Redial another number The ‘Redial another number’ is another useful feature that will allow agents to call clients back immediately or add a new number and call that back immediately. Using a result code with this selected produces either a dropdown of existing numbers (if they exist) or a box to enter an alternate phone number to use (This will update the leads information. |
'Allows agents to set a call-back' AND 'Redial another number' can be combined to allow the agent to set a call-back on an alternative number. Select both tick boxes for this to be an option for agents.
Other behaviour examples
Redial another number
An agent is connected to a customer via mobile and their reception isn't great. The customer requests the agent calls them back on their home phone number. The agent can select it, if its in the system already or they can ask the customer for the number and enter it into the system.
| Add number to the Do Not Call register | The ‘Add number to the Do Not Call Register’ will open the ‘The DNC category’ drop down when checked. Any result code with this check box ticked will add the client to the DNC list you’ve selected in the drop down list. For more on DNC, see this guide. |
DNC result code examples
Manual DNC
When an agent is informed by a customer that they don't wish to be contacted again, the agent can select the DNC result code and that will add their number to the list so they are never contacted again. This result code could also be used on a DNC element in an IVR.
| Post call action | A post-call action gives the ability to route a call through an IVR when normally the call would be disconnected. A post-call action can be initiated by the agent or can be set by other IVR routines. For more information on this , see this guide. When a post call action is assigned to a result code, it automatically becomes a favourite result code. |
Post call action example
Clients requiring their agents to leave a voicemail on customers phones can use this option to leave a pre-recorded message. By adding a pre-recorded message to a simple IVR, any result codes for answer machines could have a post call action which, when selected by the agent, moves the call down the IVR leaving the agent available for their next call.