by Pete | Jun 23, 2014 | Acarda Outbound, outbound calling
Acarda Outbound provide support for time zones however this feature is turned off by default. To turn time zones on in the Acarda Outbound take the following steps:
1. Open Acarda Outbound Manager software (or in Solo click on the Administration tab).
2. Click on the Setup Tab.
3. Click on the Settings icon in the Setup group of icons.
4. Click on the “Other Settings” link in the left tree view menu under “Call Options”.
5. In the Time Zones Settings panel check the User Time Zones check box.
You also have the option to set two other settings that will govern whether or not leads for Duty Team Call Backs or Requested Call Backs can be sent to the agents outside of the time zones. For example, if someone asks you to call back later in the evening but it is outside the time zone you have set up. You can permit that by checking the “Ignore Time Zones for Requested Call Backs”.
Now setup the time zones information:
1. Open Acarda Outbound Manager software (or in Solo click on the Administration tab).
2. Click on the Setup Tab.
3. Click on the Time Zones icon in the Setup group of icons.
4. Click New to add a new zone. The name of the zone must match up with the names used in the calling list data in the Dial List “Time Zone” field. If your data states the time zone code then use that here for the zone name, alternatively, you could use say the state and then you would enter the states as a time zone name. Enter the Start Time and Stop Time from the point of view of the Acarda Outbound Server clock.
That’s it. Time zones are now set up.
by Pete | Jun 16, 2014 | Acarda Outbound, outbound calling
Each campaign in Acarda Outbound has an associated calling list which we call the Dial List. Your calling list will likely come as an Excel spread sheet or it may already be in a csv file format. It is easy to take your Excel format and use Save As a csv file.
In Acarda Outbound, to import your calling list take the following steps:
1. Under the Manager tab click on the Dial List icon in the Import Group. This will bring up the Import Dial List screen.
2. Select the campaign from the drop down list that you want to import to. If you campaign is not yet set up then prior to importing you need to click on the Setup tab and then the Campaigns icon and add your campaign name.
3. Once you have selected the campaign then select the Import File by clicking on the ellipsis button (…)
4. If you have a header in the top of the import file that states the name of the columns but does not contain real data then check the Ignore Header check box.
5. It is a good idea to click the Reset button on the lower left side of the screen to clear out past File Column Positions. Of course if the data is the same format as the last import then there is no need to do this. Please note during import if you get an error message about the input array being longer than the number of columns in the table the nit probably means you have a number in the File Column Position that is too high.
6. Now match the File Column Positions of you data (as shown in the Import File Preview window) to each Database Field Name that you want to import to. You could try the Auto Detect feature if you have checked the “Ignore Header” check box.
7. Then when ready click the Import button.
We have a YouTube video on how to import your data into Acarda Outbound. Please take a look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ivm4mT45Yf0
In the Advanced Edition there is a really useful feature to allow you to save the import settings that link the calling list data to the File Column Position. This means if you work with several different list formats you can save each format to a template and then the next time you go to import that sort of file you 
can just click on the File Definitions Templates drop down list to find the one you used last time.
by Pete | Jun 6, 2014 | Acarda Outbound, outbound calling
Although I started this blog four years ago it didn’t take long before I was distracted with other things and found the blog was the easiest item on my to do list to neglect. Last year however, with the release of Acarda Outbound which is effectively TeamMax version 7, I found myself wondering how we could best communicate the new features and time-saving enhancements of Acarda Outbound to you all. So I am going to try and post more regular blogs over the rest of the year. We’ll start by looking at how to do things in Acarda Outbound.
So what is Acarda Outbound? Acarda Outbound is for focused outbound calling and will drastically increase your productivity in telemarketing, telesales, appointment setting, customer care, surveying and any other outbound calling campaigns. There is a team edition, http://www.acarda.com/live-outbound-calling/, and a solo user edition, http://www.acarda.com/live-outbound-calling/.
