Restrict

Last Updated : Sep 16, 2022 |

Use the Restrict node to apply restrictions on the contacts. You can base the restrictions on both system and contact attributes. Restrict node has one child node: Exception.

If a contact is in temporary restrict state because of the restrict condition, then the contact is not dialed. The restrict condition is rechecked after the re-check interval of the temporary restrict condition. If the customer does not specify the re-check interval of the condition, then the default value is 1 minute.

The Temporary Restricted Attempts value is a counter value which counts the number of attempts made for every contact to be dialed at that point of time.

Note:

This count is not the actual attempts made for every contact, but just a check. Depending on the recheck time interval set in the Campaign Strategy, the system checks whether the restriction is applicable for every contact before the contact is dialed. If the restriction is applicable, the Temporary Restricted Attempts counter is incremented.

The Temporary Restriction Counts value is a counter value which counts the total number of contacts which are temporarily restricted.

Both the Temporary Restriction Attempts and Temporary Restriction Counts values can decrease over time. If the contact no longer matches the temporary restrict criteria and the contact is dialed, the Temporary Restriction Counts counter is reduced by 1. All Temporary Restriction Attempts made for this contact are also deducted.

For example, let us say there are 200 contacts which are temporarily restricted, and for those 200 contacts there have been 5000 rechecks done to verify if the temporary restrict is still applicable. Then the Temporary Restriction Counts will show 200 and Temporary Restriction Attempts will show 5000 at that point of time. Let us assume for 1 contact 25 rechecks have been performed so far.

If the temporary restriction is not applicable for 1 contact anymore, then the Temporary Restriction Counts value is decreased by 1 and the new value is now 199. Simultaneously the Temporary Restriction Attempts value for that contact is also reduced. So all 25 rechecks are deducted from the Temporary Restriction Attempts count. Then the new Temporary Restriction Attempts value will be 4975.

The following table lists the properties of the node and their descriptions:

Property Name

Description

Name

Use this as a display name in the campaign strategy editor. If you do not specify a name, then the default name is Restrict.

Description

Use to specify the description for the Restrict node.

Type

Type property decides whether to apply the restrictions permanently or temporarily.

If the restrictions are of type permanent, the contact which matches the restriction condition is not attempted and gets the disposition as Restricted_Other.

If the restrictions are temporary, the contact which matches the restriction condition is not attempted. The contact is validated against all the restrictions defined in that handler again after the specified recheck interval. The contact is attempted for dialing only when it does not match any of the restriction conditions.

The default value is permanent.

Re-check Interval (min)

Use this to specify a time interval after which when a contact attempt is restricted because it matched some restriction of type 'temporary' it will be again checked for all the restrictions defined in that handler. The default value is permanent.

Attribute Type

Attribute Type defines if the attribute is system or contact.

Attribute

Attribute drop-down gets its value based on the value in Attribute Type property. If the Attribute Type is system, then Attribute property gets four values, day, date, time and dnc. If the Attribute Type is contact, then all contact attributes are listed in the Attribute drop-down.

Operator

You can use the operator with the attribute and its values. You can select any operator from Contains, Equals, Not Equals, Is Null, or Is Not Null.

For example, if you have an attribute FirstName Not Equals Abc, then Not Equals is an operator.

Note:

Not Equals operator filters only not NULL attribute value which is different from the given value in Restrict or Exception node. To apply restrict or exception to any attribute value including NULL, which is different from the given value, use the IsNull operator in addition to Not Equals operator.

Value

Value property defines the actual value which evaluates the condition.

Min Value

If the value of the attribute is greater than the value in Min Value property, POM restricts such contacts.

Max Value

If the value of the attribute is less than the value in Max Value property, POM restricts such contacts.
Note:

When the Min Value is less than Max Value, all contacts in the range including Min Value and Max Value are restricted.

When Min Value is greater than Max Value, all contacts in the range including Min Value and Max Value are contacted.

You can specify either Operator and Value, or Min Value and Max Value.

For Value, Min Value, and Max Value properties, you can type $NOW for any attribute of date, time, or timestamp data type.

Note:

$NOW is case-sensitive.

These datatypes evaluate $NOW.

For example:

  • If the datatype is date type, then it evaluates $NOW as current date.

  • If the datatype is time type, then it evaluates $NOW as current time.

  • If the datatype is timestamp type, then it evaluates $NOW as current date and time.

For time and timestamp datatypes, only the hour part is compared. For example, if the restriction is based on time datatype, and if you mention the Min Value as $NOW, only the hour part of time is considered for comparison.
Note:

If you are using the time attribute, do not use the specific time value input. The time value input compares the exact time as hh:mm:ss. To restrict or except specific time, use the $NOW, or a range using Min Value, and Max Value values. For example, do not specify the time value input as 16:00:00, 16:23:23. Instead specify the time value input as Min Value as 16:00:00 and Max Value as 16:59:59.

Edit Description

Use to change the description of the node.
Note:

Date and Time based comparisons use the date and time format specified in Global Date Format field. Ensure that you specify the date and time without separators.

For example, to restrict all platinum card holders from receiving the calls permanently in a campaign, in the Restrict node, you can set the Attribute Type as contact. Select the Card_Type or some contact attribute which saves the information about the contact’s credit card type. In the Value property, you can set the value as PLATINUM so that when the campaign runs, the platinum card holders are not contacted.

If the restrict type is temporary, then only the user can specify the recheck interval. If the user does not specify the value for the recheck interval, the default value is 1 minute. Before making call attempts, the restrictions are checked and the attempt is not made if the restriction condition is met.

For restrict of type temporary, if the condition is matched, the attempt is not made (restricted) and the contact is rechecked after the recheck interval.