vicidial.org

I'm very new to many call center concepts, and I couldn't find the 'stupid question forum', so here goes:

Is asterisk and vicidial an appropriate framework for managing something like centralized fax processing (by humans) service? I'd basically want to take advantage of many call center-ish features I've read about on the features list, without actually having calls (well, maybe some outbound ones, I'll get to that). Features like putting units of work (in my case, fax tiffs, not calls) into a queue, having Agents sign onto a specific queue, popping a webpage to an Agent to process the unit of work (transcribe the fax), etc., and get the benefits of the performance tracking and queue management that comes with a call center framework.

I'd like to sidestep questions about why the faxes need to be processed by humans, and just say that I didn't create the problem - I'm just trying to solve it by creating an efficient way to do it.

Flow in my head is something like:
1. A prospective customer fills out a form and faxes it to company
2. Fax arrives at company and is saved as a TIFF.
3. An adapter puts a "fake" call record/transfer packet/etc into an asterisk queue. Likely the metadata in said record is just a pointer back to it that can be fed to a webpage. I don't know exactly what the format is of the records that go into the queue, or if this can even be done. Different forms would be faxed to different numbers and would go into different queues.
4. Call Center Agent signed onto the queue gets a screen pop of a custom webpage, which via the metadata in the fake call record (or whatever), loads up the TIFF and a webform, in which to type out the transcribed data.
5. When transcription is complete, it is submitted, and the webserver goes off and does... something with it. "Call" ends, and Agent can take another.
6. If Agent needs clarification about something on the form (and the phone# on the form is legible and correct), they can dial (outbound) to the customer. That call can be completely independent of the call center system I guess if thats easier.

Am I barking up the wrong unicorn? If so, then hopefully I've provided some amusement for the day. If not, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike.

That's sounds like a very good idea.
You can send and email to sales@vicidial.com for quotes.

There is Email routing functionality but I haven't looked to see how it works. That might be a start if your faxes could be converted to Email.

In fact all you need is to use fax to email and then use the newly added email queues and the Web Form feature (or custom fields) to store/process your data. And you'll get all that cool reporting (plus a timeclock and locked "Pause Time" requirements, the whole shebang).

Install the latest Vicibox .iso and be sure to choose the latest SVN code during install!

No need to add a feature presuming you have fax-to-email service already. If not, get it ... it's offered virtually free by most major VOIP carriers these days. And your agents would also be able to blend in phone calls when they actually occur ... without having to switch gears.