AMD Initial Discussion

Answering Machine Detection Initial Discussion

• For posterity, since we've had this discussion with clients many times.

Obligatory disclaimer

I Never recommend AMD. Almost every client I've had who tried it, even those who got their statistics over 90% with a later installation of Asterisk, eventually abandoned it. (I said almost.)

AMD always requires two seconds of dead air to "decide", and that two seconds of dead air added to the (approximately) 1.25 seconds of dead air naturally occurring in Vicidial pushes those receiving the calls beyond the realm of patience and into "!&%$! Call Center! Git off my phone!".

Even if they don't say it, they think it. Now the agent has to dig out from under this attitude that was totally unnecessary.

IMHO: Better to let agents routinely press "VM" or "A" and otherwise get Live Happy callers. Inconvenience for the agents who are being paid to push a button is much better on the pocketbook than depressed sales and Vicidial Agents dealing with significantly more "attitude" than they need to while losing sales as a result.

One agent getting demeaned and screamed at for 30 seconds can set the tone for the room in a way no one wants, and you can't control this outcome. But you can control the training of the agents who push the button to consider it a simple part of the job.

Accuracy

AMD in older Asterisk systems is notoriously bad. 70% is about right. But in the newer Asterisk systems, it has improved. In fact, those who used to sell 3rd party AMD products no longer sell them. I'm not sure if that's because they sucked, because the newer AMD in newer Asterisk put them out of business, or if they just didn't sell enough to maintain the product.

To be clear: Our last test on US known answering machine numbers for a client (2015) showed better than 90% accuracy for both human and VM identification. It rarely identified a human as a machine, which is good.

3rd Party AMD

When there were 3rd party AMD systems, they required installation of a full extra server through which you were required to pass all calls. That box would make the AMD determination, and send a special signal back to Vicidial (not Asterisk) because the Makers of that software made a special deal (and that deal was not with Digium/Asterisk, but with Vicidial).

Vicidial AMD HowTo

Turn on AMD

• Campaigns->Choose Campaign->Detail View
• Routing Extension: 8369

Turn off AMD

• Campaigns->Choose Campaign->Detail View
• Routing Extension: 8368

AMD Concerns

• Server Load: AMD can add significant load to a server. If you are already heavily loaded, be conscious of the load of the DB and Dialers when you make this change. Be prepared to shut it back off.
• Channels: If you are near your carrier's channel limit, beware that AMD can also increase your simultaneous channel usage and push you past the threshold.
• Pissed off call recipients: Be sure you understand the different between "Hello?" 1.25 seconds "This is Bob from Bobco, wanna buy my stuff?" and "Hello?" ... 1.25 seconds ... 1 second ... 1 second ... "This is Bob from Bobco ...". The difference is notable to the consumer, and it invokes an invariably unhappy response.
• Accuracy: Customers treated as Machines. Older systems may do this much more than newer systems, but all risk the treatment of a Human as a Machine. No option to talk to a human, they get hung up on or played a message if that's how you configured the system and they do not have a way to opt out of either. If you get a complaint filed to the FCC as a result. Come back here and re-read this and say "Oh! I get it now. Perhaps that was bad."