Automatically Launch External Applications on Incoming Calls

The Cloud Voice App can hand off incoming call details to a program already installed on your computer. Once you set it up, the app launches the application you choose at the moment a call reaches your extension and passes along information about the caller. This is a quick way to surface a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) record, a helpdesk ticket, or any executable that can accept caller data on the command line.

Before you begin

Make sure the following are in place:

• Cloud Voice platform: Your account must be running platform version 84.18.0.59 or later. IZT keeps the hosted platform current, so this is met for most accounts.
• Cloud Voice App (Desktop): Version 1.10.2 or later.
• External application: The program you want to launch is already installed on the computer running the desktop app.

Set up a launch rule

1. Sign in to the Cloud Voice App on your desktop and open Preferences > Features > Call Popup.

2. Turn on Launch External Application.

3. Select Add to create a trigger rule, then fill in the fields described below.

   Note

   You can define up to 3 trigger rules.

   Setting	What it does
   Trigger Event	Chooses the point in the call at which the application opens: Ringing: the incoming call arrives. Answered: the incoming call is picked up. Call End: the incoming call finishes.
   Parameters to Send	The arguments passed to the application when it launches. You can include these variables: .{{.CallerNumber}}, the caller’s number (Caller ID). .{{.CallerDisplayName}}, the caller’s name (Caller ID Name).
   Path to Application Executable	The full path to the program’s executable file. Type it in, or select Browse to locate it. For example, D:\Download\MicroCRM\MicroCRM.exe.

   Tip

   Use Browse to pick the executable instead of typing the path by hand. A single typo in the path stops the program from launching, with no error to explain why.

   Caution

   The program you launch must be built to read the values in Parameters to Send as command-line arguments. If it cannot, it still opens, but the caller number and name are ignored. Set one trigger event per rule: adding separate rules for Ringing, Answered, and Call End will open the program up to three times during a single call.

4. Select Save.

What happens next

From now on, whenever your extension receives a call, the app opens the specified program at each event you configured and forwards the caller details you selected.