Portobello RAI: Cloud Contact Centre solution for live TV broadcasts
| October 10, 2018
In the broadcasting and media entertainment industry, managing massive spikes in inbound call volumes during live television events represents a critical infrastructure challenge. For the prime-time revival of the famous Portobello RAI show – broadcast live on RaiUno on Saturday evenings, between October and December 2018 – BeCloud Solutions supplied the complete Cloud infrastructure to manage inbound telephone interactions both on-air and off-air.
The Portobello RAI project required a resilient, highly scalable Cloud system capable of seamlessly routing calls to studio switchboard operators while maintaining a 24/7 interactive voicemail service for participant applications.
Architecture and deployment for the Portobello RAI project
To meet the high-density call handling requirements of national television broadcasting, BeCloud Solutions deployed its proprietary Cloud Contact Centre platform, BeInContact, in a stand-alone configuration.
The implementation for the Portobello RAI production encompassed:
- Dedicated extensions: provisioning of dedicated phone extensions to handle real-time applicant requests during live broadcasts;
- Full call recording: activation of secure recording modules to log and archive all inbound call traffic;
- Multi-Tier voicemail workflows: deployment of automated voicemail boxes ensuring continuous service availability during off-air periods.
Call Flow Engineering and Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
The inbound telephony architecture for Portobello RAI was designed to segment and route callers based on interactive menu choices processed through BeInContact’s IVR (Interactive Voice Response) module. Callers dialed a unified national phone number provided by BeCloud:
- During live TV broadcasts: BeInContact dynamically distributed inbound calls directly to the switchboard operator stations situated in the RaiUno television studio;
- During off-air hours: the IVR system automatically routed callers to dedicated audio message recorders, enabling the production team to collect candidate details for follow-up calls.
IVR workflows, voicemail architecture, and web management
Inbound IVR call flows for the Portobello RAI project were structured into three specific operational streams:
- On-air interaction: direct call forwarding to studio extensions or automatic redirect to dedicated voicemail boxes during off-air hours;
- Audience & Show interaction: specialized voicemail mailboxes for audience members wishing to engage with show participants;
- Contestant applications: structured audio mailboxes capturing registration details for prospective show contestants.
To review and manage audio files, BeCloud provided an instant voicemail service integrated with an intuitive web management portal. The production team gained immediate access to listen to, download, and categorize all call recordings entering the Cloud Contact Centre across both off-air voicemail channels and live broadcast interactions.
