The Function of Block Labels and Collectors

What are Block Labels and Collectors?

Within your Call Script Builder, each script step has two variables:

• Block Labels: This is your own personal identification system for the steps, or blocks, inside the script you are creating. You’ll use these to keep your script organized. For example, you may be creating a script path for Emergency calls. When adding blocks to this path, you would most likely label them as “Emergency." Something like "Phone Number Emergency." This will help you easily identify them for later use.
• Collectors: Collectors are how we store the data that the operator documents in the script block. These collector variables are used all over the Specialty Answering Service portal, from sending specific information collected after a phone call via SMS to displaying collected information later on in a script. An example of this is asking a person for their name and then inserting the name variable later in the script – “Thank you, {{first_name}}. One moment please while I access our calendar.”

Anatomy of Block Labels

Naming your block labels according to the path they represent is essential to keeping your script easy to navigate and change. To review the block labels you’ve already created, go to the Builder > Blocks > Block Bank. You will see all of the block labels that are currently assigned to sections or still unassigned.

If you are adding a new block to your script, be sure to make note of the block label you used for that particular path or section. For example, in Email Support, Email would be the type of script block, and Support would be the label. When changes are made in a script, whether adding or removing a block, the label should identify the path.

For example, let’s say you had two paths, one for Sales and one for Support. In the Sales path, you may label your first block Name Sales while in your support path, it may be Name Support.

Common Collectors

When creating script blocks, you’ll notice that most collectors are pre-programmed in. These are considered standard collectors. Below are some examples of standard collectors.  

• {{first_name}}
• {{last_name}}
• {{home_phone_number}}
• {{cell_phone_number}}
• {{email_address}}
• {{address_street}}, {{address_2}}, {{address_city}}, {{address_state}}, {{address_zip}}
• {{ticket_message}}

However, depending on the type of information you want our CSRs to gather, you can create your own collectors and input them into particular script blocks so that that information pushes through to you in a way that is organized and easy to understand.

Ways to Use Collectors

Collectors are used everywhere. They are how our software stores data and are available for use throughout our web portal. Following are some places where you might see Collectors in use:

• Query strings: When transferring data from the SAS system to your online web form, you may use variables to append the URL string. 
• Building SMS messages: If you are receiving text messages after a phone call, copy and paste variables to build a custom text message.
• Inside your script: Any collectors in your script can be used later in your script as part of the conversation the call center operators have with your callers. For example, if we ask a caller for their first name, we can then insert the {{first_name}} variable later in the script to personalize the conversation.