Virtual Users: Beyond the basics – A Practical Example with HR Interviews

A short while back we introduced you to the idea of virtual users, an admittedly esoteric aspect of ZipDX, but one that’s seeing increased adoption. This article builds upon that introduction. It details a practical, real-world application of virtual users, taken directly from the experience of one of our newest customers.

Conducting Interviews By Phone

Imagine if you will a panel conducting a series of interviews by telephone. Perhaps they’re hiring. All of the people to be interviewed are known in advance. The panel will be meeting for the entire day, interviewing a different person every 20-30 minutes.

The panel needs the flexibility to take as much time as required with each candidate. They don’t want to be constrained to a hard start/stop time for each interview.

As such, the candidates won’t have predetermined start times. They will be told simply that their interview will be, “some time in the morning (or afternoon.)” That makes it most practical for ZipDX to dial out to each candidate when the panel is ready for them.

Since ZipDX will be calling the candidates at an arbitrary time during that day there’s no point sending them an email invitation. Much of what it contained would be relative to the conference as a whole, not just their interview, making it simply confusing.

A moderator will be facilitating the interviews. Their job is to get the next person on the phone, ready to be interviewed at the appropriate time.

They’ll do this using the conference dashboard and the host dial-out process, which we have described previously. They could make use of a break-out room so as not to interrupt the current interview when readying the next candidate.

There are two possible ways to address this situation.

1. Host Dial-Out: The Hard Way

This approach is fairly obvious. The moderator could work from a set of notes that includes a list of the participants and their contact details.

• As the panel was finishing with the prior candidate the moderator would move to a breakout room, select the Host Dial-Out control and manually enter the phone number for the next participant.
• When the new participant was connected to the call they’d be in the breakout room where they would be welcomed by the moderator.
• When the panel was ready for the next candidate the moderator would use the Host Controls to move everyone in the breakout room to the main room. They could them make the introductions.
• The moderator also has the option of moving the new candidate to the waiting room. In they waiting room they would hear music until the panel was truly ready for them.

This approach certainly works, but it implies keeping careful track of all of the candidate contact details as the call proceeds. The process could be a lot easier if the system already had all the candidates contact details.

2. Host Dial-Out: The Easy Way

This approach trades a little effort in advance of the call for a much simpler operational reality once the call is underway.

Once the list of candidates in available each person is pre-registered as a virtual user. This creates a profile for each candidate, so the system will have their contact details in its database.

• As each person is pre-preregistered their phone number is entered into the profile, set for Auto-ID Only as pictured above. Thus they will not be called at the start of the day when the panel convenes and the conference begins.
• When the call is scheduled each candidate is added to the list of invited participants.
• As a virtual user they won’t get any unexpected, confusing email from the system. After all, it’s just a one-time job interview.
• When the conference begins all of the candidates are listed in the conference dashboard by name. Each is indicated as “Invited” as shown below.

The dashboard image shows that the panel conducting the interview are connected, along with the moderator and the first candidate.

When any particular candidate is required the moderator simply clicks on their name, selecting the Dial out to user option to initiate the call to them.

Since the system has the various contact details in its database, the moderator is relieved of the burden of keeping track of candidate contact details as the interviews proceed.

They can still use the manual host dial-out function, perhaps to reach out to someone who was not part of the initial plan.

Conclusion

While the HR interview described in this example is a fiction, the manner in which virtual users are being leveraged is taken directly from a new customer project. The workflow that this customer has adopted ensures that their conferences go smoothly, building their brand in the eyes of their customers and partners.

At ZipDX our goal is to make it easier for people to communicate. How can we help you?

Questions?

If you have questions about any aspect of ZipDX please contact our support team at:

• 1-888-947-3955,
• Or, +1-312-348-8175,
• Or, email support@zipdx.com.

We’re here to help you get down to business.