CADAS Cati@tHome

Intended for conducting CATI interviews in a virtual call centre network connecting distributed home, desktop or laptop terminals

Application

The implementation of telephone surveys with distributed traditional CATI survey centers and individual interviewer workstations:
•with centralized supervision and all operating features of a traditional CATI studio running on the CADAS Platform;
•with comprehensive control of the telephony of a distributed virtual studio.

How does it work?

  1. The Service Delivery Department receives a Home CATI survey order from a client and registers it in the CADAS system, including:
    • a questionnaire in electronic form;
    • a definition of the target group with quotas;
    • a contact database in electronic form (Excel);
    • supporting files (clips to play during interviews, long question item lists, information databases to display during interviews or for updating;
    • complete briefing information and instructions for interviewers and supervisors.
  2. The Service Delivery Department conducts preparatory work:
    • questionnaire programming;
    • processing and linking contact databases and supporting files in compliance with the Polish official personal data protection procedures;
    • an analysis of production resources (supervisors' and interviewers' workload);
    • setting project implementation parameters;
    • granting access to the project (the customer, project manager, implementation coordinator, supervisors, interviewer groups) using filters;
    • sharing the project online for the working resources (possibly preceded by a pilot);
    • briefing (remotely, during a tele- or videoconference or face-to-face regional or central meetings).
  3. An interviewer performs his or her daily contractual duties:
    • connects to the Internet at least once a day;
    • each connection to the Internet automatically logs the interviewer on to the CADAS server and launches automatic data synchronization;
    • reads received messages and information from the CADAS server;
    • executes transactions (the declared number of questionnaires to complete, the deadlines for the interviewer and supervisors online);
    • performs other work associated with the interviewer's contract: invoicing, replying to messages, updating documentation, participation in online tutorials and briefings, tele- or videoconferences, or face-to-face meetings.
  4. The interviewer carries out telephone interviews:
    • The interviewer logs on to the CADAS System using the CADAS Home CATI application installed on his or her PC;
    • The interviewer selects an assigned project from the login screen;
    • The interviewer logs on to the selected project. At that moment:
      • The CADAS local application sends an information packet to notify the CADAS server about the interviewer's logging on to the assigned survey. The interviewer becomes visible to the supervisor assigned to the survey;
      • The silent monitoring component of the local telephony application checks the readiness of devices that support the voice link of the interviewer's workstation and begins the monitoring access authorization procedure for the workstation;
      • The remote application for silent monitoring management receives information about the interviewer's workstation being logged on to, registers the availability of the interviewer's workstation for silent monitoring and recording of conversations, carries out an access authorization and encryption procedure, and then it goes to standby for commands from the workstation. From now on, using the local CADAS interviewing application, the commands will toggle recording procedures, as well as procedures for tagging, archiving and sharing recordings in the CADAS system for review and inspection);
      • The remote screen preview application receives the login signal, sets up a preview between the interviewer's and supervisor's workstations, and sends feedback about the readiness of the interviewer's workstation screen preview.
    • The interviewer is guided through the recruitment phase of the questionnaire.
      • Information about the available stratification categories is retrieved from the system;
      • Contact details are retrieved;
      • The CATI module initiates a call setup by CADAS CallServer for the workstation, logs standard status and performance parameters of each connection, launches and closes the recording and silent monitoring procedures, and stores the data for review and inspection with access authorization using search mechanisms (filtering and scheduling);
      • The interviewer initiates a call and determines the compliance of the respondent's characteristics with the recruitment parameters according to a scenario programmed in the interviewing mode. When compliance with the recruitment criteria is established by moving to the first screen of the main part of the questionnaire, the number of respondents sought is updated in the corresponding stratification cell on the central CADAS Server.
    • The interviewer is guided through the main part of the questionnaire (with appointment, pause, resume and other options). The interviewer receives all written notes from the supervisor in a dedicated pane. Voice communication is possible after the respondent is disconnected.
    • The interviewer closes the interview. Stratification changes are finalized (unless the interview is rejected at the inspection stage). Interview data is associated with voice recordings of the interview as well as various details about telephone connection parameters, silent monitoring, registration, the number of attempts, database updates etc.

Required operating resources

  • Interviewers with the required skills and abilities;
  • Appropriate conditions to conduct interviews at home (a dedicated workplace to enable interference-free phone calls at the computer);
  • Computer hardware (a generic PC or notebook);
  • An IP phone handset that supports the SIP2 VoIP technology;
  • An Internet connection to transfer data and voice streams with no permanent IP address required (256 k or a higher upload rate);
  • A CATI Home CADAS project coordinator at the Service Delivery Department.
  • CATI Home CADAS supervisors at the Service Delivery Department.