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Secure Call Flows

Section Description
Feature Area Architect / Flows
Flow Type Secure Call Flow
Navigation Admin → Architect → Flows → Secure Call
Primary Function Temporarily mask audio and prevent recording/agent access to sensitive customer data (PCI payments, PII collection)
Compliance PCI DSS compliant

Secure call flows protect sensitive customer data by masking audio paths and preventing system recording during specific portions of an interaction. The most common use case is collecting credit card or bank account information for payment processing without exposing that data to agents or recording systems.

Study Notes

Topic Explanation
Secure Flow A flow type in Architect that masks audio and data captured during an interaction to meet PCI/PII compliance requirements
Secure IVR Bundles multiple tools — secure flows, secure variables, and secure actions — into a complete PCI-safe data collection approach
Secure Action Any action in Architect marked as "secure" — triggers the flow to operate in secure mode
Secure Variable A variable whose content is flagged as secure — also triggers secure mode when consumed
Key Icon Visual indicator in Architect showing that an action or action beneath it is either secure or consuming secure data
PCI DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard — secure call flows help organizations comply with this standard for phone-based payments
Protocol Capture risk Enabling trunk diagnostics/protocol capture logs all data, including data entered in secure flows — sensitive data is not encrypted. Avoid enabling when using secure flows
PCI DSS setting If enabled in org settings, Genesys Cloud automatically disables Media Capture and Protocol Capture settings

Two Secure Flow Scenarios

Scenario Description
Agent-referred secure session Agent is on an active call with the customer → agent initiates the transfer to a secure flow → flow collects sensitive data → flow returns caller to the agent via Return to Agent action
IVR-only secure session No live agent involved — caller interacts entirely with the automated flow — sensitive data collected and processed — flow ends with Disconnect action

Key Actions in Secure Flows

Action Purpose
Transfer to Secure Flow Used in an Inbound, Outbound, or In-Queue flow to transfer the caller into a secure flow
Return to Agent Terminating action in a secure flow — reconnects caller to the agent after the secure session ends; passes stored variable values (e.g., confirmation number) back to agent's script
Disconnect Terminating action for IVR-only secure sessions with no agent
Extract Secure Data Retrieves secure variable values within a secure flow
Call Secure Data Used to pass secure data between flow components

The Transfer to Secure Flow action is available in Inbound, Outbound, and In-Queue flows. For transfer actions within a secure flow: Genesys Cloud uses blind transfers (not consult). The defined failure path is overridden and the call is disconnected if the transfer fails.

Return to Agent Action — Key Details

Attribute Detail
Type Terminating action — ends the secure flow
Where used Secure flows (agent-referred scenario)
What it does Reconnects caller to the original agent; sends stored variable values to agent's script
If agent left before caller returns Call is disconnected
Cannot transfer to new destination Return to Agent does not support transferring to a different agent or number
Monitoring restriction If a supervisor is actively monitoring the interaction, the agent cannot initiate the Transfer to Secure Flow; monitoring must be ended first

Analytics Impact

Secure flows affect the following agent metrics:

Metric Affected Description
Time in IVR Time spent in the secure flow counts against IVR time
Average Time in IVR Affected by secure flow duration
Agent Handle Time Impacted because the agent is technically handling the interaction during the secure session
Average Agent Handle Time Affected
Agent Talk Time Affected

Bot Integration with Secure Flows

If a bot session is initiated from a secure call flow, the bot inherits the secure characteristics of the secure call flow. This prevents logging and recording of data at the bot level, maintaining PCI/PII compliance.

Note: Dialog Engine Bot Flows are PCI DSS compliant and can be used in secure call flows. Digital Bot Flows are not PCI DSS compliant and must not be used in secure call flows.

Protocol Capture Warning (Exam Critical)

Situation Risk
Protocol captures enabled for trunk diagnostics System does not encrypt data — all data including secure flow inputs is logged
PCI DSS setting enabled in org Genesys Cloud automatically disables Media Capture and Protocol Capture settings
Best practice Never enable protocol captures while using secure call flows in production

Permissions

Permission Purpose
Architect > Flow > Add Create secure flows
Architect > Flow > Edit Edit secure flows
Architect > Flow > View View secure flows
Architect > Flow > Delete Delete secure flows

Workflow — Agent-Referred Secure Session

Agent on call with customer
        ↓
Agent initiates transfer (Transfer to Secure Flow action in inbound/in-queue flow)
  Note: If supervisor is monitoring, transfer cannot be initiated until monitoring ends
        ↓
Secure Flow begins — audio masked — recording paused
  Agent can no longer hear customer input
        ↓
Customer enters sensitive data (e.g., credit card number) via DTMF
        ↓
Secure Flow processes payment or stores confirmation number in secure variable
        ↓
Return to Agent action executes
  Confirmation number passed to agent's script
        ↓
Customer reconnected to agent

Workflow — IVR-Only Secure Session

Customer calls in — routed directly to Secure Flow
        ↓
No agent involved
        ↓
Secure Flow processes sensitive data (e.g., account number, payment)
        ↓
Disconnect action terminates interaction

Key Takeaways

Topic Summary
Purpose Mask audio and prevent recording during sensitive data collection
PCI DSS compliant Yes — designed for PCI compliance
Triggering condition Any secure action or secure variable consumed in a flow activates secure mode
Two scenarios Agent-referred (returns to agent after) · IVR-only (ends with Disconnect)
Transfer to Secure Flow Available in Inbound, Outbound, and In-Queue flows
Return to Agent Terminating action — passes data back to agent; call disconnects if agent left
Protocol Capture risk Never enable protocol capture when using secure flows; PCI DSS setting disables it automatically
Bot support Dialog Engine Bot Flows only (PCI-compliant); Digital Bot Flows must NOT be used
Analytics impact Secure flow time counts against IVR metrics and agent handle time
Key icon Visual indicator in Architect showing secure action/variable in use
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