Administration

Call Center now has its own square with a new set of configuration pages. With it, comes a new admin permission required to drive its visibility and accessibility.  These replace the existing “Get Next Call Maintenance” link.  Any agent in this new version must have the Call Center Contact permission in order for the automation to work. All pages are accessible in Corporate Admin with additional functionality to aid in managing Call Center across all companies (parent & children).

Navigation

Call Center administration pages now contain a “quick nav” in the upper right corner to easily switch between the various maintenance pages for call center.  The quick nav is broken into two sections:

1. Workflow
2. Configuration

The Workflow contains the main Call Center maintenance settings, whereas Configuration is more for the initial setup. On a few pages, there are also the circular navigation buttons displayed in the image on the right.  The Up arrow will quickly take you back to the top of the page, while the left arrow will take you back to the same spot you were working on the previous page.

Calling Queue Setup

This section shows all the calling queues available, and allows you to configure them as needed.  The calling queues are split into two separate table sections (SUPER & REGULAR).  There are several icons available on each row to manipulate the various calling queues.  The trash can deletes the calling queue (once done it is not recoverable).  The Pause button suspends the calling queue (flips to a Play button when the queue is suspended to turn it back on- ) Please note pausing calling queues will pause EVERYTHING in the queue, no changes or updates will occur until the queue is made active again.  The Question mark displays a tooltip on hover that shows the configuration of the calling queue details.  The square between the Pencil and the Question mark is the Clone button that allows for easy duplication of a given calling queue.  The Pencil brings you to the calling queue details page to edit the general information for the queue, such as the name, description & Marketing Queue, the type, Call Frequency & sort order, and any activity results that should be available for that queue along with rules on where to move the contacts to upon the disposition of the call, along with other settings.  The icon with three stacked lines allows you to drag the calling queue around within the table to quickly change the order / priority of a calling queue (the most important calling queue is at the top of the list). Each Activity Result that is defined in the Automation Rules section of the calling queue details can define an Override Rule that will define when the contact should be called next after an agent has dispositioned the call with the given result (this will then ignore the queue’s configuration for the next call whether it moves or not). When defining the Call Frequency (when should the call happen) within the calling queue, you must select either Specific Number of Attempts or Unlimited Attempts.  *NOTE*- If you need to reduce call attempts in a calling queue, please call Tech Support first so we can offer assistance on making changes in the calling queue* The specific number will then allow you to select a calling queue to move a contact to should the other automation rules not move the contact.  The unlimited attempts will repeat the last entry in the table and keep the contact in the same queue indefinitely until an automation rule moves them. In Corporate Admin mode, there is a dropdown at the top of the page that allows you to select the company to manage.  NOTE: Calling Queues cannot move / copy between companies.

Call Center Rule Setup

This page allows you to create rules or filters to reduce/restrict the contacts that will be called by a given agent and in a given calling queue.  These rules can be applied to both Calling Queues and Call Center Agents.  The rules applied to a queue will restrict which contacts get placed in that bucket, whereas the rules applied to the agents will restrict the contacts that they can call. NOTE: In order for a rule to work when assigned to an agent, that same rule must be applied to the calling queue. Each rule requires a unique name, and a description can be applied to help identify it or understand what it is for at a glance throughout the rest of the application. Each rule can be quickly and effortlessly duplicated allowing for easy creation of rules with minor differences. NOTE: Rules cannot be auto copied to other companies. Rules are comprised of four filters:

1. Product Interests
2. Lead Sources (Primary/Secondary)
3. Divisions
4. Zip Codes.

Each filter comprises of a multi-select dropdown that features a quick search to filter out the unwanted options, and quick select buttons to  easily select or unselect all visible options.          

Calling Queue Assignments

This section holds a lot of power within call center.  Here we assign the call center agents to the various calling queues available.  An agent must be assigned to a queue in order to get work. Clicking on the pause icon in the right corner temporarily suspends the calling queue until someone manually re-enables it.  When the calling queue is suspended, no contacts can be assigned to it, any contacts currently assigned to the queue may be reassigned during processing, and no agents can call any contacts available from the queue. The counts to the left of the pause/play icon show (from left to right) the contacts assigned to the marketing queue matching the marketing queue attached to the calling queue, the number of contacts that match the rules assigned to the calling queue (if any), and the number of contacts that are available to call (i.e. not marked as DNC or in the built-in cool down period). Each calling queue section contains three different sets of links.  The first is the Queue name.  When clicked, we will be navigated to the Calling Queue Details page where we can define the main queue configuration described in the Calling Queue Setup section.  The second is the Rules.  Clicking on a rule will navigate us to the Rule Setup and bring up the modal to make any desired alterations.  Clicking on Save or Cancel on either page (when coming from one of these navigation options) will bring us back to the assignment window, right where we left off.  The third is the Agent names.  Clicking on an agent will bring us to a similar looking page but focusing on that specific person. Here we can see an agent in three different states.  The power icon on the right (when Green) indicates that the agent is assigned to the calling queue.  If it is Orange then the agent is not assigned to the calling queue.  Clicking this icon allows us to effortlessly change a specific agent’s assignments. The Play/Pause icon can temporarily suspend an agent from working on the given queue, but retain his/her assignment and configuration for the specific bucket.  We are also able to assign rules to agents here.  Any rules assigned to an agent will further filter down the available work, with the nuance of requiring the rule be assigned to the queue.  Any rules under the Ignored section will not be applied during processing as they are not on the queue, and could produce a different contact set than what is available. Assigning an agent to a calling queue gives an agent a default weight of 1 for each assignment, providing the option of never requiring a visit to the Calling Queue Weights screen if not desired.

 Calling Queue Weights

This page (Weighting Window) displays the agents (provided they are assigned to at least one calling queue) and the calling queues in a grid.  This allows each agent to be given a relative weight, which provides them with a chance to be assigned work from that calling queue.  Underneath the weight input is a percentage that is dynamically calculated as the relative weight changes.  The percentage displays the chance that the relative weight is allotting to the agent for the given calling queue. The grid is split into two sections, separating the different types of calling queues.  On the far left, highlighted in green are the Super Queues, and to the right are the Regular Queues.  Each section is independent of each other in relation to the chance of being assigned work from the various calling queues. Along with the different calling queue sections, an input field may be in various states.  If the field contains a number, but is disabled (greyed out and not accepting input), then either the calling queue or the agent is suspended and   those contacts will not be worked on until the agent or queue has been reactivated.  There is also a “Ghostbusters” icon and a “Key” icon (the icon for permissions on the employee maintenance page).  The “Ghostbusters” icon indicates the calling queue  does not exist on a given company and a corresponding agent cannot be assigned to it.  The Key shows that the specified agent has either been deactivated within the company (no longer allowed to login) or no longer has the necessary permissions within the company to be a call center agent. On the Weighting window, every agent and calling queue is a clickable link.  If you click on the agent name, you will navigate to that agent’s assignment page to quickly magage their calling queue assignments, rules, and active state on the calling queues.  When clicking on the calling queue name along the top of the grid, you will navigate to the Company Wide assignment page and brought right to the chosen calling queue to quickly and easily manage the rules and agents assigned to the queue, along with the active state of the calling queue. In corporate admin, the grid expands to show all companies in a single view.  An agent can have a separate row for each company and the calling queues will be collapsed down and grouped based on their name and type.  The links along the left will navigate to the assignment page for the chosen agent and company.  The calling queues along the top expand out when hovering over them to select the company when naviagting to the assignment window.

 Call Center Dashboard

This page shows the overall call center system status and also what calls have happened, is happening or will happen.  When not in Corporate Admin, the Dashboard will show data only related to the company you are currently logged into.  When in Corporate Admin, the Dashboard shows what is happening / has happened across all companies (this is the most comprehensive overview of the entire system).

System Status

The system status section shows the status of the three call center background processes that are occurring.  These processors automatically update on a regular basis.  However, you are given the option to force an update on the calling queue processor.  You could consider forcing an update after multiple rules are changed or multiple agents are modified.  Forcing an update to the Calling Queue Processor will cause a full database refresh (in regards to call center).  This will potentially cause contacts to move calling queues, be removed from a calling queue entirely, or flip their call availability.  This can take several minutes (or longer depending on the amount of data and the complexity of the calling queue configurations) to complete for any given database.

Current Calls

This shows the calls that are currently in progress by your agents.  Within the table, we can see the current date and time that the call was initiated, the current duration of the call, who is working on it, the contact, call number, and the calling queue.

Call Backs

This shows an agent scheduled call back.  The information displayed includes the scheduled call date and time, the contact with a link to their details, and the agent (if any) that is assigned to the call.  (If no agent is assigned to the call, then ANY agent will be able to call the contact at the scheduled time regardless of the calling queue assignments and configured rules).  If a call back is assigned to a specific agent, there is an additional link that allows for the contact being released to all agents, and a mass updater/filter to select the contacts assigned to a given agent between a given date range to allow for releasing those contacts to all agents.  With the mass updater, an end date is not required (we assume everything after the start date is to be released).

Calling Queue Next Calls

This shows the possible queue-specific calls that could come up next.  There are several factors in calculating this list (in no particular order):

1. Currently enabled queues, include time scheduled queues.
2. Currently working agents.
3. Weighting of agents (chance multiplier).
4. The Calling Queue type (Super / Regular).
5. The calling frequency / due rules defined on the calling queue.
6. The sort order defined on the calling queue.
7. The company id and randomly picking a company an agent is able to access.
8. DNC & call availability for the given contact.

Each contact in this list can be assigned to one or more agents, and is served to the agents on a first come first served basis.

Completed Calls

This shows the most recently dispositioned calls.  In the table are the date & time the contact was called, the duration of the call, the agent that made the call, the contact name (and link to their record), the call number and calling queue the contact was on/in at the time the call was placed.