Configure Waiting-Communication Prioritisation

Two methods are available for managing the prioritisation of incoming communications in situations where agents are servicing multiple queues. One sets priority at queue level, the other sets priority at individual communication level.

Note: if you do not set a priority for your queues or queue groups, the system defaults to using the Longest waiting caller option to prioritise communications. Any queues not configured using storm’s prioritisation functionality are given an equal, longest-waiting-caller priority sequenced after the queues added to this screen. 

Queue-Level Prioritisation

If more than one communication is at the front of a queue set to be routed to the same agent, queue priority determines which one is routed first. Priority can be set based on sequence, percentage weighting or longest wait time. This deals with the situation where an agent is presented with contacts in multiple queues, allowing you to configure which queue should always take precedence over another.

Adding queue groups to the prioritisation screen allows you to set a different priority for queues within a group and between groups and queues.

It is also useful where agents are participating in an OUTBOUND campaign whilst taking inbound calls. You can, for example, prioritise the routing of inbound contacts over those in an outbound campaign.

1. Select storm Contact > Queue Groups > Queue Prioritisation.
2. Build a list of queues and/or queue groups you want to prioritise.

Do this by selecting a queue or queue group from the options list and then clicking Update Prioritisation. Repeat this for each queue you want to add.

3. Use the option buttons to select the prioritisation method.  

• Relative Weighting: each queue or queue group is given a relative weighting chance of being routed first, by entering a numeric value against each queue. At run-time, the system uses the total of all the values entered against each queue to decide (on a call-by-call basis) which queue to route a call to first. If, for example, the values add up to 10, 1/10^th of all calls will be routed first to queues with a value of 1, 2/10^ths to queues with a value of 2, and so on. If you enter 0 (zero) against a queue, no calls will be routed to that queue.
• Sequence: queues and queue groups are prioritised in the listed order. Use the Priority button to change the sequence.
• Longest waiting caller: the system prioritises the communication that has been waiting the longest across all queues.

4. Click Update Prioritisation.  

If you add a queue group to the list, the queue group's Expand  button allows you to set the prioritisation method to be applied to queues within that queue group once it has been selected.

Communication-Level Prioritisation

This method of setting priority is enabled using the Enable Priority Routing organisation setting and is supported only if your implementation of storm uses storm CONDUCTOR. As incoming communications are received on the storm platform, the FLOW IVR that routes them to the relevant queue assigns them an initial (integer value) priority setting. Once the communication has been placed in a queue, rules set in CONDUCTOR alter the value of the integer priority setting the longer the communication remains in the queue.

When storm is deciding which communication to route to agents next, it scans all the queues and queue groups that have been included in queue prioritisation and selects the communication that has the highest priority and has been waiting the longest.

1. Select storm Contact > Queue Groups > Queue Prioritisation.
2. Build a list of queues and/or queue groups you want to prioritise. Do this by selecting a queue or queue group from the options list and then clicking Update Prioritisation. Repeat this for each queue you want to add.
   
3. Use the option buttons to select ‘Entrant Priority’ as the prioritisation method.
4. Click Update Prioritisation.  

You can set communication-level prioritisation at queue group level only using the queue group's Expand  button, which allows you to select ‘Entrant Priority’ for that queue group.

As soon as the queue group is selected, the system selects the communication that has the highest priority and has been waiting the longest from within that queue group.

Note: it is recommended that, if you select ‘Entrant Priority’ as the overall queue prioritisation method, you also select ‘Entrant Priority’ at queue group level, since results otherwise are unpredictable.