Create an ACD Queue and Treatment

An 'intelligent' or ACD queue routes communications to agents in agent groups using hunting rules and ordering rules (collectively known as matching rules).

• Add a queue and set basic queue parameters
• Add a hunting rule to the queue
• Create an ACD Queue treatment (for sending contacts to the queue and for configuring additional parameters such as timeouts and callbacks)
• (optional, for a voice queue) Set up a queue breakout rule. Breakout rules allow a caller who has been routed to the queue the option of choosing to speak to an operator instead of waiting in the queue, by pressing a specific DTMF key (the prompt message played to the caller while they wait in the queue identifies the DTMF key to use).

Adding a Queue and Setting Basic Queue Parameters

1. Ensure that you have created one or more agent groups.
2. Select storm Contact > Queues > Add Queue.
3. Type a meaningful name for the queue (it must not begin with an underscore).
4. If the queue will handle web chat, you may assign an alias for agents servicing this queue. Use this option to present a name based on the web chat queue function, such as 'Monumental Holiday sales agent'. Select Assign Queue Alias Name and enter a meaningful name.

Note: it is also possible to set an alias at the agent level. If both are set, the queue alias will override the agent alias.

Ignore the Maximum Wait Time option and the option that follows it (either Queue for Outbound Service or Queue for Predictive Dial, depending on how your system is configured) unless you are configuring an OUTBOUND campaign (see the storm CONTACT: OUTBOUND Configuration Guide).

5. Click Add Queue.
6. In the Queue Channels drop-down, select the communication channel for the queue.
   
7. Inspect and set the values of other parameters in the Queue Parameters, Queue Prompts, Queue Settings, Queue Rebound Options and Inbound Email Mapping panels as appropriate. For the meanings of the settings on the screen, refer to the on-screen field descriptions and the following notes:

Parameter	Notes
Service Level Threshold	Used by VIEW for real-time reporting purposes. You can override the organisation default setting of 20 seconds.
Hold Prompt	This is typically hold music. Use this to override the site's default prompt.
Caller Whisper Prompt	Select a prompt to play to the caller immediately before they are connected to an agent.
Check if Agent is Available	Use this to avoid the caller hearing a brief period of hold music before hearing ringing tone when the agent's line is attempted.
Play One-off message	Select this check box, then use the drop-down list that appears, to identify a prompt to be played to customers when they first join the queue. The prompt identified in this field is played to every customer once they join the queue, but only if there is no agent available at that point; and the prompt is interrupted if an agent becomes available as it is playing.
Play Repeating Messages	A repeating message can be a system-recorded queue position message, an estimated wait time message, or a custom message. A repeating message can be marked as a callback prompt meaning that, if callback is set, the message is played when the estimated wait time is between the lower and upper playback thresholds defined for the callback. Administrators who have configured an estimated wait time message, can now select the Short Wait Durations in mins option, to round up the estimated wait time to the nearest minute. This is available for wait durations of up to 2 minutes. Longer wait durations (above 2 minutes) are not affected by this option.
Queue Settings	Include a completion code form for display to agents who are in the wrap status. Include an agent script if required.
Queue Rebound Options	Used to define how long an email will stay presented on an agent's screen before it is put back into the queue from which it was claimed. Note: for Social Media queues, the queue rebound timeout must be greater than 0 and less than or equal to 480 minutes.
Enable Accept/Reject button for Digital Interactions	Select this check box to enable the Accept and Reject buttons in DTA for social media communications routed using this queue. With this check box selected, the Accept/Reject buttons are displayed to an agent whenever a social media communication is routed to them. Use the Timeout field to define how long (in seconds) the buttons are displayed for the agent to use (after which they disappear and the communication is rebounded to the top of the queue).
Inbound Email Mapping	The outbound email template to use for replies for emails to the queue. You can set templates by selecting storm Contact > Organisations > Outbound Email Settings. Note: an agent's reply to a customer email uses the email's 'Reply-to' header (if present), or the 'From' address if the Reply-to header is not available.

8. Click Update Queue.

Adding a Hunting Rule to the Queue

A hunting rule points the queue to a pool of agents in one or more agent groups. By default, each communication is routed to the agent who has been inactive the longest. You can change this behaviour as described in Change the Order in which Agents are Selected.

1 ACD queue 2 Hunting rule 3 Agent group

1. Select storm Contact > Queues > Add Matching Rule (or select the Add Matching Rule button on the Edit Queue screen).
2. On the Add Matching Rule screen, ensure that the target queue is selected.
3. Provide a meaningful name for the matching rule (for example, the name of the target agent group).
4. If supervisors are to be allowed to amend the number of available agents specified by the matching rule at runtime from within the DTA, select the Supervisor Editable check box.
5. Click Add Rule.
6. Select the agent group(s) that the queue should route calls to.

Note: Content Guru recommends that you do not use the If number of available agents settings in matching rules for a queue that is to be used for predictive dialler campaigns. If you do so, this matching rule logic can cause erroneous results in the VIEW real-time Dial Campaign Module, and may negatively affect campaign pacing.

Note: selecting multiple agent groups simply extends the agent pool. No group takes priority over another.

7. Use the If number of available agents/active agents fields to place conditions on when calls should be directed to a group, depending on how many agents each group has that are currently available to take calls, or are in a custom user state marked as 'Active' (that is, the agent is not currently available to take a call, but expects to be available shortly) respectively.

Note: the If number of active agents setting allows you to specify that a call should be kept waiting against a particular group, even if all agents in that queue are busy, in a situation where the agents in that group will be more likely to be able to resolve the caller’s problem.

8. Click Update Rule.

Creating an ACD Queue Treatment

Note: the treatment 'Callback Queue' is for the specific purpose of allowing requests for a callback to be recorded and serviced. (This requires a FLOW script to capture the callback number, and may require additional licensing.)

Setting up a Queue Breakout Rule

This is configured on the voice queue's ACD treatment.

1. Selecting Routing > Treatments > Extended Configuration.
2. Select the treatment and then select the Enable break-out from treatment option at the bottom of the screen.
3. Enter a digit that will allow callers to break out of the queue.
4. Either choose to use an existing overflow rule or define a new one as shown below:

5. Click Update Treatment Breakout.

View a Treatment Summary

The treatment summary page allows administrators to view the configuration associated with the selected treatment.

To view a treatment summary:

1. Click Routing > Treatments > Treatment Summary.
2. Select a treatment from the drop-down list.
3. Click on an agent group to display the group members in a pane to the right.
4. Click on an individual agent to see skill level information associated with the agent.

The details shown will vary depending on the settings that have been applied to the treatment.

Note: treatment summary pages are only shown for treatments associated with queues.

Import and Export Queue Details

storm allows you to import queue details that have been previously set up using a CSV file, rather than setting up each queue individually. This is done using the storm Contact > Queues > Import Queues menu option. When imported, any new data in the import file overwrites the old. This allows you to perform bulk updates in the CSV file, rather than having to make the required changes to each queue individually.

An export facility allows you to export existing queue details into a CSV file that you can use as a template for creating the import file. This is done using the storm Contact > Queues > Export Queues menu option.

The exported CSV file layout has the following columns.

Column	What it holds
Queue Name	The name of the queue.
Agent Alias Name	The queue’s agent alias. This value is used for web chat queues, to allow a common alias (such as ‘Chat Agent’) to be presented to guests rather than individual agent names.
Group Name	The name of the queue group to which the queue belongs. If the queue group does not exist, when you import the CSV file it will be created.
Group Member?	Use this field to indicate whether the queue is to remain in (1), or be removed from (0), the queue group identified in the Group Name field.
Outbound	Indicates whether the queue is an OUTBOUND (1) queue or not (0)
Max Wait Time	Shows the maximum wait time set up for the queue (in seconds). If there is no maximum wait time it shows -1 instead.
Calls	Shows 1 if the queue is enabled for voice calls, otherwise 0.
SMS	Shows 1 if the queue is enabled for SMS messages, otherwise 0.
Email	Shows 1 if the queue is enabled for email messages, otherwise 0.
Web Chat	Shows 1 if the queue is enabled for IM chat, otherwise 0.
Social Media	Shows 1 if the queue is enabled for Social Media posts, otherwise 0.

If you are constructing a CSV file for import you can create it with all columns, or with only those that are required.