AT&T Definity - Enterprise R 8-2 Guide to ACD Call Ctrs

Download

DEFINITY

Enterprise Communications Server

Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

555-233-503 Comcode 108596354 Issue 2 December 1999

Notice

Every effort was made to ensure that the informa tion in thi s book was complete and accurate at the time of printing. However, information is subject to change.

Your Responsibility for Your System’s Security

Toll fraud is the unauthorized use of your tel ec ommunications system by an unauthorized party, for example, persons other than your com-

pany’s employees, agents, subcontractors, or persons working on your company’ s beh alf. Not e t hat t her e ma y be a ris k of toll f rau d ass oci at ed with your telecommunications system and, if toll fraud occurs, it can result in substantial additional charges for your telecommunications services.

You and your system manager are responsible for the security of your system, such as programming and confi guring your equipment to prevent unauthorized use. The system manager is also responsibl e for reading all installation, instruc tion, and system administration doc uments provided with this pro duct in order to fully understand th e fe atures that can introduce risk of toll fraud and the steps that can be taken to reduce that risk. Lucent Technologies does not warrant that this product is immune fro m or will prevent unauthorized use of common-carrier telecommun ic ation services or facili ti es accessed through or connected to it. Lucent Technologies will not be responsible for any charges that result from such unauthorized use.

Lucent Technologies Fraud I n tervention

If you suspect that you are being victimized by toll fraud and you need technical support or assistan ce , c al l Technical Service Cen ter Toll Fraud Intervention Hotline at 1 800 643-2353.

Federal Communica tions Commissi on S ta tement

Part 15: Class A Statement. This equipm e nt ha s been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limi ts a re de signed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio-frequency e n ergy and, if not ins talled and used in ac cordance with the instruction s , may ca use ha rmful interference to radio communications. Operati o n of th is eq ui pment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which case the user will be required to corr ec t the interference at hi s ow n expense.

Part 68: Network Registration Number. This equipment is registered with the FCC in accordan ce with Part 68 of the FCC Rules. It is identified by FCC registration number AS593M-13283-MF-E.

Part 68: Answer-Supervision Signaling. Allowing this equipment to be operated in a manner th at does not provide proper answer-super visi on signaling is in violation of Part 68 R ules. Thi s equ ipm e nt ret urns answer-supervision signals to the public switched netw ork whe n:

• Answered b y the called station

• Answered by the attendant

• Routed to a recorded announcement that can be administered by the CPE user

This equipment returns answer-supervision signals on all DID calls forwarded back to the publi c swi tched telephone network. Permissible exceptions in cl ude when a call is un answered, a busy tone is received, and a reorder tone is received

Canadian Department of Communications (DOC) Interference Information

This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emissions set out in the radio interference regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

Le Présent Appareil Nom dépassant les limites applicables aux appareils numériques de la class A préscrites dans le reglement sur le brouillage radioélectrique édicté par le ministére des Communications du Canada.

European Union Declaration of Conformity

The “CE” mark affixed to the DEFIN ITY® equipment described in this book indicates that the e quipment conforms to the foll ow i ng European Union (EU) Directives: Electromagneti c Compatibility (89 /3 36/EEC) Low Voltage (73/23/EEC) Telecommunicat io ns Ter m inal Equipment ( TTE) i- CTR3 BRI and i-CTR4 PRI For more information on standards compliance, contact your local distributor.

Trademarks

See the Preface o f th is docume nt f or a list of appl icab le tr ade mark s and registered trademarks.

Ordering Information Call: Lucent Technologies BCS Publications Center

Voice 1 800 457-1235 International Voice 317 322-6416 Fax 1 800 457-1764 International Fax 317 322-6699

Write: Lucent Technologies BCS Publications Center

P.O. Box 4100 Crawfordville, IN 47933

Order: Document No. 555-233-503

Comcode 10859635 4

Issue 2, December 1999 You can be placed on a Standing Order list for this and other documents you may need. Standing order will enable you to automatically receive updated versio ns of ind iv idual documents or document sets, billed to account informati on t hat you provide. For more informat ion on standing orders, or to be put on a list to rece iv e fut ure issues of this document, contact the Lucent Technologies Publications Center.

Lucent Technolo gies National Customer Care Center

Lucent Technologies provides a telephone number for you to use to report problems or to ask questions about your call center. The support telephone number is 1-800-242-2121. For technical support, customers outside the United States should call their Lucent Technologies Representative or Distributor.

European Union Declaration of Conformity

Lucent Technologies Business Communications Systems declares that the equipment specified in th is document conforms to the referenced European Union (EU) Directives and Harmonized Standards listed below: EMC Directive89 /336/EEC Low Voltage Directive73/ 23/EEC

The “CE” mark affixed to the equipment

means that it conforms to t he above Directives.

Heritage Statement

Lucent Technologies—formed as a result of AT&T’s planned restructuring—designs, builds, and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communication syst ems and software, consumer and business telephone systems, and micro electronics components. The world-renowned Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm for the compan y.

Comments

To comment on this document, re turn the comment ca rd at the front of the document.

Acknowledgment

This document was prepared by Gl oba l L earning Solutions, Lucent Technologies, Denver, CO.

érique n’é

met pas de bruits radioélectriques

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

555-233-503

Contents

Contents iii

Preface — About This Document xi

■ Overview xi

■ Contents and Organization of the Guide xi

■ Audience xii

■ Reason for Reissue xii

■ How to Use this Document xiii

■ Conventions Used in this Document xiii

■ Trademarks xiv

■ Related Documents xiv

Administration Documents xiv Installation, Upgrades, and Maintenance

Documents xvi

December 1999

Issue 2

iii

Call Center Documents xviii End Users xviii

■ How to Get Help xix

■ How to Make Comments About

This Document xix

1 Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Basics — Overview and Exercises 1-1

■ Introduction 1-1

Exercises to Test Your Knowledge of ACD 1-2

■ ACD Terminology 1-2

■ Switches and Switch Features 1-6

What a Switch Does 1-6

■ What the ACD Does 1-8

Things to Know Before You Start 1-9 Automatic-In Processing of ACD Calls 1-9 DID Processing of ACD Calls 1-9

■ Split Queues 1-9

Split Queue Call Processing 1-10 Announcements for Calls in a Split Queue 1-11 Answer Supervision and Abandoned Calls 1-12 Intraflow and Interflow 1-13

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Contents

Night Service for the DEFNITY ECS and DEFINITY Generic 3 1-15

■ Distributing and Handling Calls 1-16

How Calls are Distributed to Agents 1-16 How Agents Handle Calls 1-18

■ ACD and Call Management Systems

— BCMS, CMS R2 and CentreVu CMS 1-28

Basic Call Management System (BCMS) 1-29 CentreVu Call Management System (CMS) 1-29

■ ACD Measurement 1-30

Assigning CentreVu CMS Measurement of the ACD 1-30

Switch Features that Affect CentreVu CMS Data 1-31

■ Exercise 1 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) 1-37

■ Exercise 1 Evaluation — Automatic

Call Distribution (ACD) 1-38

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

■ Exercise 2 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) 1-39

■ Exercise 2 Evaluation — Automatic

Call Distribution (ACD) 1-40

■ Exercise 3 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) 1-41

■ Exercise 3 Evaluation — Automatic

Call Distribution (ACD) 1-42

■ Exercise 4 — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk States 1-43

■ Exercise 4 Ev aluation — The ACD

Agent and ACD Trunk States 1-44

■ Exercise 5 — BCMS and CentreVu CMS 1-45

■ Exercise 5 Evaluation — BCMS and CentreVu CMS 1-46

2 DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for

ACD Software and Related Features 2-1

■ Introduction 2-1

■ DEFINITY ECS R8 Capacities 2-2

■ DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS

R6.3 Capacities 2-6

■ DEFINITY ECS R5 and DEFINITY ECS

R6.1 and DEFINITY ECS R6.2 Capacities 2-10

■ DEFINITY G3V2, DEFINITY G3V3, and

DEFINITY G3V4 Switch Capacities 2-12

■ DEFINITY G3V1 Switch Capacities 2-14

■ CentreVu CMS Maximum Capacities 2-15

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

555-233-503

Contents

■ Measured Extensions and Multiple

Splits on a Non-EAS Switch 2-17

On DEFINITY G1 and DEFINITY G3 Switches 2-17 When Assignments Exceed Capacity 2-17 Assignments are Not Logins 2-17

■ Measured and Unmeasured Trunks 2-18

System Requirements 2-18 Measured vs. Unmeasured Trunks 2-18 Determining Available Measured Trunks 2-18

3 G3V4 ECS ACD Call Center Features 3-1

■ Introduction 3-1

■ Feature-Related Information 3-1

■ List of Call Center Features 3-2

■ Abandoned Call Search 3-4

December 1999

Issue 2

How to Administer Abandoned Call Search 3-4 Considerations 3-5

■ Add/Remove Skills 3-6

How to Administer Add/Remove Skills 3-6 Considerations 3-6 Interactions 3-7

■ Agent Call Handling 3-8

How to Administer Agent Call Handling 3-8 Detailed Description 3-10 Expanded Technical Information 3-16 Considerations 3-18 Interactions 3-20

■ Auto-Available Split 3-22

How to Administer AAS 3-22 Detailed Description 3-22 Considerations 3-23 Interactions 3-23

■ Automatic Call Distribution 3-25

How to Administer ACD 3-27 Detailed Description 3-28 Considerations 3-35

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Contents

Interactions 3-37

■ Basic Call Management System 3-41

How to Administer BCMS 3-42 Interactions 3-43

■ Best Service Routing 3-44

Benefits of Best Service Routing 3-44 Before You Start Using BSR 3-46 How to Administer BSR 3-47 Detailed Description 3-49 Interactions 3-53

■ Call Management System 3-56

How to Administer the G3V4/CMS Interface 3-56 Considerations 3-57

■ Call Prompting 3-58

How to Administer Call Prompting 3-58

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

Considerations 3-59 Interactions 3-59

■ Call Vectoring 3-61

How to Administer Call Vectoring 3-61 Interactions 3-63

■ CentreVu Advocate 3-69

How to Administer CentreVu Advocate 3-71 Considerations 3-72 Interactions 3-76

■ Expert Agent Selection 3-78

How to Administer EAS 3-78 Detailed Description 3-81 Considerations 3-83 Interactions 3-83

■ Inbound Call Management 3-86

How to Administer ICM 3-86 Detailed Description 3-88 Considerations 3-92 Interactions 3-92

■ Information Forwarding 3-93

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Contents

Interactions 3-93 User-to-User Information Transport 3-93 Administering User-to-User Information Transport 3-94 Determining User Information Needs 3-96 Considerations 3-97 Troubleshooting 3-97

■ Intraflow and Interflow 3-99

Intraflow 3-99 Interflow 3-99 How to Administer Intraflow and Interflow 3-100 Detailed Description 3-100 Considerations 3-101 Interactions 3-101

■ Look-Ahead Interflow 3-102

How to Administer Look-Ahead Interflow 3-102

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

vii

Considerations 3-103 Interactions 3-104

■ Multiple Call Handling 3-108

How to Administer MCH 3-108 Detailed Description 3-108 Considerations 3-111 Interactions 3-112

■ Queue Status Indications 3-114

How to Administer Queue Status Indications 3-114 Detailed Description 3-115 Interactions 3-115

■ Reason Codes 3-116

How to Administer Reason Codes 3-116 Detailed Description 3-117 Considerations 3-118 Interactions 3-119

■ Redirection on No Answer 3-120

How to Administer RONA 3-120 Detailed Description 3-121 Considerations 3-125

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Contents

Interactions 3-125

■ Service Observing 3-133

How to Administer Service Observing 3-133 Detailed Description 3-134 Service Observing Indicators 3-137 Considerations 3-142 Interactions 3-144

■ Universal Call ID 3-148

What is UCID’s Purpose? 3-148 What Does UCID Look Like? 3-148 How Does UCID Work? 3-148 How are UCIDs Tracked? 3-150 Interactions 3-157 Before You Start 3-157 How to Administer Universal Call ID 3-159

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

viii

Considerations 3-162 Troubleshooting 3-162

■ VDN in a Coverage Path 3-163

How to Administer VICP 3-163 Considerations 3-163 Interactions 3-164

■ VDN of Origin Announcement 3-168

How to Administer VOA 3-168 Detailed Description 3-168 Considerations 3-169 Interactions 3-171

■ Voice Response Integration 3-174

How to Administer VRI 3-174 Detailed Description 3-175 Interactions 3-177

■ VuStats 3-182

How to Administer VuStats 3-183 Detailed description 3-189 Considerations 3-206 Interactions 3-206

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

555-233-503

Contents

4 G3V4 ECS ACD Call Center Forms 4-1

■ Introduction 4-1

■ List Call Center Forms 4-1

■ Agent LoginID 4-2

Administration Commands 4-2 Form Instructions 4-2 Implementation Notes 4-6

■ Best Service Routing (BSR ) Application Plan 4-7

Administration Commands 4-7 Form Instructions 4-7

■ BCMS/VuStats Login ID 4-10

Administration Commands 4-10 Form Instructions 4-10 Implementation Notes 4-11

December 1999

Issue 2

■ Call Center System Parameters 4-12

■ Call Vector 4-17

Administration Commands 4-17 Form Instructions 4-17

■ Reason Code Names 4-21

Administration Commands 4-21 Form Instructions 4-21

■ SIT Treatment for Call Classification 4-22

Administration Commands 4-22 Form Instructions 4-22

■ Vector Directory Number 4-24

Administration Commands 4-24 Form Instructions 4-24 Implementation Notes 4-28

■ Vector Routing Table 4-30

Administration Commands 4-30 Form Instructions 4-30

■ VuStats Display Format 4-32

Administration Commands 4-32 Form Instructions 4-32 Tables of Required and Allowed Fields 4-39

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

555-233-503

Contents

A Recorded Announcements A-1

■ Introduction A-1

■ How to Administer Recorded Announcement A-2

■ Recorded Announcement Types A-3

Analog Line A-3 DS1 A-3 Auxiliary Trunk A-4 Integrated A-4

■ When to Use Recorded Announcements A-5

■ About Barge-in A-6

What Happens When You Use Barge-in A-6

■ Integrated Announcements and

Announcements Recorded on External Devices A-7

Single Integrated Announcement Boards A-7

December 1999

Issue 2

Multiple Integrated Announcement Circuit Packs A-8 Compression Rates A-8

■ Procedures for Recorded Announcements A-9

■ Recorded Announcements, the ACD,

and Other Call Center Features A-10

■ Recorded Announcements and Automatic Wakeup A-10

GL Glossary and Abbreviations GL-1 IN Index IN-1

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Preface — About This Document

555-233-503

Preface — About This Document

Overview

December 1999

Issue 2

xiOverview

This document describes the DEFINITY Enterprise Communications Server (ECS) Release 8 (R8) ACD feature. For details about what is new in the DEFINITYECS R8, see the DEFINITY Enterprise Communications Server (ECS) Release 8 (R8) Change Description.

DEFINITYECS is a family of cost-effective digital communication systems. These systems:

n Route voice and data information between various endpoints (telephones,

terminals, computers)

n Provide highly robust networking capabilities n Include an extensive set of standa rd features: attendant cons oles, voice processing

interface, call coverage, DS1 (T1 and E1) connectivity, hospitality support, recorded announcement, and trunk-to-trunk transfer

n Provide flexibility and allow for the addition of optional features and/or upgrades

to the system as business needs change

This document explains the features that comprise the DEFINITYECS ACD. It provides an introduction to each call center feature and presents required forms for administration, detailed descriptions, considerations, and interactions between call center features. This document provides an overall reference for planning, operating, and administering your DEFINITYECS ACD Call Center.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Preface — About This Document

555-233-503

Contents and Organization of the Guide

This document is organized into chapters by subject. Features are in alphabetical order within each chapter. Pertinent forms follow the features. Basic features and forms are presented in a chapter with the same title.

The following table gives a brief description of each chapter and appendix in this book.

Table 1. Contents of Document

Title Contents

December 1999

Issue 2

xiiContents and Organization of the Guide

Chapter 1 Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Basics — Overview and Exercises

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Appendix A Recorded Announcements Describes the use and requirements

Glossary Provides a glossary and list of

DEFINITY

for ACD Software and Related Features

DEFINITY

Features

DEFINITY

Forms

Call Center Capacities

ECS ACD Call Center

Gives an overview of the ACD feature and includes exercises that are prerequisite for an Instructor-led course.

Includes tables that show the switch capacities for R7, R6, R5, G3V2, G3V1, and Also includes information on measured extensions, splits, and trunks.

Contains the call center features available on the

Contains all of the forms required to administer basic call center features on the of the fiel ds on each form, and special notes about usage.

around using recorded announcements in a call center environment.

abbreviations for this and other related

DEFINITY

ECS R8,

G3V4, G3V3,

CentreVu

DEFINITY

ECS, descriptions

ECS documents

CMS.

ECS

Index Provides an index for the document.

Audience

This document is intended for the DEFINITYECS system administrato rs and manage rs, end-users interested in information about specific features, and Lucent Technologies support personnel responsible for planning, designing, configuring, selling, and supporting the system.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Preface — About This Document

555-233-503

Reason for Reissue

This document is updated to include DEFINITYECS Release 8 information.

It also now includes the information that formerly resided in the CentreVu Call Management System Administration Guide in the ACD Basics appendix and in the Global Learning Solutions ACD Basics precourse material (BTC504S).

How to Use this Document

This document is designed to be used as a reference document. If you are interested in information about a particular feature, use the ind ex o r tab le of contents to locate the page number where the feature is described. Forms also can be located this way. They are listed alphabetically in each chapter in the table of contents. The title that appears on the form is the form name.

Conventions Used in this Document

December 1999

Issue 2

xiiiReason for Reissue

This document uses the following conventions:

NOTE:

Draws attention to information that you must heed.

CAUTION:

Denotes possible harm to software, possible loss of data, or possible service interruptions.

WARNING:

Denotes possible harm to hardware or equipment.

SECURITY ALERT:

Indicates when system administration may leave your system open to toll fraud.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Preface — About This Document

555-233-503

Trademarks

The following trademarked names may be used in this document.

n AUDIX® is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies. n BCMS Vu® is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies. n Callmaster® is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies. n CentreVu® is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies. n Conversant® is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies. n DEFINITY® is a registered trademark of Lucent Technologies. n INFORMIX® is a registered trademark of Informix Software, Inc. n Microsoft®, MS®, MS-DOS®, and Windows® are registered trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation.

n NetWare®, Novell®, OPEN LOOK®, and UnixWare® are registered trademarks

of Novell, Inc.

n Solaris® is a registered trademark and Solstice

Microsystems, Inc.

is a trademark of Sun

December 1999

Issue 2

xivTrademarks

n UNIX® is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other

countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Corporation.

n X Window System

Technology.

When used in this book, these trademark and registered trademark product names are shown in italics. If the name is used in a block of text that already incorporates italics, then the appropriate symbol is included in the call-out.

How to Get Help

For those times when you need additional help, the following help services are available. You may need to purchase an extended service agreement to use some of these help services. See your Lucent Technologies representative for more information.

n Lucent Technologies Centers of Excellence

— Asia/Pacific

65-872-8686

— Western Europe/Middle East/South Africa

441-252-391-889

— Central/Eastern Europe

361-270-5160

— Central/Latin America/Caribbean

1-303-538-4666

— North America

1-800-248-1111

December 1999

Issue 2

xixHow to Get Help

n DEFINITYHelpline

1-800-225-7585

n Lucent Technologies Toll Fraud Intervention

1-800-643-2353

n Lucent Technologies National Customer Care Center Support Line

1-800-242-2121

n Lucent Technologies Corporate Security

1-800-822-9009

How to Make Comments About This Document

We provide reader comment cards at the back of this document. While we have tried to make this document fit your needs, we are interested in your suggestions for improving it and urge you to complete and return a reader comment card. If the reader comment cards have been removed from this document, please send your comments to:

Lucent Technologies Global Learning Solutions Room 22-2H15 11900 North Pecos Street Denver, CO 80234-2703 USA

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Preface — About This Document

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

xxHow to Make Comments About This Document

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Basics — Overview and Exercises

NOTE: This chapter provides knowledge that is prerequisite to attending an Instructor-led Training (ILT) course.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-1Introduction

Introduction

This chapter gives an overview of the Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) feature. It describes basic ACD capabilities for the following Lucent Technologies switches:

n DEFINITY Enterprise Communications Server n DEFINITY Communications System Generic 3.

This chapter addresses ACD terminology, switches and switch features, split queues, distributing and handling calls, ACD measurement, ACD capacities, and engineering guidelines.

n ACD termi nol o gy define common terms that are used throughout this book. n The Switches and Switch Features section defines switches and ACDs and

n Split Queues defines a split queue and explains how to set up call processing to a

n Distributing and Handling Calls describes how calls are distributed to agents and

explains how the following features work: trunks, trunk groups, and extensions; automatic-in processing; switch attendant; and Direct Inward Dialing (DID) processing.

split, including announcements for calls in a split queue; answer supervision and abandoned calls, intraflow and interflow, and night service for the ECS and Generic 3.

how agents handle the calls. It also defines the split supervisor voice terminal buttons.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

n ACD Measurement describes how CentreVu CMS collects measured data on

splits/skills, extensions, trunks, trunk groups, VDNs, and vectors. This section also includes switch features that affect CMS data, such as Hold, Conference, Transfer, Multiple Call Handling, and so forth.

n ACD Capacities contains capacity tables for DEFINITY ECS, Generic 3 switches,

and CentreVu CMS. It also discusses measured extensions and multiple splits on a non-EAS switch and measured and unmeasured trunks.

n Engineering Guidelines presents ACD agent and trunk engineering guidelines for

determining the number of agents and trunks required for an ACD. It contains examples and tables of average service times.

Exercises to Test Your Knowledge of ACD

At the end of the chapter are a series of exercises that you can use to demonstrate your knowledge of the information presented in this chapter.

In most cases you should be able to complete this chapter and the associated exercises in one hour.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-2ACD Terminology

All of the exercises that you need to complete to be ready for the Instructor-led Training are found in this chapter. Prior to completing the exercises, you s hould read the chapter, as it introduces the concepts and skills associated with the ACD, and provides instruction on their application.

It is important that you attempt to complete each Exercise. Even if you make mistakes,

when you check your answers you’ll see how you should have responded and better understand the concept presented.

ACD Terminology

The following terms will provide general familiarity with the ACD environment.

Agent An agent is a person assigned to one or more splits/skills and

Agent In Multiple Splits/Skills

Agent State Agent state is a term or code that represents the current

handles calls to/from an extension in those splits/skills. Depending on the ACD software, an agent can be a member of

multiple splits/skills.

availability status of an agent. The term agent state also represents a user abi lity to ch ange an agent’ s availa bility with in the system.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

1-3ACD Terminology

Call Distribution Methods

CMS Call Management System.

EAS Expert Agent Selection.

Hunt Groups A group of trunks/agents selected to work together to provide

Queues (split/skill and/or attendant)

The ACD can distribute calls to agents in a split/skill in one of four ways:

— Circular Hunting (Generic 2 only) — Direct (linear) Hunting — EAD (Expert Agent Distribution) — UCD (Uniform Call Distribution) and EUCD (Enhanced Uniform

Call Distribution) or MIA

CMS is an adjunct (basic software package or optional enhanced software package) that collects call data from a switch resident ACD. CMS provides ca ll m ana gem ent performance re co rdi ng and reporting. It can also be used to perform some ACD administration. CMS allows users to determine how well their customers are being served and how efficient their call management operation is.

An optional feature available with Generic 3 and Generic 2.2 that uses Call Vectoring and ACD in the switch to route incoming calls to the correct agent on the first try based on skills.

specific routing of special purpose calls. If calls cannot be answered immediately, they are routed to a call

collection point (split/skill queue or attendant queue) where calls are held until a split/skill agent or attendant can answer them. Calls are ordered as they arrive and they are served in that order. Depending on the time delay in answering the call, announcements, music, or prepared messages may be employed until the call is answered.

Skill An ability given to an agent to meet a specific customer

requirement or a call center busin ess requi rem ent .

Split A group of extensions/agents that can receive standard calls

and/or special purpose calls from one or more trunk groups.

Trunk Group A group of similarly administered trunks carrying calls to the

switch. An ACD has its own pre-assigned trunk groups.

Trunk state A term or code that represents the current status of a particular

trunk.

Announcements An announcement is a pre-re corded mess age de livere d to a c aller

in queue requesting the caller to remain on-line, prompting the caller for information or directing the caller to another destination. When a call is in queue, de pendin g on the leng th of tim e in queu e, an automatic recording can encourage the caller to hang on, call back later, call another number, leave a message or can be used with call prompting to direct the caller to specific destinations. These announcements can be scheduled to occur periodically.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

Call Prompting Call Prompting is a call m anagement me thod that uses sp ecialized

Call Vectoring Call Vectoring is an optional software package that allows

Intraflow Intraflow is used when a split’s/skill’s queue is heavily loaded or

Interflow Interflow is used when a split’s/skill’s queue is heavily loaded or

555-233-503

call vector c ommands t o provid e flexi ble han dling of inc oming cal ls based on information collected from the caller. One example would be where the caller receives an announcement and is then prompted to select (via dialed number selection) a department or an option that was listed in the announcement.

processing of incoming calls according to a programmed set of commands. Call Vectoring provides a flexible service allowing direct calls to specific and/or unique call treatments.

when a call arrives after normal work hours. Intraflow involves redirecting a call to a destination within the local switch network (the same switch system).

when a call arrives after normal work hours. Interflow redirects a call to a destination outside the local switch

network (a different switch system).

December 1999

Issue 2

1-4ACD Terminology

LAI Look Ahead Interflow.

LAI allows users to balance the call work load between multiple call centers on separate switching systems. LAI uses ISDN to allow multiple switches to communicate and interflow when appropriate.

MCT Malicious Call Trace.

MCT allows an agent t o notif y a predefi ned party a malici ous caller is on the line. It also involves en abling a rec ording devic e to record the call.

Night Service Night Service is used when a call arrives after normal work hours.

The call can be redirected to another destination such as another split/skill, an extension, the attendant, an announcement with forced disconnect, or a message center. Night Service can take one of three forms:

— Hunt Group (Split/Skill) Night Service — Trunk Group Night Service — System Night Service

Priority Queue The p riority qu eue is a segme nt of a s plit's/sk ill's q ueue from which

calls are taken first.

Service Observing Service observing is a feature used to train new agents and

observe in-progress calls. The ob ser ver (spli t/skil l superv is or) can toggle between a listen-only mode or a listen/talk mode during calls in progress.

Split/Skill Administration

Split/Skill administration is the ability to assign, monitor, or move agents to specific splits/skills. It also involves changing reporting parameters within the system.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

Split/Skill Supervisor A split/skill supervisor is assigned to monitor/manage each

Threshold A threshold is a point in time or criteria that determines a certain

Call Center A call center provides a centralized location where a group of

CAS Centralized Attendant Service.

DID Direct Inward Dialing.

DNIS Dialed Number Identification Service.

Extensions Voice terminals connected to a PBX/swi tch via telep hone lines are

555-233-503

split/skill and split/skill queue to accomplish specific split/skill objectives. A supervisor can assist agents on ACD calls, be involved in agent training, and control call intra/interflow.

action by the syste m. For example, th e numb er of call s in que ue or the time calls spend in queue determines specific call treatments, or you can set the number of rings prior to announcements or call answers.

agents or company representatives communicate with customers via incoming or outgoing calls.

CAS is a system feature used when more than one switch is employed. CAS is an attendant or group of attendants that handles the calls for all switches in that particular network.

DID is a process involving calls coming into the switch from the CO. The switch than routes the calls directly to the appropriate extension (as identified by the last four digits).

DNIS is a feature of the 800 number service that sends the dialed digits to the called destination. This can be used with a display voice terminal to indicat e the type of call to an agent. For exa mple, the call by its destina tion can be classified as a certai n typ e of ca ll or caller (e.g., a Gold Card caller) depending on a product or service the destination number is associated with.

referred as extensions. Extensions is also the term used to define the 3, 4, or 5 digit numbers used to identify the voice terminal to the PBX/switch software for call routing purposes.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-5ACD Terminology

Leave Word Calling Leave Word Calling is a system feature that allows messages to

be stored for any ACD split/skill and allows for retrieval by a covering user of t hat spl it/ sk ill or a s ys tem wide message retriev er.

QDN Queue Directory Number.

QDN is an associated extension number of a split. It is not normally dialed to reach a split. The split can be accessed by dialing the QDN. The QDN is also referred to as a split group extension.

Trunk/Trunk Group Trunks are communication channels between two switching

systems or offices. Trunks grouped together to provide identical communications characteristics are called trunk groups. Trunks within trunk groups can be used interchangeably between two communications systems or central offices in order to provide multi-access capability.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Switches and Switch Features

This section defines switches and ACDs and explains how they work. The section contains the following topics:

n Trunks, trunk groups, and extensions n Automatic-in processing definition n The attendant n Switch with attendant and extensions n Direct Inward Dialing processing with an example n Automatic-in processing of ACD calls n DID processing of ACD calls n Call processing on an ACD switch.

What a Switch Does

December 1999

Issue 2

1-6Switches and Switch Features

A switch is an electronic device that processes incoming, outgoing, and internal calls and connects them to the proper destinations. The teleph one company sw itch in your local area is called a Central Office (CO). A switch owned by a company or organization processes incoming, outgoing, and internal calls. Throu gho ut this chap ter, the term switch is used to

refer to a company or organization’s switch.

Trunks, Trunk Groups, and Extensions

Incoming calls to a company first pass through the CO. The CO sends calls to the company switch over trunks (telephone lines that carry calls between two switches, between a CO and a switch, or between a CO and a phone).

The CO receives dialed digits from the caller, processes the digits, and seizes a trunk that is assigned those digits. After the CO seizes a trunk, it sends a continuing transmission to the destination phone or switch, and no other calls can be sent over that trunk until the current call disconnects.

Since a trunk can carry only one call at a time, trunk groups are usually created. A trunk group is a group of tr un ks that are ass i gn ed to th e s ame di g its . With a trunk group, the CO receives the digits of a dialed phone number and checks the trunk group assigned to that number to see if any of the trunks are available. The CO then seizes an available trunk. As many simultaneous calls can be made over a trunk group as there are trunks in that trunk group. A trunk group, therefore, can carry multiple calls for the same phone number. When a trunk group carries incoming calls (that is, calls made outside the company’s switch location) to the switch, the switch then connects the calls to their proper destinations within the company.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

The switches previously listed, in addition to connecting incoming calls to the proper destinations, are also like private COs for company employees. That is, employee phones are connected to a switch by telephone lines called extensions. Extensions are then assigned 3- 4- or 5-digit numbers within the switch software, and these numbers become the employee phone numbers for internal (intra-company) calls.

Automatic-In Processing

Automatic-in processing is one type of call processing. With automatic-in processing, the CO processes all of the digits of an incoming call. The CO then seizes a trunk from the trunk group, but since processing is complete, the call connects directly to a destination identified in the switch software. That destination can be a phone, a queue (in which callers wait to be answered in the order in which their call was received), or special treatment like an announcement.

Switch Attendant

Incoming calls can also go to a switch attendant. A switch attendant is a person who manually routes calls to their proper destinations using an attendant console (which is like a call switchboard). Normally an attendant serves as an internal operator who transfers calls to the proper extensions. Often, a switch will have more than one attendant, and all of

the switch’s attendants will answer calls directed to the attendant queue, which holds calls until an attendant is available. The attendant queue receives internal calls made from employee extensions, and also receives incoming calls through DID processing and automatic-in processing. Attendant call handling varies, depending on the company’s needs. However, if the attendant has an automatic-in number, it will normally be the number published in the phone book, and the DID number will most likely be used by off-site employees who know only the attendant’s extension number.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-7Switches and Switch Features

Centralized Attendant Service (CAS) is a switch feature that enables attendants to be consolidated at one private-network location. The attended location is called the CAS main and each unattended location is called a CAS branch. At branch locations, calls requiring attendant services route by way of Release Link Trunks to the main location.

Direct Inward Dialing Processing

With Direct Inward Dialing (DID) processing, incoming trunks do not connect the CO directly to an employee’s phone; instead, the incoming trunks are pooled by the switch, and this pool of trunks is then shared by employee phones. Extension numbers may serve as the final digits of employee phone numbers for incoming calls. That is the CO may assign a 2- 3- or 4- digit prefix to a trunk group. Then, when a 7-digit employee phone number is dialed, the call is processed as follows:

1. The CO processes the prefix of the dialed number, and then seizes a trunk in the trunk group that is assigned that prefix.

2. The CO passes the remaining digits of the dialed number to the switch.

3. The switch recognizes the remaining digits as an employee extension number and sends the call to that extension.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

DID Processing Example

As an example of DID processing, say that Employee A has the external phone number 538-1000 and the extension number 1000. Employee B has the phone number 538-9999 and the extension number 9999. The steps in completing calls to Employees A and B might be as follows:

1. Employee A’s client dials 538-1000.

2. The CO serving Employee A’s company identifies the digits 538 (the common prefix for all phone numbers to that company) and seizes Trunk 1 in the trunk group assigned the digits 538.

3. The CO passes the digits 1000 to the switch at Employee A’s company.

4. The switch identifies t he digi ts 1000 as Empl oyee A’ s extensio n number an d se nds the call to Employee A’s extension.

5. Employee A’s phone rings and Employee A answers.

6. Meanwhile, Employee B’s client dials 538-9999.

7. The CO identifies the d igits 538 and sei zes Trunk 2 in the trunk group assigned th e digits 538.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-8What the ACD Does

8. The CO passes the digits 9999 to the switch.

9. The switch identifies the digits 9999 as Employee B ’s extension number and sends the call to Employee B’s extension.

10. Employee B’s phone rings and Employee B answers.

While Employees A and B co ntinue t o ta lk, Trunks 1 and 2 i n the 538 trun k group will n ot accept any more calls, so another call beginning with the digits 538 will seize yet another trunk in the trunk group.

What the ACD Does

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is a switch software feature that processes high-volume incoming, outgoing, and internal calls and distributes them to groups of extensions called hunt groups or splits. The switch also sends information abou t th e operation of the ACD to the CentreV u CMS which stores and formats the data and produces real-time and historical reports on ACD activity. For more detailed information about ACD, read the feature description in the product documentation that came with your switch.

ACD is used by a call center to route incoming calls to specifically assigned splits/skills and agents. ACD allows a system administrator to create an efficient call management environment. This administrator can add or remove splits/skills from the system , add or remove announcements, add or remove agents, add trunk groups and route calls to the appropriate splits/skills. The administrator can also specify ACD measurement criteria and use an optional CMS package to provide reports on ACD efficiency.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Things to Know Before You St art

A voice response port or a person who answers ACD calls is called an agent. Companies that operate high-volume call-answering centers, for example, a catalogue sales center, a reservations center, or a customer service center , use the ACD feature to process incoming calls and distribute them to agents. In addition to agents, e ach ACD split can be assigned a split supervisor. The split supervisor uses various switch and CentreVu CMS features to monitor split and agent performance and to provide assistance if necessary. Maintaining trunks from the CO to the s witch an d hiring agen ts to a nswer calls cos ts mon ey. However, if customers who call to purchase goods o r s ervices hav e difficulty reaching an agent and, therefore, stop trying to get through, the call center loses revenue. Call center management needs, therefore, to determine how many trunks and agents are necessary to minimize costs and maximize the ability of customers to purchase goods or services. Management can then set up and maintain the ACD accordingly.

Automatic-In Processing of ACD Calls

Through switch administration, each automatic-in trunk group is assigned to an ACD split. All calls that come in on an automatic-in trunk group are directed to the assigned split. Then the ACD software distributes the calls to the agent extensions assigned to the split according to the assigned call distribution method (described later).

December 1999

Issue 2

1-9Split Queues

DID Processing of ACD Calls

Generic 3 enables you to dial directly to various extensions such as a VDN, a hunt group, an agent, or a login ID. Each extension can be assigned to a split as a DID extension.

For DID processing, trunk groups are not assigned to the split. The creation of associated extensions is sufficient to send calls arriving over DID trunk groups to the appropriate split. Each split can receive incoming calls through DID processing, automatic- in processing, or both. Automatic-in trunk groups carry calls only to the split, whereas DID trunk groups carry calls to any extension identified in the switch software, not just a split.

Split Queues

This section defines a split queue and explains how to up call processing to a split. The section contains the following topics:

n Split queue call processing n Announcements for calls in a split queue n Answer supervision and abandoned calls n Intraflow and interflow n Night service for the ECS and Generic 3.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Split Queue Call Processing

A split queue is a holding area for calls waiting to be answered, usually in the order in which they were received. When a call is put into queue, the caller may hear one or more delay announcements, music, and/or silence, depending on the treatment assigned for the split. (Treatment of calls in queue is assigned through switch administration.)

Things to Know Before You St art

Calls enter the queue at the bottom and move toward the top or head of the queue. After a call reaches the head of the queue, it connects to the next available agent.

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches with the Call Vectoring feature, all call treatment including routing, queuing, announcements, and music is specified by call vectors. When a call arrives at a split, the ACD software checks to see if an agent is available to handle the call. If an agent is not available (th at is, all agents are busy), the call

enters the split’s queue.

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches, calls queue only if no agents are available, a queue is assigned to the split, and the queue is not full. If the queue is full, the caller hears a busy tone or the call goes to coverage. If the split is vector controlled, then this step will fail. Furthermore, if no agents are logged into the split or if all agents are in AUX work mode (described later), calls do not queue.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-10Split Queues

Priority and Normal Split Queues

Each split can have two queues: a normal queue and a priority queue. A split always has a normal queue and can also be assigned a priority queue. The ACD distributes all calls in the priority queue before it distributes any calls in the normal queue. Therefore, the priority queue, if one exists, must be empty before the ACD distributes calls in the normal queue.

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3, priority queuing may be assigned in the Class of Restriction (COR) associated with the split extension number. A split may also be assigned Priority Queuing on Intraflow, which means that calls to that split, if rerouted to another local split, will enter the destination split’s priority queue.

Split Queue Size for ECS and Generic 3

Queue size is established through switch administration on the DEFINITY ECS Release 5 and the Generic 3 switch. Calls arriving after the administered queue limit is reached receive a busy signal or go to the split’s busy coverage if administered. (If the split is vector controlled, then this step will fail.) Or, calls can be redirected to a local or remote destination. See the Intraflow and Interflow for more information.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Announcements for Calls in a Split Queue

When a call enters a split queue, the caller hears ringing until the call is connected to an agent or an announcement. Depending on the treatment assigned to a split, the caller may hear one or two announcements, music, or silence. An announcement is a recorded message that provides information such as the destination the call has reached or a

company’s business hours, or it tries to persuade the caller to stay on the line.

Things to Know Before You St art

Announcements and delay time are assigned to splits through switch administration. Delay time is the amount of time a call will wait in queue before receiving an announcement. If a call connects to an agent before the delay time expires , the caller do es not hear the announcement. If a call connects to an agent while an announcement is playing, the announcement stops. After the first announcement plays, the caller hears music or silence until the second announcement plays or the call connects to an agent. The type of caller feedback (music or silence) is also assigned to a split through switch administration.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-11Split Queues

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches with the Call Vectoring feature, announcement capabilities are more flexible than those described in this section. See Chapter 3, Call Vectoring and

Related ECS/G3 Features

The DEFINITY ECS and the Generic 3 switch support both internal and external announcement devices.

The announcement delay time can be from 0 to 99 seconds. A 0-s econd del ay t ime cau ses a forced announcement, which means callers always hear the entire first announcement, whether an agent is available or not. A second annou ncement can b e administered to recur each time the announcement delay time expires.

Rules for Generic 3 Announcements

If a Generic 3 announcement queue is full, the system will continue to try every 10 seconds to connect a call to the proper announcement until the call connects to an agent, connects to an announcement, or enters the announcement queue.

The following rules apply to Generic 3 announcements:

n Calls directly entering a split queue always receive a forced first announcement if

assigned. The caller also hears first and second delay announcements if administered and delay intervals are met.

n Calls that reach a split by way of Call Coverage from another split (Intraf low) or a

station do not receive a forced or delay first announcement at the destination split. The caller hears a second delay announcement if administered and the delay interval is met.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

n Calls that reach a split by way of Call Forwarding from another split (Interflow) or

station do receive delay first and second announcements if administered and the delay intervals are met.

Announcement Queuing

External and internal announcement units are available. The number of calls that can be queued to an announcement depends on the size of the s witch/ECS you have. The capacity tables in the DEFINITY Feature Description manual have details for each switch/ECS model. Queuing for internal announcemen ts is quite dif ferent. Internal anno uncements are delivered by a 16-channel announcement board, and a call receives an announcement only when it connects to one of the 16 announcement channels. Therefore, all calls wait in a single queue to access a channel on the announcement board regardless of the split announcement they are waiting to receive. The same announcement can be delivered over multiple channels. Announcements are delivered on demand, so a call that connects to a channel receives an announcement immediately and does not have to wait for the announcement to finish and start again.

Answer Supervision and Abandoned Calls

December 1999

Issue 2

1-12Split Queues

Answer supervision is a signal sent by the switch to the serving Central Office (CO). This signal tells the CO that an incoming call has been answered and that the CO should begin tracking toll charges for the call (if they apply). Answer supervision is sent immediately

before a call connects to an agent’s voice terminal, to music, or to an announcement.

Abandoned Calls

An abandoned call is a call that reaches a call center, but does not connect to an agent because the caller hangs up. A call can abandon while in queue or while ringing at an agent position. Abandoned calls represent lost sales or lost good will. Adequate split staffing and effective use of announcements can reduce the number of abandoned calls. Splits should be staffed so that calls do not have to wait in queue for an unreasonable amount of time, and announcements can be used to persuade the caller to wait until someone answers the call.

Abandoned Call Search

If answer supervision is sent before a caller abandons, ghost calls can occur. A ghost call is a call that is sent to an agent after the caller hangs up. Ghost calls occur because, after a caller hangs up, some COs wait 2 to 25 seconds before sending a disconnect signal to the switch. Ghost calls are a problem because they waste agents’ time, and they can delay or prevent other calls from connecting to an agent. To minimize this problem, Abandoned Call Search can be assigned to specific trunk gro ups for the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switch.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

With Abandoned Call Search, the switch checks the incoming trunk before delivering an ACD call to an agent. If the trunk is on-hook at the CO (the call has been abandoned), the switch releases the trunk and does not deliver the call. If a call is still in progress on the trunk, the switch delivers the call to an agent.

Intraflow and Interflow

Intraflow and interflow allows you to redirect ACD calls to another split or other local or remote destinations. Redirecting calls to a local destination is called intraflow. Redirecting calls to a destination outside the switch is called interflow.

Things to Know Before You St art

Intraflow and interflow are set up differently fo r the DEFINITY ECS, Generic 3 swi t ch. If Call Vectoring is active on the DEFINITY E CS or Generic 3 switch, redire ction of calls differs significantly from the following intraflow/interflow descriptions. See Chapter 3, Call Vectoring and Related ECS/G3 Features.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-13Split Queues

DEFINITY

ECS and

As many as three intraflow destinations OR one interflow destination can be established for a split through switch administration. Intraflow uses the Call C ove r a ge feature to redirect ACD calls to a coverage path that contains one, two, or three of the following internal destinations:

n An extension n An ACD split (including AUDIX

The term “Hunt Group” refers to groups of extensions that receive distributed calls. The term “split” refers to a hunt group that is measured by CentreVu CMS.

n An attendant group n An announcement followed by a forced disconnect.

Call Forwarding and ACD splits can be set up to intraflow calls uncon ditionally.

Interflow destinations are the same as those listed above for intraflow (plus the CAS attendant), except interflow sends calls to destinations outside the swit ch.

Setting Up Splits

If a split is assigned more than one intraflow destination, the switch tries each destination in the order in which it was assigned. If no destination can accept the call, the switch leaves the call in the original split’s queue. If an interflow destination is specified and activated, the switch tries only that destination. If the interflow destination cannot accept the call, the caller hears a busy signal. ACD splits can be set up to intraflow calls unconditionally. Unconditional intraflow redirects all calls to the specified destination. Unconditional intraflow is normally used to redirect calls when a split is not staffed.

DEFINITY

Generic 3

® ®and Message Center splits) or Hunt Group.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Splits can also be set up to intraflow calls when one or all of the following criteria are met:

n Don’ t Answer

Calls redirect if not answered within the assigned Don’t Answer Interval (1 to 99 ringing cycles).

n Busy

Calls redirect when the split’s queue is full; that is, when the number of calls in queue equals the administered queue length.

n No Agents Staffed or All Agents in AUX Mode

Call redirect if there are no agents staffed or if all agents are in the AUX work mode.

Assigning Queue Status

If an intraflow destination has a queue, that queue may be assigned an inflow threshold. The inflow threshold, which is established through switch administration, is the length of time the oldest call in queue has waited. Once the inflow threshold is reached, that queue does not accept intraflowed calls and the switch tries the next administered destination.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-14Split Queues

Through switch administration, a split can be assigned Priority Queuing on Intraflow which allows intraflowed calls to enter the priority queue at the destination split.

Types of Calls for a Split

The following types of intraflow/interflow can be used for a split:

n Don’t Answer Time Interval intraflow (using the Call Coverage feature) n Busy intraflow (using the Call Coverage feature) n Unconditional intraflow (using the Call Forwarding-All feature).

When calls are intraflowed using the Call Coverage feature, Centr eVu CMS only reports inflowed and outflowed calls if the call queues to the original split. For example, a call that covers using the busy criterion will not be recorded as in/outflowed since it could not queue to the original split. Calls that queue before covering using the Don’t Answer criteria are recorded as in/outflowed calls.

Setting Up Intraflow/Interflow

A split can have either intraflow or interflow active, but not both. However, both conditional (Call Coverage) and unconditional (Call Forwarding ) intr af low can be active for a split at the same time. In this case, unconditional intraflow is first invoked fo r the split’s incoming calls. Then, after the switch forwards a call to the unconditional destination, the switch uses the conditional intraflow criteria to determine wh ether to

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

redirect the call to the next destination. Thus, when unconditional and conditional intraflow are used together, the conditional intraflow criteria are applied to the forwarded-to destination, not to the original split.

This combination of unconditional and conditional intraflow allows Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) numbers to appear on agent display voice terminals. In this case, the DNIS number is actually a dummy split extension (that is, the split extension has no assigned agent extensions). The intraflow destinations are the real splits (with staffed agents). With such a configuration, Centr eV u CMS will count incoming calls for the DNIS number (that redirected via unconditional intraflow to real splits) as outflows. CentreVu CMS will also count the calls to the destination splits as A CD calls and inflowed calls. And regardless of the split where calls actually connect to agents, the agents will see the DNIS (dummy split) number on their display terminals.

The intraflow criteria and destinations are assigned through switch administr ation. Console permissions and the Call Forwarding dial access code are also assigned through switch administration. Unconditional intraflow or interflow can be activated by entering

the Call Forwarding dial access code from a station with console permission, the split’s extension, and the interflow or intraflow destination number.

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

1-15Split Queues

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3, the split supervisor cannot establish conditional intraflow from a voice terminal. Furthermore, CentreVu CMS cannot be used to set up or activate intraflow/interflow.

Night Service for the

DEFINITY

Generic 3

The DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switch offer an alternative form of call routing called Night Service. Night Service redirects all calls to one of the following internal destinations:

n An ACD split n An extension n An attendant group n An announcem ent with forced disconnect.

Night service is availabl e for a hu nt group, a trunk gr oup, or a s ystem. These types of nig ht service are explained below.

DEFNITY

Hunt Group Night Service

Hunt Group Night Service redirects all calls arriving at a split to an internal destination. The Night Service destination for the split and the voice terminal button used to activate the feature are assigned through switch administration.

ECS and

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Trunk Group Night Service

Trunk Group Nig ht Serv i ce redirect s al l calls arriv in g over a split’s assigned trunk groups to an internal destination. The Night Service destination for the trunk group and the voice terminal button used to activate the feature are assigned through switch administration.

Trunk Group Night Service by itself does not guarantee that all calls to a split will be redirected. Calls from local extensions and DID calls will still connect to the split.

Trunk Group Night Service and Hunt Group Night Service can both be active at the same time. If the Trunk Group Night Service is active, its destination will be used for calls that come in over the trunk group even i f they go to a split t hat has a Hunt Grou p Night Service destination assigned.

System Night Service

System Night Service redirects all calls arriving over all trunk groups to the Night Service destination. System Night Service overrides any Hunt Group Night Service set up for an individual split. If Trunk Group Night Service is active for a particular trunk group, System

December 1999

Issue 2

1-16Distributing and Handling Calls

Night Service does not affect that trunk group. When any type of Night Service becomes effective, calls already in a split’s queue are not redirected. To avoid dissatisfied callers, agents should continue to staff the split until the queue is empty.

Distributing and Handling Calls

This section describes how calls are distributed to agents and how agents hand le the calls. The section contains the following topics:

n How calls are distributed to agents n How agents handle calls n Split supervisor voice terminal buttons.

How Calls are Distributed to Agents

ACD calls are delivered to agents according to the type of call distribution (also known as hunting) that is assigned to the split/skill. This section explains the different types of call distribution.

The following types of call distribution can be assigned to a split/ski ll through switch administration:

n Direct n Circular n Most Idle Agent (MIA) [also called Uniform Call Distribution (UCD)] n Expert Agent Distribution (EAD).

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

The following descriptions of ACD call distribution assume that the Multiple C all Handling (MCH) feature is not assigned. Agent availability is different for splits assigned the MCH feature.

Some types of call distribution are not available with some versions of switch software.

555-233-503

Direct

ACD software searches for an available agent in the order that extensions were assigned to the split (through switch administration), starting with the first extensio n assigned to the split. This type of call distribution is most useful when management wants the most effective or most experienced agents to handle more calls. Agents are rank-ordered from most to least effective and then are assigned to the split in that order. Direct call distribution is called Direct Department Calling (DDC) for the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches. For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches that have the Expert Agent Selection feature, DDC cannot be assigned to skills. However, Expert Agent Distribution (EAD) can be used to ensure that the most expert agent available receives the call.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-17Distributing and Handling Calls

Circular

ACD software searches for an available agent in the order that extensions were assigned to the split, starting with the agent after the agent who handled the last ACD call. This type of call distribution provides a balanced workload. Circular distribution is not available on the DEFINITY ECS or on Generic 3 switches.

Most Idle Agent (Uniform Call Distribution)

ACD software searches for the agent extension that has been idle (waiting) the longest and distributes the call to that extension if the agent is available to handle an ACD call. This

type of call distribution, which is sometimes called “true ACD”, ensures a high degree of equity in agent workloads even when call-handling times vary. For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3, MIA distribution is called Uniform Call Distribution (UCD).

ACD software determines which agent extension has been idle the longest by maintaining an ordered list (queue) of agents who are eligible to receive the next ACD call. Eligible agents enter the queue at the bottom and move toward the top (also called the head of the queue). The agent at the top of the eligible-agent queue (the agent who has been in queue the longest) receives the next ACD call unless the agent is not available at the time the call is to be distributed. If the agent at the top of the queue is not available, the ACD software checks the availability of the next agent in queue until an available agent is found.

DEFINITY

ECS and

DEFINITY

Generic 3

When an agent completes an ACD call, the agent is added to the bottom of the eligible-agent queue for the split or skill associated with the call. (Skills apply only to the

DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches with the Expert Agent Selection feature.) DEFINITY ECS also offers the option called “MIA across splits/skills” to put an agent at

the bottom of all agent queues when the agent completes any ACD call. Agents move toward the top of the eligible-agent queue as long as they remain staffed and available or

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

on AUXIN or AUXOUT extension calls from the available state, or on an ACD call for

another split or skill (unless the “MIA across splits/skills” opt ion is tu rned on). Agents in ACW are in eligible agent queues on G3 switches. You can choose whether these agents are or are not in the eligible-agent queues for the DEFINITY ECS.

An agent is marked as unavailable to take an ACD call if the agent:

n is in ACW, n is on an AUXIN or AUXOUT extension call from the available state, or n is on an ACD call for another split or skill.

The agent remains in queue moving toward the top of the queue. Agents in multiple splits or with multiple skills enter multiple eligible-agent queues. The agents’ progress in each queue is independent of any activity in other queues. Agents in the AUX state are not in the eligible- agent queue.

555-233-503

Expert Agent Distribution (EAD)

Expert Agent Distribution is only available with the DEFINITY ECS or the Generic 3 (Version 2 or later) switches that have the Expert Agent Selection feature. This method of call distribution adds a layer of processing on top of the Most Idle Agent distribution call processing, described in the preceding paragraphs.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-18Distributing and Handling Calls

Call Distribution for the

This additional layer of processing sorts the agents in the eligible-agent queue into multiple queues based on skill level. Agents with the skill assign e d at hig her-priority levels will appear in the eligible-agent queue ahead of agents with the skill assigned at lower-priority levels. The call will be delivered to the most idle most expert agent available, rather than to the most idle agent.

Call Distribution for the

For Generic 3 Version 2, Version 3, and Version 4 switches with EAS, the additional layer of call processing sorts the agents in the eligible-agent queue into primary and secondary skill groups, in effect, creating two eligible-agent queues for each skill. ACD software searches for an available agent extension in the primary skill group before searching the secondary skill group. An ACD call will only be distributed to an available agent in the secondary skill group if no agents are available in the primar y skill group. Other aspects o f MIA call distribution work the same as described above.

How Agents Handle Calls

An agent can receive split calls and, in most cases, personal calls that are not related to a split. Calls distributed to an agent’s voice terminal by the ACD feature on the switch are considered ACD calls. Calls dialed directly to an individual agent using the agent’s extension number (such as internal calls and DID extension calls) are called extension-in (EXT- IN) calls. Outgoing calls the agent makes are called extension-out (EXT-OUT) calls. EXT-IN and EXT-OUT calls are considered non-ACD calls.

DEFINITY

ECS with EAS

G3V2 or later with EAS

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Things to Know Before You St art

The capability of a voice terminal to receive EXT-IN calls or to make EXT-OUT calls can be restricted through switch administration. The following descriptions of agent call handling assume that the Multiple Call Handling (MCH) feature is no t assigned. Agent availability and call handling are different for splits assigned the MCH feature.

ACD calls are distributed only to available agent extensions. To be considered available, an agent must first staff an agent extension and then select a call-answering mode (automatic in or manual in).

December 1999

Issue 2

1-19Distributing and Handling Calls

Staffing Agent Extension on the ECS/

DEFINITY

G3 Without EAS

To staff an agent extension on the DEFINITY ECS or the Generic 3 switch without the EAS feature, an agent must dial a login access code or press the LOGIN button on the

agent’s voice terminal. The agent must then dial a split number and a login ID. The login ID length, the login dial access code, and, if desired, the LOGIN button are assigned through switch administration. The split number may also be assigned to the LOGIN button or to another voice terminal button.

Staffing Multiple Sp lits

An agent can log in from any extension assigned to a split. For the DEFINITY ECS and the Generic 3 switch, an agent can log into as many as thre e splits. To the switch and CentreVu CMS, each login counts toward the maximum number of agent members that can be measured. That is, if four agents are each logged into three splits, the agent member count is 12.

Agent Login

Agent login lets ACD (and CMS) know an extension is active and logged into the system (AUX work mode). Pressing the login button and then following the appropriate system login procedure makes the extension staffed in AUXWORK. This procedure varies with the type system you have.

DEFINITY

Agent Logout

Agent logout lets ACD (and CMS) know an extension is no longer active.

Agent Request for Supervisor Assistance

When supervisor assistance is needed, an agent can press the ASSIST button or dial the ASSIST feature access code and the split/skill group number brings the designated person on line. On G2 the agent must place the current call on hold before pressing ASSIST. On G3 pressing ASSIST automatically places the current call on hold.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Agent States and Call Answering Modes

Agent State is the current status of an agent. Work modes are the work function(s) the agent is performing at a given time.

When the agent is engaged in an ACD call, the agent is in the ACD agent state.

After staffing an extension, the agent is in the auxiliary work (AUX-WORK) mode, which is considered non-ACD work.

MANUAL-IN versus AUTO-IN

In AUX-WORK mode, the agent is not yet available to receive ACD calls. To become available for ACD calls, the agent must press the MANUAL-IN or AUTO-IN button to select a call answering mode.

Table 1-1. Manual-In vs. Auto-In

December 1999

Issue 2

1-20Distributing and Handling Calls

MANUAL-IN The

AUTO-IN Like the

MANUAL-IN

available for an ACD call. The ACD then distributes a call to the agent according to the established call distribution method. When the call ends, the agent automatically enters the After-Call-Work (ACW) state. While in ACW, the agent is not available to receive ACD calls. When ACW ends, the agent presses MANUAL-IN to receive another ACD call. The manu al-i n mod e is mo st effective if an agent must perform call-related tasks after finishing each ACD call. MANUAL-IN d ial access codes and voic e termin al buttons are assigned through switch administration.

that the agent is available fo r an ACD call. Ho wever, when the call ends, the agent is immediately available for another ACD call according to the established call distribution method. The agent does not have to press any buttons to receive another ACD call. This type of call answering increases the number of calls that agents can answer in a giv en period of ti me and is mo st effectiv e if agents have little or no call-related work to do after finishing each ACD call. The for AUTO-IN operation. This option automatically puts the agent into ACW for a preset length o f time at the end of an AUTO-IN call. When the time is up, the agen t automatic ally beco mes avai lable to take an ACD call. MANUAL-IN and AUTO-IN dial access codes and voice terminal buttons are assigned through switch administration.

button tells the ACD that the agent extension is

MANUAL-IN

DEFINITY

button, the AUTO-IN button tells the ACD

ECS Release 5 has a timed ACW feat ure

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Ringing versus Zip Tone for Incoming Calls

When a call arrives at a voice terminal, the agent may hear ringing or zip tone (beeping), depending on how the voice terminal is administered. Ringing is recommended when an

agent answers calls using the handset. When a call connects to the agent’s voice terminal, the voice terminal rings, and the agent picks up the handset to answer the call.

Zip tone is recommended when the agent uses a headset to answer calls. (Zip tone can also be used with a handset, but the agent must hold the handset and listen for the zip tone.) When a call connects to an agent’s voice terminal, the agent hears one burst of zip tone fo r calls dialed directly to the split (or agent extension on the DEFINITY ECS and the Generic 3 switch) and, without pushing any buttons, the agent greets the caller.

Ringing (called “manual answer” in switch administration) or zip tone (called “automatic answer” in switch administration) is established on a per-voice terminal basis through switch administration.

Auxiliary Work (AUXWORK) and After-Call- Work (ACW)

To temporarily stop ACD calls from arriving at an agent’s voice terminal, an agent can press the Auxiliary Work (AUXWORK) or After-Call-Wo rk (ACW ) butto n.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-21Distributing and Handling Calls

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

AUXWORK The agent is involved in non-ACD work, is on break, in a meeting

555-233-503

or at lunch. CMS recognizes the ex tension as staffed but do es not want ACD to route calls there for an extended time. AUX-IN implies that the extension received an extension-in call while in AUX. AUX-OUT implies that the agent placed an outgoing call while in AUX.

The

at the agent’s voice terminal. The agent normally presses this button before doing non -AC D-rela ted wo rk s uch as tak ing a brea k or doing personal business. Instead of unstaffing the extension or logging off, an agent can press this button which places the agent in the auxiliary-work state. To receive ACD calls again, the agent presses the MANUAL-IN or AUTO-IN button.

The AUXWORK button (or the dial access code, if no button is available) is assigned through switch administration. On the

DEFINITY

logged into more than one split, an AUXWORK button for each split may be assigned. Then, when the agent presses the AUXWORK button for a particular split, the agent will not receive calls from that split. However, the agent will still be available for calls from the other splits the agent is logged into.

Also, if an agent is logged into more than one split/skill and receives an ACD ca ll for on e s pl it/s ki ll , th e a gen t i s una vailable for calls for other splits/skills.

AUXWORK button temporarily stops ACD calls from arriving

ECS and the Generic 3 switch, if an agent is normally

December 1999

Issue 2

1-22Distributing and Handling Calls

ACW The agent is engaged in work associated with a call, but not on a

call. ACW-IN implies th at th e s tation received a call w hil e in ACW. ACW-OUT implies that the agent made an outgoing call while in ACW.

The ACW (After Call Work) button is only available with the

DEFINITY

stops ACD calls from arriving at the agent’s voice terminal. An agent who is in Auto-In mode presses this button during a call so that when the call is finished, the agent will not receive another ACD call and can, inst ead, do ACD ca ll-related w ork such as filling out a form, complet ing dat a en try, or making an outgoi ng c al l. Th e lamp indicator next to the ACW button lights when the agent is in after- call-work. When in the manual-in mode, an agent automatically enters ACW when the call ends. However, if the agent needs to get out of Auto-In mode or the auxiliary work state to do additional call-related work, the agent can press the ACW button (or dial the appropriate access code). On the ECS and, Generic 3 switch, an agent can press the MANUAL-IN button (or dial the appropriate access code) while on an ACD call to automatically enter ACW when the call ends. If an agent is logged into more than one split, pressing the ACW button makes the agent unavailable for calls in all splits. considers the agent to be in the OTHER state for all splits other than the split in which the agent is currently in ACW.

ECS and Generic 3 switches. This button temporarily

CentreVu

DEFINITY

CMS

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Additional Agent State/Work Modes

UNSTAF Unstaffed (Agent State).

The agent is not logged in and being tracked by CMS.

DACD The agent is on a direct agent ACD call. DACW The agent is in the after call work state for a direct agent ACD call. OTHER The agent is doing other work. If an agent is working in three

splits/skills a nd receives a call from one, t he ACD puts the a gent in OTHER for the other two.

UNKNOWN CMS does not recognize th e current state. Unknow n r ema ins until

the condition is cleared, and/or the agent completes the current ACD call and any current ACW, or a current agent state message is sent to CMS from the switch.

RING The time a call rings at an agent’s voice terminal after leaving the

queue and before the agent answers.

Trunk States

December 1999

Issue 2

1-23Distributing and Handling Calls

Trunk State indicates the current status of a specific trunk, or the ability to change that state. Trunk states are:

Idle The trunk is waiting for a call. Seized The trunk is seized by an incoming or outgoing call. Queued An ACD caller has the trunk and is waiti ng for t he age nt to answer. Conn The agent and caller are connected in an ACD call. Abandoned The queued caller has just abandoned the call. Fwrd A queued call has been intraflowed outside the ACD or has been

interflowed to another PBX/Switch.

Mbusy Maintenance Busy, or out of service for maintenance purposes. Hold The agent has put the call on hold.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Other Voice Terminal Buttons

This section describes other buttons that can be assigned to an agent’s voice terminal.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-24Distributing and Handling Calls

CALL APPEARANCE

ADD SKILL For the

ALERT CHANGE For the

ASSIST Press this button to request help from the split supervisor. The

AUDIO TROUBLE

These buttons are use d to pla ce (origina te) and an swe r calls . Two status lamps (red and green) are next to each call appearance button. The red lamp l ights when an agent pr esses an appearanc e button to make or answer a call. The green lamp flashes to indicate an incoming call.

Except with Multiple Call Handling, incoming ACD calls always arrive at the first call appearance. However, voice terminals may be assigned more app ea ranc es to provide additio nal c all -ha ndl ing capabilities. For example, an agent can use a second call appearance to transfer or place calls since the line will be free of ACD calls. On a two-appearance voice terminal on the ECS and the Generic 3 switch, the second appearance can only be used to originate calls.

DEFINITY

switches with EAS, logged-in agents or voice terminal users with console permissions can press this button to add a skill.

DEFINITY

switches, the lamp associated with this voice terminal button

flashes when another user changes an agent’s assigned skills or moves an agent from his or he r current spli t to a different sp lit. The lamp does not flash when an agent changes his or her own skills from the voice terminal.

ASSIST button automatically dials the split supervisor’s extension and connects the agent to the supervisor. On the and Generic 3 switches, pre ssing the ASSIST button auto matically puts the current call on hold.

For the DEFINITY ECS and G ene ric 3

button to report a call with poor transmission quality to CMS. The message the switch sends agent’s extension, the trunk being used, and the time of day the trouble occurred. This information is reported in exception reports and is useful for trouble-shooting trunk and extension problems. For more information, see Management System Release 3 Version 8 Administration (585-210-910).

Stroke count button 0 is used for reporting audio difficulty.

ECS and the Generic 3 Version 2 and later

ECS and Generic 3 Version 4 and later

switches, agents press this

CentreVu

CMS includes the

CentreVu

DEFINITY

CentreVu

ECS

CMS

Call

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

CONFERENCE Press this button to add another person to a two-person call. For

555-233-503

DEFINITY

the appearance voice terminal can add up to four additional people to a 2-person call. For the voice terminals on Generic 3 switches, only one person can be added. Single appearance voice terminals do not have a CONFERENCE button. Agents must use the RECALL button to conference a call. If an agent adds another agent into a conference call, the resulting conference is not consi de red an ACD call for the added agent. The ACD considers the added agent to be on an extension-in call.

ECS and Generic 3 switche s, an a gent with a multi-

DEFINITY

December 1999

Issue 2

1-25Distributing and Handling Calls

ECS, and single-appearance

CALL WORK CODE

CALLER-INFO For Generic 3 with the Call Prompting feature, agents press this

DEFINITY

For button and enter up to 16 digits to record the occurrence of a customer-defined ev ent. Cal l Work C odes ar e stored o n CMS, not on the switch.

button to display the digits collected by the last

ECS and Generic 3 switches, agents press this

CentreVu

collect digits

vector command.

EMERGENCY Press this button to report a malicious call to the controller. The

controller can then trace the call.

HOLD Press this button to put a call on hold. The ACD will not send any

more calls to an agent who has a call on hold. For switches with Multiple Call Handling, an agent can put an ACD or non-ACD call on hold and receive an ACD call by pressing the AUTO-IN or MANUAL-IN button. For the Version 4 and later switches, with Multiple Call Handling, multiple ACD calls can be d eli ve red a uto ma tic all y to an agent in Auto-In or Manual-In work mode, provided that an unrestricted line appearance is available on the voice terminal.

Single app earance voice terminals do not have a HOLD button.

Agents must use th e RECAL L butt on or the te rminal ’s s witch-ho ok to put a call on hold. A sing le appeara nce voic e terminal cannot be used to handle multiple ACD calls.

LOGOUT Press this button to unstaff the extension and end

collection of agent data. If an agent pressed STAFFED to staff a voice terminal, pressing STAFFED again unstaffs the voice terminal.

DEFINITY

ECS, and Generic 3

CentreVu

CMS

RECALL Agents using single-appearance voice terminals press the

RECALL button to put calls on hold, transfer calls, and create conference calls.

RELEASE Press this button to disconnect a call. REMOVE SKILL For the

switches with EAS, logged-in agents or voice terminal users with console permissions can press this button to remove a skill.

DEFINITY

ECS and Generic 3 Version 2 and later

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

STROKE COUNT As many as nine STROKE COUNT buttons can be assigned.

TRANSFER Agents normally press the TRANSFER button to transfer calls to

555-233-503

Agents press these buttons to record call events of interest.

CentreVu

Stroke count button 0 is reserved for audio difficulty.

other agents or the split supervisor. This button is only available on multi-appearance voice terminals.

Single-appearance te rminal users must use the button or the

terminal’s switch-hook. Agents can also use the TRANSFER button to transfer calls to

external destinations. External transfer must be assigned to a voice terminal as a feature over and above the normal transfer feature. If an agent trans fer s a c al l to a not her a gent, the call is not considered an ACD call for the agent receiving the call unless the transferring agent dialed a split extension, VDN, or agent login ID (an EAS capability known as Direct Agent calling). The ACD considers the agent receiv ing the transfe r to be on an extension-i n call. For the agent transferring a call, the call is counted as an EXT-OUT call.

CMS records and reports stroke-count information.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-26Distributing and Handling Calls

VUSTATS (ECS, Generic 3)

For the switches, agents with display voice terminals press this button to display agent, split/skill, VDN, or trunk group data similar to that reported by

DEFINITY

ECS and Generic 3 Version 3 and later

CentreVu

CMS.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Queue Status Lamps

The lamps associated with the queue status buttons provide the following information:

NQC The lamp associated with the NQC (Number of Queued Calls)

button tells the agen t that ca lls ar e in queue a nd when th e numb er of calls in queue has met or exceeded the assigned queue

threshold for the s pli t. If no calls a re in the split’s queue, the status lamp associated with the button is dark. When one or more calls are in queue, the lam p lig hts s tead il y. When the number of ca lls i n queue reaches the a ssig ned que ue thre shold , the lamp flashe s on and off.

OQT The lamp associated with the OQT (Oldest Queued Time) button

tells the agent that calls are in queue and when the oldest call in queue has been waiting longer than the assigned wait time threshold (0 to 999 seconds) for the split. If no calls are in the split’s queue, th e stat us la mp is dark. When c alls are in qu eue , the lamp lights steadily. When the assigned wait time threshold has been met or exceeded by the oldest call in queue, the lamp flashes on and off. A flashing queue status lamp tells agents they need to handle calls more quickly. The thresholds that cause the lamps to flash and the voice te rminal b uttons are as signed through switch administration.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-27Distributing and Handling Calls

Auxiliary queue status lamps

An auxiliary queue statu s lamp in dicate s that eith er the Numbe r of Queued Calls thresh old or the Old es t Qu eue d Ti me t hres ho ld ha s been reached. The la mp lights w hen the as signed th reshold is m et or exceeded. Unlike the lamps on a voice terminal, the auxiliary queue status lamp does not indicate when calls queue to the split.

Display Buttons

The following voice terminal buttons control the information that appears on the display:

NORMAL Press this button to display information about the active call

appearance. Press this button to display incoming call information (either an extension-in call or an intraflowed/interflowed call) for a different call appearance. Voice terminal

assigned through switch administration.

Split Supervisor Voice Terminal Buttons

A split supervisor is normally assigned to each split. For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches, the capabilities to monitor agent performance, add and remove agents, and perform other split-related activities must be assigned with separate switch administration procedures.

display buttons are

on tells the agent that

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Voice Terminal Button Definitions

The following voice terminal buttons are available only to the split supervisor’s extension:

December 1999

Issue 2

1-28ACD and Call Management Systems — BCMS, CMS R2 and CentreVu CMS

NIGHT SERVICE (ECS, Generic 3)

RECORD ANNCT (ECS, Generic 3)

SERVICE OBSERVE

VU STATS (ECS, Generic 3)

The split supervisor presses this button to send all calls to night service. The Night Service may be Trunk Group Night Service or Split Night Service. Also, a separate button for each type of night service may be availabl e.

The supervisor presses this button to either listen to or to record an announcement for the split.

The supervisor presses this button and dials an agent extension number to listen to conversations on the voice terminal. The Service Observe feature permits the supervisor to check an

agent’s call- handling technique. An agent’s voice terminal may also be assigned the SERVICE OBSERVE button so that the agent can listen to another agent’s conversations. This capability is especially useful for agent training . Service observin g can be set up for listening only or for both listening and talking.

DEFINITY

The offer the following enhancements to Service Observing:

• For switches with EAS, a logical agent ID, which is associa ted with an agent, not the voice terminal the agent is currently using, can be servi ce observed.

• For switches with Cal l Vectorin g, VDNs can be se rvi ce observe d.

• Feature Access Codes which allow service observing from an

external location or from a voice terminal that does not have feature buttons can be assigned through switch administration.

For the switches, split sup erviso rs a nd agent s with displ ay voi ce termi nals press this button to display agent, split/skill, VDN, or trunk group data similar to that reported by

ECS and Generic 3 Version 3 and later switches

DEFINITY

ECS and Generic 3 Version 3 and later

CentreVu

CMS.

ACD and Call Management Systems

— BCMS, CMS R2 and

This section does the following:

n Describes BCMS (Basic Call Management System) n Describes R2 CMS (Release 2 - Call Management System) n Describes R3 CMS (Release 3 - Call Management System) n Lists what CMS records and reports n Describes the four main ACD reporting databases.

CentreVu

CMS

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Basic Call Management System (BCMS)

BCMS is an optional software package (residing on the PBX/switch) used to provide real-time and historical reports to assist in managing ACD splits/skills, agents (extensions), trunk groups and VDNs (G3 only). These reports, provided by the system, are a subset of those reports available with the CMS adjunct.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-29ACD and Call Management Systems — BCMS, CMS R2 and CentreVu CMS

CentreVu

Call Management System (CMS)

The CentreVu CMS is an adjunct that collects specific ACD data on measured splits/skills, measured agents, measured extensions, measured trunks and measured trunk groups for reporting purposes. If Call Vectoring is purchased, ACD will report on measured VDNs and Vectors. CMS provides call management performance recording and reporting. It can also be used to perform some ACD administration. CMS is used by customers to determine how well their customers are being served (i.e., speed of call answers, number of calls) and how efficient their call management operation is (i.e., agents versus traffic requirements).

How CMS Works with ACD

To collect information on ACD, CMS must be able to communicate with the ACD resident in the switch. The Switch to CMS Platform communication consists of electronic messages sent back and forth between the ACD switch and the CMS Platform via a data link. There are two types of messages:

Translations

Translations tell CMS the configuration of the ACD. This includes what data is measured (to be collected) and the ACD assignments.

Status Changes

Status Changes tell CMS when the states of agents or trunks change due to call activity. Occurrences are counted and durations are tracked.

NOTE:

CMS can also be used to change configurations within the ACD. Therefore, CMS can at times send translations back to the PBX.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

What CMS Measures

CMS measures data on ACD splits, agents, extensions, trunks and trunk groups. If Call Vectoring is purchased, ACD will report on VDNs and Vectors.

n Main ACD reporting databases

—Agents

Agent states

— Splits/Skills

Events Workload Distribution Split/Skill call totals

—Trunks

Trunk states

December 1999

Issue 2

1-30ACD Measurement

— Trunk Groups

Events Workload Distribution Trunk call totals

ACD Measurement

This section describes how CentreVu CMS collects measured data on splits/skills, extensions, and so forth. The section contains the following topics:

n Assigning CentreVu CMS measurement of the ACD n Switch features that affect CentreVu CMS data.

Assigning ACD

CentreVu

CentreV u CMS collects data on splits/skills, agents, extensions, trunks, trunk groups, VDNs, and vectors. However, for CentreVu CMS to collect data, the appropriate items (splits/skills, extensions, and so on) must be identified as measured on the DEFINITY ECS or switch.

CMS Measurement of the

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Things to Know Before You St art

The CentreVu CMS ACD Status window (see CentreVu Call Management System Release 3 Ve rsion 8 Administration (585-210-910) document) lists the total number of measured splits/skills, extensions (Agent Positions), trunks, and trunk groups established in an ACD.

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 Version 2 and later switches, you can add, delete, or change measured trunks, trunk groups, agent extensions, agent login IDs, VDN extensions, splits, and skills without busying out the li nk to CentreVu CMS and losing CentreVu CMS data.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-31ACD Measurement

Measurement of the

DEFINITY

G3 ACD

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches, individual splits and trunk groups are assigned to Centre Vu CMS measurement through switch administration. Extensions are measured by virtue of their assignment to measured splits. Trunks are measured by virtue of their assignment to measured trunk groups. The number of measured splits cannot be changed using the CentreVu CMS ACD Status screen.

Measured splits need not be numbered sequentially . VDNs are measured individually. All vectors are measured.

Switch Features that Affect

There are several switch features that affect CMS data, such Conference, Transfer, Multiple Call Handling, Call Pickup, Intraflow, Interflow, Redirection on No Answer, Phantom Abandon Call Timer, Move Agent While Staffed, Expanded Agent Capabilities, Best Service Routing, and Universal Call ID. These features are explained below.

DEFINITY

CentreVu

Hold, Conference, and Transfer

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 swit ches , CentreVu CMS tracks any type of call an agent puts on hold by pressing the Hold button, dialing the hold access code, pressing the Conference or Transfer button, or flashing the switchhook. Information on all calls (split/skill ACD, direct agent ACD, and extension calls) and the time spent on hold is stored in agent database tables. Information on split/skill calls only and the time spent on hold is stored in split/skill tables.

ECS and

CMS Data

Multiple Call Handling (MCH)

The DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 Version 4 switch have options to th e Mult iple Ca ll Handling feature that can force agents to receive one or more ACD calls with other ACD calls or extension (non-ACD) calls on hold or active. For these forced options, talk time (and not ringing time) accumulates until the agent puts the current call on hold or releases it.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

For the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 Version 3 and later switch es with Multiple Call Handling, an agent can put a call on hold and press the MANUAL-IN or AUTO-IN button to receive another ACD call. When multiple calls are on hold at the same time, hold time accumulates for each call on hold, and the total hold time can exceed clock time. For example, if two calls are on hold fo r 5 minu tes each, 10 minutes of hold time accumulates.

Support for MCH

Use this table to determine whether a particular ECS/switch type supports multiple call handling.

Table 1-2.

ECS/Switch On Request Forced

December 1999

Issue 2

1-32ACD Measurement

DEFINITY

ECS R5 G3vs/si yes yes

Call Pickup

When an agent uses the Call Pickup feature to pick up an ACD call that rings at another

agent’s extension, CentreVu CMS tracks the call as an AUX-IN call for the agent picking up the call. The split/skill of the agent originally called is credited with an outflow call, even if the agent who picked up the call is in the same split/skill. If an agent is logged into more than one split/skill, the call is counted for the split/skill th e agent has been logged into the longest. Thus, when Call Pickup is used, CentreVu CMS does not count the call as an ACD call, even though the call queued to a split/skill and was answered. Various other types of data associated with ACD calls (for example, “Percent Answered Within Service Level” and “Average Speed of Answer”) will also not include data on calls answered using the Call Pickup feature. Because the split/skill of the agent originally called is credited with an outflow call, the call counts against the “Percent Answered Within Service Level” for that split/skill.

Intraflow and Interflow

When a call is intraflowed or interflowed from a split/skill, CentreVu CMS counts the call as an outflow call for the split/skill. If a call is intraflowed into a split/skill, CentreVu CMS counts the call as an inflow call for the split/skill. CentreVu CMS counts interflowed calls as ordinary incoming calls for the split/skill. However, because calls can be intraflowed/interflowed to destinations that are not splits/sk ills or are not measured by CentreVu CMS, an outflow call from a split/skill will not always show a corresponding inflow call for another split/skill. Conversely, because calls can be intraflowed/interflowed into a split/skill from originating locations that are not measu red by CentreVu CMS, an inflow call to a split/skill may not show a corresponding outflow f rom anoth e r split/skill.

G3si+M yes yes G3r yes yes

If an intraflowed/interflowed call connects to an agent in the destination split/s kill, that call is counted as an ACD call for the split/skill.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

On the DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches, a dummy split/skill may be established which intraflows calls to another split/skill. For CentreVu CMS to count outflow calls for dummy splits/skills, intraflow should be establish ed usin g the Call Forwarding feature. If Call Coverage is used to intraflow calls, at least one agent must log into the dummy split/skill and go into ACW, and the call must queue to the dummy split/skill for at least one ring cycle for an outflow call to be counted.

For switches with the Call V ectoring feature, intraflow and interflow work differently, and CentreV u CMS data related to intraflow and interflow are recorded differently.

Redirection on No Answer (RONA)

For the DEFINITY ECS, and Generic 3 Version 2 and later switches, when a ringing call times out and is requeued to the same split/skill by the Redirection On No Answer feature, CentreV u CMS counts an outflow and an inflow for the split/skill. That is, the redirected call appears as two offered calls to the split/skill. For the DEFINITY ECS, if the call redirects from ringing to a VDN, there is outflow from the initial VDN and from the split/skill. If the call was in another VDN prior to redirection to another VDN, then there is inflow to that VDN.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-33ACD Measurement

Also, NOANSREDIR is incremented for the split/skill and the VDN. For Release 3 Version 2 and later of CMS , the dat abas e item NO ANSREDIR is also incremented for split/skill and for VDN, if the call is in a VDN. If a split/skill is set up so that split/skill calls do not redirect back to the split/skill except by way of the Redirection On No Answer feature, the unique calls offered to the split/skill can be calculated by subtracting the value of NOANSREDIR from CALLSOFFERED.

If a call redirects from ringing to a VDN (DEFINITY ECS), there is outflow from the split/skill and, if the call was in another VDN, there also is inflow to the new VDN and outflow from the initial VDN. The NOANSREDIR is incremented for split/skill and VDN.

Phantom Abandon Call Timer

CentreV u CMS R3V4 and later switches can collect information about phantom abandon calls. When this capability is enabled, calls with a talk time (duration) shorter than the administered value (1 - 10 seconds) are counted as phantom abandon calls. Setting the timer to zero disables it. CentreVu CMS uses the PHANTOMABNS database item to store the number of phantom abandon calls.

This capability is important in areas where the public network switches do not provide disconnect supervision. Without this capability, short-duration calls that queue to a split/skill and are answered by an ACD agent or other answering position are counted as ACD calls, even if the calling party hangs up before the call is answered. This type of call is called a phantom or ghost call.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Move Agent While Staffed

G3V4 and later switch releases support moving a staffed agent between splits or changing the skill assignments for staf fed agents . If the agen t has an y call on the voice ter minal or is in ACW, then the move cannot take place immediately, but is pending the agent voice terminal going idle (all calls have been terminated), or the agent chan ging ou t of the ACW mode.

CMS provides two real-time database items in the agent data, MOVEPENDING and PENDINGSPLIT, that can be accessed by using custom reports to provide information about whether agent have moves pending and, if so, the split or skill to which they are

being moved. Note that in the case that the agent’ s skills are being changed and the ch ange adds more than one skill, the PENDINGSPLIT item will show the first skill that is being added. It is also possible for MOVEPENDING to be set, but for PENDINGSAPLIT to be blank (or 0). This can happen, for example, when the link to the switch comes up and a move is pending for an agent. CMS will be notified by the switch that the move is pending, but PENDINGSPLIT will not be set.

Expanded Agent Capabilities

December 1999

Issue 2

1-34ACD Measurement

DEFINITY ECS R5 and later releases support Expanded Agent Capabilities. This feature allows EAS agents to have up to 20 skills assigned. Each skill may be assigned a level from 1 to 16, where Reserve 1 and Reserve 2 are the highest levels and 16 is the lowest. (The numeric level replaces the skill type p or s used in earlier G3 EAS releases.) Agents may have a call handling preference based either on the skill level, meaning that the agent will serve calls waiting for his or her highest level skill before serving calls waiting for any lower level skills; or based on greatest need, meaning that the agent will serve the highest-priority, oldest call waiting for any of his or her skills, or percent allocation, based on the percent distribution of calls among the agent’s skills.

The expanded agent capabilities feature also allows the specification of the skill to be used for the agent’s direct calls. This also allows specification of the level for the direct agent skill, which, in conjunction with the agent’s call handling preference, may affect the order in which a direct agent call is delivered to an agent. That is, direct agent calls need to be delivered for all skill ACD calls. A concept introduced in R3V5 CMS, that of the top skill, can be useful in EAS implementations that use skill level call handling preference for agents. An agent’s first administered, highest level skill is the agent’s top skill, since it is for this skill that the agent is most likely to handle calls. This is the skill that can count on the agent.

Database items track the number of top agents in skills, as well as the time top agents spent available and in AUX.

The expanded agent capabilities on the switch include an increased number of measured splits/skills to 600 and an increase in the number of measured agent/spl it or agent/skill pairs to 10,000 for the G3r processor, as well as new options for Most Idle Agent (MIA) call distribution. The new options allow selection of MIA distribution across skills, rather than for each skill, and selection of whether agents in ACW are or are not included in the agent free list. These options have no direct impact on CMS, since CMS does not keep track of the most idle agent.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Best Service Routing (BSR)

DEFINITY ECS R6 and later versions support Best Service Routing (BSR). BSR allows calls to be balanced at a single site or between multiple sites. BSR is enhanced multi-site routing that provides new call vectoring functions that build upon the Look-Ahead

Interflow feature to route a call to the “best” split/skill on a single ECS or to the best split/skill in a network of DEFINITY ECSs.

The “best” split/skill is defined as the local split/skill or remote ECS that offers the shortest waiting time for the call in a call surplus (calls queued) situation for the application. The waiting time is calculated using the DEFINITY ECS’s Expected Wait Time (EWT) predictor, and can be adjusted by the user. In an agents available situation, the “best” split/skill is determined based on the assigned availab le agent str ategy. BSR data is tracked in the vector, VDN, and call history tables.

Universal Call ID

DEFINITY ECS R6 and later versions supports Universal Call ID (UCID). UCID is a unique tag that is assigned to a call. The tag allows call-related data to be collected and aggregated from multiple sources (for example, DEFINITY and Intuity multiple sites. The UCID may then be used to group all the data from various sources about a particular call.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-35ACD Measurement

Conversant) and

CentreVu

CMS will receive the UCID assigned to calls by a DEFINITY ECS R6 or later with this feature enabled. The UCID is then stored, along with data about the call itself, by the call history feature (which includes both internal and external call history). The data will be available to both Custom Reports and the Report Designer. UCID data is stored in the call history and agent trace tables.

Advocate

CentreVu Advocate is available on the DEFINITY ECS, Release 6 and later. CentreVu Advocate has introduced a number of new database

tracking items for CMS, as follows:

n Skill State — Skills can now be in one of four states (unknown, normal, overload 1

or overload 2), based on the Expected Wait Time (EWT) threshold. Time spent in each state except “unknown” is tracked in the split/skill tables. The state is unknown when the link is down or the split is non-EAS, or when a new skill is added and the state message has not yet arrived.

n Reserve Agent — Agents can have a skill level of reserve 1 or reserve 2 that

corresponds to skill states overload 1 and overload 2. Only when the skill is in an overload state will the appropriate reserve agents serve that skill. These agents have a special agent service role. When the agents are available, but the skill is not in the appropriate state, the agent is tracked as “other”.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

n Agent Counts — The number of agents in various states are stored in the split/skill

tables by agent type. Reserve agents are stored in R1xxx and R2xxx database items. Top agents are stored in Txxx and flex agents are stored in Fxxx database items.

n Agent Time in Skill — Agents’ ACD/ACW time can be tracked by skill.

Non-ACD time in standard is as follows: agents with the tracked skill as the top skill use 100%, while agents who are percent allocated use the same percentage for both ACD and non-ACD time. B ackup, Ro ving, or Reserv e 1 or 2 agents track 0 % of their non-ACD time toward this skill.

n Agent Role — ROLE is a database item in the agent tables that describes how an

agent participates in a skill. The agent’s role is based on both the agent’s Skill Level and Call Handling Preference. Agents with a reserve skill have a role of Reserve. Non-EAS agents and agents with Greatest need Call Handling Preference have a role of Roving. Top agents have a role of Top. Skill Level Call Handling Preference agents who are neither top or reserve have a role of Backup. Agents who are Percent Allocated have a role of Allocated.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-36ACD Measurement

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 1 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Read the items below and complete as directed. If needed, refer back to the previous Guided Reading. When you finish, compare your answers to those presented on the back of this page.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

1. A call distribution method that allows the ACD software to check the split’s/skill’s agent numbers in the administered sequence, starting with the number of the last agent connected to a call is called __________________________________.

2. A call distribution method that allows ACD software to check the split ’s/skill’s agent numbers in the administered sequence until it finds an agent with an available extension. It then routes the call to that extension, this method is referred to as ________________________________ ___ __ ___________.

3. A call distribution method that allows ACD to find the agent extension that has been idle for the longest period of time and route the call to that agent’s extension. This method is referred to as _________________________________________.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-37Exercise 1 — Automatic Call Dis tribution (ACD)

4. A call distribution method based on agent skill is called _____________________ ____________________________.

5. An adjunct that collects call data for a switch resident ACD, provides call management performance recording and reporting, and can also be used to perform some ACD administration is called ______________________________.

6. A group of trunks/agents that are selected to work together to provide specific routing of special purpose calls are referred to as __________________________ _____________________.

7. A call collection point where calls are held until a split/skill agent or attendant can answer them is called ______________________________________________.

8. A group of extensions/agents that can receive st andard calls and/or special pur pose calls from one or more trunk groups are referred to as ______________________.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 1 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Compare your answers to those presented below.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

4. A call distribution method based on agent skill is called __EAD (Expert Agent Distribution)_.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-38Exercise 1 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

6. A group of trunks/agents that are selected to work together to provide specific routing of special purpose calls are referred to as __Hunt Groups.____________.

7. A call collection point where calls are held until a split/skill agent or attendant can answer them is called __a queue______________________________________.

8. A group of extensions/agents that can receive st andard calls and/or special pur pose calls from one or more trunk groups are referred to as __split________________.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 2 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Read the items below and complete as directed. If needed, refer back to the previous Guided Reading. When you finish, compare your answers to those presented on the back of this page.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described (continued).

1. A call management method that uses specialized call vector commands to provide flexible handling of incoming calls based on information collected from the caller is referred to as ___________________________________________________.

2. An optional software package that allows processing of incoming calls according to a programmed set of commands is ___________________________________.

3. Users can balance the call work load between multiple call centers on separate switching systems with ________________________ ____ _________________ _.

4. A segment of a split’s/skill’s queue from which calls are taken first is ___________

___________________________________________________________.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-39Exercise 2 — Automatic Call Dis tribution (ACD)

5. A feature used to train new agents and observe in-progress calls is ____________ _ _______________ ______ ___ _____ ___ ______ ___ _____ ___ ______ __.

6. The ability to assign, monitor, or move agents to specific splits/skills is _________ _____________________________________________________________.

7. A point in time or criteria that determines a certain action by the system is called a/an _____________________________________________________________.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 2 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Compare your answers to those presented below.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described (continued).

1. A call management method that uses specialized call vector commands to provide flexible handling of incoming calls based on information collected from the caller is referred to as Call Prompting.

2. An optional software package that allows processing of incoming calls according to a programmed set of commands is Call Vectoring.

3. Users can balance the call work load between multiple call centers on separate switching systems with LAI (look Ahead Interflow).

4. A segment of a split’s/skill’s q ueue fro m w hich calls ar e taken first is Priority queue.

5. A feature used to train new agents and observe in-progress calls is Service observing.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-40Exercise 2 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

6. The ability to assign, monitor, or move agents to specific splits/skills is split/skill administration.

7. A point in time or criteria that determines a certain action by the system is called a/an threshold.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 3 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Read the items below and complete as directed. If needed, refer back to the previous Guided Reading. When you finish, compare your answers to those presented on the back of this page.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

1. A signal sent to the serving CO by the switch telling the CO that an incoming call has been answered and that the CO should begin tracking charges if appropriate is referred to as _______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________.

2. When the CO processes all of the call digits of an incoming call, seizes a trunk from the appropriate trunk group, and connects the call directly to the destination identified in the switch software, it is called ______________________________

_________________________________________________________________.

3. An attendant or group of attendants that handles the calls for all switches in a network is called _________________________ _________________ ___ ___ ____

_______________ ___ _________________ ___ ___ _________________ ___ __ __

December 1999

Issue 2

1-41Exercise 3 — Automatic Call Dis tribution (ACD)

4. A feature of the 800 number service that sends the dialed digits to the called destination and can indicate the type of a call to an agent is called _____________

_________________________________________________________________.

5. A system feature that allows messages to be stored for any ACD split/skill and allows for retrieval by a covering user of that split/skill or a system wide m essage retriever is referred to as _________________ _____________________________

_______________ _________________ ___ _________________ _____.

6. An associated extension number of a split/skill, not normally dialed to reach a split/skill, but accessed through direct dialing is called ______________________

_________________________________________________________________.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 3 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Compare your answers to those presented below.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

1. A signal sent to the serving CO by the switch telling the CO that an incoming call has been answered and that the CO should begin tracking charges if appropriate is referred to as answer supervision.

3. An attendant or group of attendants that handles the calls for all switches in a network is called CAS (Centralized Attendant Service).

4. A feature of the 800 number service that sends the dialed digits to the called destination and can indicate the type of a call to an agent is called DNIS (Dialed

Number Identification Service).

December 1999

Issue 2

1-42Exercise 3 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

5. A system feature that allows messages to be stored for any ACD split/skill and allows for retrieval by a covering user of that split/skill or a system wide message retriever is referred to as Leave Word Calling.

6. An associated extension number of a split/skill, not normally dialed to reach a split/skill, but accessed through direct dialing is called QDN (Queue Directory Number).

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 4 — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk States

Read the items below and complete as directed. If needed, refer back to the previous Guided Reading. When you finish, compare your answers to those presented on the back of this page.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

1. The current status or work functions of an agent are known as ________________ _____________________________.

2. When the extension is engaged in an ACD call, the agent state is referred to as ___ _______________ _________________ _____________.

3. When the extension is logged in and able to accept an ACD call it is referred to as ________________________________________________.

4. The agent enters into the _____________________________________________ mode upon disconnec ting f rom an ACD call. The agent is no t availab le fo r another ACD call until the manual-in button is depressed.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-43Exercise 4 — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk States

5. While in the ________________________ ______ ______ _____ _____ work mode the agent becomes available for another call after an ACD call is disconnected.

6. While in ACW the agent placed an outgoing call. This is referred to as _________ _______________________________________.

7. The agent is involved in non-ACD work, is on break, in a meeting or at lunch. CMS recognizes the extension as staffed but does not want ACD to route calls there for an extended time. This is referred to as _______ __ ______ ___ _____ ___ _.

8. The agent will hear ringing when the next call comes in and goes off-hook to answer with ________________________________________________.

9. When the trunk is occupied by an incoming or outgoing call it is considered to be _ ____________________________________________.

10. An ACD caller has the trunk and is waiting for the agent to answer, the trunk is

considered to be _______________ ______________________________.

11. The agent and caller are connected in an ACD call, the term for the trunk status is

_____________________________________________.

12. The queued caller has just disconnected the call. The term for this type of call is __ _______________ ______ ___ _____ ___ ___ ______ __ .

13. A queued call has been intraflowed outside the ACD or has been interflowed to another switch. The term for this status is ________________________________ _____________.

14. When an extension is maintenance busy, or out of service for maintenance purposes, the status code is ___________________________________________.

15. The agent has just put a call on hold. The status code for this is _______________ ______________________________.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 4 Evaluation — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk S tates

Compare your answers to those presented below.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

1. The current status or work functions of an agent are known as agent states or work modes.

2. When the extension is engaged in an ACD call, the agent state is referred to as ACD.

3. When the extension is logged in and able to accept an ACD call it is referred to as AVAIL (Available).

4. The agent enters into the After Call Work mode upon disconnecting from an ACD call. The agent is not available for another ACD call until the manual-in button is depressed.

5. While in the Auto-In work mode the agent becomes available for ano ther call after an ACD call is disconnected.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-44Exercise 4 Evaluation — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk States

6. While in ACW the agent placed an outgoing call. This is referred to as ACW-OUT.

8. The agent will hear ringing when the next call comes in and goes off-hook to answer with Manual Answer.

9. When the trunk is occupied by an incoming or outgoing call it is considered to be seized.

10. An ACD caller has the trunk and is waiting for the agent to answer, the trunk is

considered to be queued.

11. The agent and caller are connected in an ACD call, the term for the trunk status is

Conn.

12. The queued caller has just disconnected the call. The term for this type of call is

abandoned.

13. A queued call has been intraflowed outside the ACD or has been interflowed to

another switch. The term for this status is Fwrd.

14. When an extension is maintenance busy, or out of service for maintenance

purposes, the status code is Mbusy.

15. The agent has just put a call on hold. The status code for this is Hold.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

1-45Exercise 5 — BCMS and CentreVu CMS

Exercise 5 — BCMS and CMS

Read the items below and complete as directed. If needed, refer back to the previous Guided Reading. When you finish, compare your answers to those presented on the back of this page.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

1. This adjunct that collects call data for a switch resident ACD, provides call management performance recording and reporting, and can be used to perform some ACD administration is called _____________________________________ ___________________________________________________.

2. The optional software package (residing on the switch) used to provide real-time and historical reports to assist in managing ACD splits, agents (extensions), trunk groups and VDNs (G3 only ) is cal led _ ______ _____ ______ ___ _____ ______ ____ _______________ ______ ______ __ ______ ______ ___ _____ ___.

CentreVu

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

555-233-503

Exercise 5 Evaluation — BCMS and

CentreVu

CMS

Compare your answers to those presented below.

Fill in the blank. In the space provided, write the term being described.

December 1999

Issue 2

1-46Exercise 5 Evaluation — BCMS and CentreVu CMS

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-1Introduction

DEFINITY

Call Center Capacities for

ACD Software and Related Features

Introduction

This chapter describes the ACD capacities of Lucent Technologies products. The section contains the following topics:

n Capacity tables for DEFINITY ECS and Generic 3 switches, and CentreVu CMS n Measured extensions and multiple splits on a non-EAS switch

n Measured and unmeasured trunks.

The tables in this chapter show:

1. Capacities for DEFINITY ECS Release 8

2. Capacities for DEFINITY ECS Release 7 and Release 6.3

3. Capacities for DEFINITY ECS Releases 5 and 6

4. Capacities for DEFINITY Generic 3 Versions 2 to 4 switches

5. Capacities for DEFINITY Generic 3 Version 1 switches

6. Maximum capacities supported on CentreVu CMS.

NOTE:

Yo ur switch and CentreVu CMS are probably configured differently than the maximum values shown in ECS 5 and 6 capacities [1-45] and G3V2, G3V3, and G3V4 switch capacities [1-47]. Note these differences. You need to know your particular CentreVu CMS values befor e administering CentreVu CMS. Furthermore, if you have multiple ACDs, you cannot exceed the maximum capacities supported by CentreVu CMS across all ACDs.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-2DEFINITY ECS R8 Capacities

DEFINITY

This table shows the capacities that are related to Call Center on the DEFINITY ECS R8.

Table 2-1. DEFINITY ECS R8 Call Center Ca pacities

Item R8csi R8si R8r Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

ECS R8 Capacities

Announcements per Split 2 2 2 Announcements per System 128 128 1000 Splits 99 99 999 ACD Members per Split 200 200 1500 Maximum Administered ACD members Maximum ACD Agents (per system) Whe n

Each Logs Into: 1 Split 500 500 5200 2 Splits 500 500 5000 3 Splits 333 333 3333 4 Splits 250 250 2500 Logged-in Splits per Agent

1000* 1000 10000

No CMS 4 4 4 R2 or R3V1 CMS 3 3 3 R3V2 or newer CMS 4 4 4 Queue Slots per Group Queue Slots per System

200 200 999 1500 1500 25000

Call Vectoring

Maximum Skills a to which a Call Can Simultaneously Queue

Priority Levels 4 4 4 Recorded Announcements/Audio Sources

for Vector Delay Steps per Vector 32 32 32 Vector Directory Numbers (VDNs) 512 512 20000 CMS Measured VDNs Vectors per System 256 256 999 Number of Collected Digits for Call

Prompting or CINFO

333

128 128 256

512 512 20000

16 16 16

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Table 2-1. DEFINITY ECS R8 Call Center Ca pacities

Item R8csi R8si R8r

December 1999

Issue 2

2-3DEFINITY ECS R8 Capacities

Number of Dial-Ahead Digits for Call

24 24 24

Prompting Vector Routing Tables 10 1 0 100 BSR Application-Location Pairs

1000 1000 1000

Expert Agent Selection (EAS)

Skill Groups 99 99 999 VDN Skill Preferences 3 3 3 Maximum Skills to which a Call Can

Simultaneously Queue Maximum Administered Agent Login IDs Maximum Staffed Agent Login IDs Max Administered ACD Members (Login

ID-skill pairs)

Maximum Staffed ACD Members 1000* 1000 10000 Maximum Skills per Agent No CMS 20 20 20 R3V2 through R3V4 CMS 4 4 4 R3V5 or newer CMS 20 20 20 Skill levels (preferences) per Agent Skill 16 16 16

333

1500 1500 10000 500* 500 5200 6000 6000 65000

Maximum logged in EAS Agents (per system) When Each Has:

1 Skill 500* 500 5200 2 Skills 500* 500 5000 4 Skills 250 250 2500 10 Skills 100 100 1000 20 Skills 50 50 500

Tr unks and Trunk Groups

DS1 Circuit Packs 30* 30 166 Queue Slots for Trunks 198 198 1332 Measured Trunks in System 400* 400 4000 Trunk Group Hourly Measurements 25 25 75 Trunk Groups in the System 99 99 666 Trunk Members in Trunk Groups 99 99 256

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Table 2-1. DEFINITY ECS R8 Call Center Ca pacities

Item R8csi R8si R8r Basic Call Management System (BCMS)

Measured Agents or Login IDs 400 400 2000 Measured Agents per Split 200 200 999 Measured Splits 99 99 600 Measured Trunk Groups 32 32 32 Measured VDNs 99 99 512 Maximum Agents Displayed by Monitor

BCMS Split Command

Maximum BCMS Terminals 3 3 4 Maximum Active Maintenance Commands

for System

100 100 100

115

December 1999

Issue 2

2-4DEFINITY ECS R8 Capacities

Maximum Simultaneous BCMS Terminals in Monitor Mode

113

Reporting Periods Intervals 25 25 25 Days 7 7 7

1. Also called administered agent-split pairs. Member capacity is used by ACD agents, Auto-Available Splits (AAS) ports (e.g., VRUs), non-ACD hunt groups (hunting groups with or without queues, Message Center Service, INTUITY/AUDIX, Remote AUDIX, etc.).

2. The number of agents that can log into the same split/skill is limited by the maximum Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered and, with non-EAS, the additional splits assigned

3. An agent can be assigned more splits during administration but only this number can be simultaneously logged into.

4. Queue slots are shared across non-ACD, ACD (splits/skills) and AAS hunt groups.

5. See Note 4.

DEFINITY

physical set extensions, Logical Agent IDs, and AWOH) assigned and the VDNs assigned can not exceed 25,000 for cannot exceed 36,065 for

7. With checking is made inactive for viewing and modifying individual VDNs. All other permission checking continues for other entities, such as vectors. The 2-GB file size limit imposed by Informix SE (Standard Database Engine) limits the number of intervals of historical VDN data that can be collected for large numbers of VDNs. The limits can be determined using: Days=8,158/VI where V=number VDNs (in thousands) and I=number of collection intervals in a day (I=60h/i where h=collection hours per day and i=interval period in minutes).

8. BSR application numbers and location numbers are limited to a range of 1 to 255 (i.e., each is limited to 255).

G3r. In addition, the total of stations (station extensions including ACD agent

CentreVu

DEFINITY

CMS R3V8 (and earlier) when more than 2,000 VDNs are activated, permission

G3r. Also, the total of all extensions assigned for any purpose

DEFINITY

G3r.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

9. Total of the administered Login ID skill-pair members (total of the agent skills and AAS ports). This limit can be reached only if 4 skills or less are assigned per Login ID due to the ACD Members Administered (Login ID-skill pair) limits. The following shows this (for R6.3.3 or newer).

Max. Login IDs With: csi/si r

• 1 to 4 Skills Each 1,500 10,000

• 10 Skills Each 600 6,500

• 20 Skills Each 300 3,250

10. The number of agents that can log into the same split/skill is limited by the maximum Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered and, with non-EAS, the additional splits assigned.

11. Total of the administered Login ID-skill pair members (for agents and AAS ports).

12. The number of agents that can log into the same skill is limited by the Maximum Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered.

13. The Monitor Split command will only display status for the first 100 agents logged into the split regardless of how many additional agents log into the split.

14. 12.2 BCMS monitoring, being a maintenance command, is limited by the active maintenance

commands limit, reduced by 2 in the “r” system configuration (since 2 active command slots are reserved for the INADS and SAT logins respectively).

* Software capacity limit cannot be achieved due to hardware capacity limits for this platform.

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-5DEFINITY ECS R8 Capacities

DEFINITY

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-6DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Capacities

DEFINITY

ECS R7 and

R6.3 Capacities

This table shows the capacities that are related to Call Center on the DEFINITY ECS R7 and the DEFINITY ECS R6.3.

Table 2-2. DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Call Center Capacities

Item Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Announcements per Split 2 2 2 Announcements per System 128 128 256 Splits 99 99 600 ACD Members per Split 200 200 999 Maximum Administered ACD members Maximum ACD Agents (per system) Whe n

Each Logs Into: 1 Split 500 500 5200 2 Splits 500 500 5000

DEFINITY

ECS

R6.3/R7 csi

1000* 1000 10000

R6.3/R7siR6.3/R7

3 Splits 333 333 3333 4 Splits 250 250 2500 Logged-in Splits per Agent No CMS 4 4 4 R2 or R3V1 CMS 3 3 3 R3V2 or newer CMS 4 4 4 Queue Slots per Group Queue Slots per System

200 200 999 1500 1500 15000

Call Vectoring

Maximum Skills a to which a Call Can Simultaneously Queue

Priority Levels 4 4 4 Recorded Announcements/Audio Sources

for Vector Delay Steps per Vector 32 32 32 Vector Directory Numbers (VDNs) 512 512 20000 CMS Measured VDNs Vectors per System 256 256 512

333

128 128 256

512 512 8000

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Table 2-2. DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Call Center Capacities

December 1999

Issue 2

2-7DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Capacities

R6.3/R7

Item

Number of Collected Digits for Call Prompting or CINFO

Number of Dial-Ahead Digits for Call Prompting

Vector Routing Tables 10 10 100 BSR Application-Location Pairs

csi

16 16 16

24 24 24

1000 1000 1000

R6.3/R7siR6.3/R7

Expert Agent Selection (EAS)

Skill Groups 99 99 600 VDN Skill Preferences 3 3 3 Maximum Skills to which a Call Can

Simultaneously Queue Maximum Administered Agent Login IDs Maximum Staffed Agent Login IDs Max Administered ACD Members (Login

ID-skill pairs) Maximum Staffed ACD Members 1000* 1000 10000 Maximum Skills per Agent

333

1500 1500 10000 500* 500 5200 6000 6000 65000

No CMS 20 20 20 R3V2 through R3V4 CMS 4 4 4 R3V5 or newer CMS 20 20 20 Skill levels (preferences) per Agent Skill 16 16 16 Maximum logged in EAS Agents (per

system) When Each Has: 1 Skill 500* 500 5200 2 Skills 500* 500 5000 4 Skills 250 250 2500 10 Skills 100 100 1000 20 Skills 50 50 500

Tr unks and Trunk Groups

DS1 Circuit Packs 30* 30 166 Queue Slots for Trunks 198 198 1332 Measured Trunks in System 400* 400 4000 Trunk Group Hourly Measurements 25 25 75 Trunk Groups in the System 99 99 666

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Table 2-2. DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Call Center Capacities

December 1999

Issue 2

2-8DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Capacities

Item

R6.3/R7 csi

R6.3/R7siR6.3/R7

Trunk Members in Trunk Groups 99 99 256

Basic Call Management System (BCMS)

Measured Agents or Login IDs 400 400 2000 Measured Agents per Split 200 200 999 Measured Splits 99 99 600 Measured Trunk Groups 32 32 32 Measured VDNs 99 99 512 Maximum Agents Displayed by Monitor

BCMS Split Command

Maximum BCMS Terminals 3 3 4 Maximum Active Maintenance Commands

for System Maximum Simultaneous BCMS Terminals in

Monitor Mode

Reporting Periods Intervals 25 25 25 Days 7 7 7

100 100 100

115

113

3. An agent can be assigned more splits during administration but only this number can be simultaneously logged into.

4. Queue slots are shared across non-ACD, ACD (splits/skills) and AAS hunt groups.

5. See Note 4.

6. VDNs are counted as part of the miscellaneous extensions capacity. The total of VDNs, hunt groups, announcements, LDNs, TEGs, PCOL groups, access endpoints, administered TSCs and Code Calling IDs extensions and common shared extensions cannot exceed 20,317 for G3r. In addition, the total of stations (station extensions including ACD agent physical set extensions, Logical Agent IDs, and AWOH) assigned and the VDNs assigned can not exceed 25,000 for 36,065 for

8. BSR application numbers and location numbers are limited to a range of 1 to 255 (i.e., each is limited to 255).

DEFINITY

CentreVu

G3r. Also, the total of all extensions assigned for any purpose cannot exceed

G3r.

CMS R3V8 (and earlier) when more than 2,000 VDNs are activated, permission

DEFINITY

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

9. Tot al of the administered Login ID skill-p air members (total of the agent skills and AAS ports). This limit can be reached only if 4 skills or less are assigned per Login ID due to the ACD Members Administered (Login ID-skill pair) limits. The following shows this (for

Max. Login IDs With: csi/si r

• 1 to 4 Skills Each 1,500 10,000

• 10 Skills Each 600 6,500

• 20 Skills Each 300 3,250

10. The number of agents that can log into the same split/skill is limit ed by the maximum Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered and, with non-EAS, the additional splits assigned.

11. Total of the administered Login ID-skill pair members (for agents and AAS ports).

13. The Monitor Split command will only display status for the first 100 agents logged into the split regardless of how many additional agents log into the split.

14. 12.2 BCMS monitoring, being a maintenance command, is limited by the active maintenance

commands limit, reduced by 2 in the “r” system configuration (since 2 active command slots are reserved for the INADS and SAT logins respectively).

* Software capacity limit cannot be achieved due to hardware capacity limits for this platform.

555-233-503

DEFINITY

December 1999

Issue 2

2-9DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Capacities

R6.3.3 or newer).

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-10DEFINITY ECS R5 and DEFINITY ECS R6.1 and DEFINITY ECS R6.2 Capacities

DEFINITY

R6.1 and Capacities

This table shows the capacities that are related to Call Center on the DEFINITY ECS R5 and on the DEFINITY ECS R6.1/6.2.

Table 2-3. DEFINITY ECS R5 and DEFINITY ECS R6.1/6.2 Call Center

Item R5vs/si R5si+M R5r R6r

Agents per System 150 500 5200 5200 Agents per Split 150 200 999 999 Agent Login IDs 450 500 10000 10000 Skill Groups 24 99 600 600 Splits 2499600600 Trunk Groups 32 99 665 665 Trunks 100 400 4000 4000 Vectors 48 256 512 512

Vector Routing — Table s 5 0 100 100

ECS R5 and

DEFINITY

ECS R6.2

Capacities

DEFINITY

ECS

Vector Routing — Entries per Table 100 100 100 100 Vectoring Audio/Music Sources VDNs — Total 100 512 20000 20000 VDNs — Measured 100 512 2000 8000 Priority Levels — without Vectoring2222 Priority Levels — with Vectoring 4444 Queue Slots per Split 200 200 999 999 Queue Slots (Split) per System 200 1500 15000 15000 Recorded Announcements 128 128 256 256 Integrated Announcement Boards 1 5 10 10 Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Integrated Announcement Board Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Analog and Auxiliary Trunk

128 128 256 256

25 200 4000 4000

50 150 1000 1000

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Table 2-3. DEFINITY ECS R5 and DEFINITY ECS R6.1/6.2 Call Center

Capacities

Item R5vs/si R5si+M R5r R6r

December 1999

Issue 2

2-11DEFINITY ECS R5 and DEFINITY ECS R6.1 and DEFINITY ECS R6.2 Capacities

Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Integrated Announcement Board Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Analog Port Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Auxiliary Trunk

1. 128 is the system maximum for recorded announcements and music sources. Each announcement subtracts one from the maximum number of music sources and vice versa.

25 50 1000 1000

50 150 1000 1000

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-12DEFINITY G3V2, DEFINITY G3V3, and DEFINITY G3V4 Switch Capacities

DEFINITY DEFINITY

This table shows the capacities of Generic 3 Version 2 to Version 4 switches. “ABP” is the Advantage Business Package; “PBP” is the Premier Business Package.

Table 2-4. DEFI NITY G3V2, DEFINITY G3V3, and DEFINITY G3V4 Call Center

Item G3V/s G3i G3r

Agents per System 150 150 500 500 5200 5200 Agents per Split 150 150 200 200 999 999 Agent Login IDs NA/450 NA/450 1500 1500 10000 10000 Skill Groups NA/24 NA/24 99 99 255 255 Splits 12/24 12/24 99 99 255 255 Trunk Groups 16/32 16/32 99 99 665 665 Trunks 50/100 50/100 400 400 4000 4000 Vectors NA/48 NA/48 256 256 512 512

Vector Routing — Tables NA 5 NA 10 NA 100 Vector Routing — Entries per Table NA 100 NA 100 NA 100 Vectoring Audio/Music Sources VDNs — Total NA/100 NA/100 512 512 20000 20000 VDNs — Measured NA/100 NA/100 512 512 2000 2000 Priority Levels — without Vectoring 2 2 2 2 2 2 Priority Levels — with Vectoring 4 4 4 4 4 4 Queue Slots per Split 200 200 200 200 999 999 Queue Slots (Split) per System 200 200 200 1000 10500 10500 Recorded Announcements 128 128 128 128 256 256 Integrated Announcement Boards 1 1 1 5 10 Recorded Announcement Queue

Slots — Integrated Announcement Board

Recorded Announcement Queue Slots — Analog and Auxiliary Trunk

G3V2,

DEFINITY

G3V3, and

G3V4 Switch Capacities

Capacities

V2 & V3 ABP/PBPV4ABP/PBP V2&V3 V4 V2&V3 V4

1 128 1 128 1 256

50 25 50 50 1000 4000

50 50 150 150 128 1000

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Table 2-4. DEFI NITY G3V2, DEFINITY G3V3, and DEFINITY G3V4 Call Center

Capacities

Item G3V/s G3i G3r

Recorded Announcement Calls

Connected per Announcement — Integrated Announcement Board

Recorded Announcement Calls Connected per Announcement — Analog Port

Recorded Announcement Calls Connected per Announcement — Auxiliary Trunk

1. 128 is the system maximum for recorded announcements and music sources. Each announcement subtracts one from the maximum number of music sources and vice versa.

5 25 25 50 255 1000

5 50 25 150 128 1000

5 50 25 150 255 1000

December 1999

Issue 2

2-13DEFINITY G3V2, DEFINITY G3V3, and DEFINITY G3V4 Switch Capacities

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-14DEFINITY G3V1 Switch Capacities

DEFINITY

This table shows the capacities that are related to Call Center on the DEFINITY G3V1.

Table 2-5. DEFINITY G3V1 Call Center Capacities

Item

Agents per System 150 500 3000 Agents per Split 150 200 999 Skill NA/24 NA NA Splits 12/24 99 99 Trunk Groups 16/32 99 666 Trunks 50/100 400 4000 Vectors NA/48 256 512 VDNs NA/100 500 3000

Priority Levels — without Vectoring 2 2 2 Priority Levels — with Vectoring 4 4 4 Queue Slots per Split 200 200 999 Queue Slots (Split) per System 200 1000 6000/10500

G3V1 Switch Capacities

G3Vs/s ABP/PBP G3i G3r

Recorded Announcements — without Vectoring

Recorded Announcements — with Vectoring

Integrated Announcement Boards 1 1 1 Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Integrated Announcement Board Recorded Announcement Queue Slots

— Analog and Auxiliary Trunk Recorded Announcement Calls

Connected per Announcement — Integrated Announcement Board

Recorded Announcement Calls Connected per Announcement — Analog Port

Recorded Announcement Calls Connected per Announcement — Auxiliary Trunk

128 128 256

NA/128 128 256

50 50 300

50 150 300

55255

55128

55255

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-15CentreVu CMS Maximum Capacities

CentreVu

This table shows maximum CentreVu CMS capacities for Lucent switches and ECS.

“BHCC” is Busy Hour Call Capacity.

Item Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Call Vectoring

CMS Maximum Capacities

CMS R3V6

Maximum Number of ACDs (multi-ACD configuration)

Maximum Staffed ACD members 10000 10000 Maximum administered Agent Login IDs 10000 10000 Maximum Splits 100 0 1000 Maximum ACD Agents (per system) Whe n

Each Logs Into: 1 Split 10000 10000 2 Splits 5000 5000 3 Splits 3333 3333 4 Splits 2500 2500

CMS R3V8

Maximum Skills a to which a Call Can Simultaneously Queue

Priority Levels Recorded Announcements/Audio Sources

for Vector Delay Steps per Vector 32 32 Vector Directory Numbers (VDNs) 8000 20000 CMS Measured VDNs Vectors per System 4096 7992

Expert Agent Selection (EAS)

Skill Groups 1000 1000 Maximum Skills 1000 1000 Maximum Administered Agent Login IDs Maximum Staffed Agent Login IDs Maximum Skills per Agent 20 20 Skill levels (preferences) per Agent Skill 16 16 Maximum logged in EAS Agents (per

system) When Each Has:

10000 10000

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

2-16CentreVu CMS Maximum Capacities

Item

CMS R3V6

CMS R3V8

1 Skill 10000 10000 2 Skills 5000 5000 4 Skills 2500 2500 10 Skills 1000 1000 20 Skills 500 500

Tr unks and Trunk Groups

Measured and Unmeasured Trunks in System

Trunk Groups in the System 666 666 Trunk Members in Trunk Groups

4000 4000

Other Capacities

Agent Traces Active 250 250 Agent Trace Records 500000 50000 BHCC 40000 40000 Call Records (internal) NA 5000

1. The number of agents that can log into the same split/skill is limited by the maximum Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered and, with non-EAS, the additional splits assigned

2. With

3. Total of the administered Login ID skill-pair members (total of the agent skills and

4. The number of agents that can log into the same split/skill is limited by the

5. The number of agents that can log into the same skill is limited by the Maximum

CentreVu

activated, permission checking is made inactive for viewing and modifying individual VDNs. All other permission checking continues for other entities, such as vectors. The 2-GB file size limit imposed by Informix SE (Standard Database Engine) limits the number of intervals of historical VDN data that can be collected for large numbers of VDNs. The limits can be determined using: Days=8,158/VI where V=number VDNs (in thousands) and I=number of collection intervals in a day (I=60h/i where h=collection hours per day and i=interval period in minutes).

AAS ports). This limit can be reached only if 4 skills or less are assigned per Login ID due to the ACD Members Administered (skill-pair) limits. The following shows this.

Max. Login IDs With: csi/si r

• 1 to 4 Skills Each 1,500 10,000

• 10 Skills Each 600 4,000

• 20 Skills Each 300 2,000

maximum Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered and, with non-EAS, the additional splits assigned.

Members per Group limits. Maximum agent limits are reduced by the number of non-ACD members and AAS ports administered.

CMS R3V8 (and earlier) when more than 2,000 VDNs are

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Measured Extensions and Multiple Splits on a Non-EAS Switch

DEFINITY

G1 and

On G1 and G3, you can assign an agent extension to as many splits as desired. Multiple split assignments are commonly used in one or both of the following scenarios:

n The customer has agents who log into multiple splits. n The customer has more than one shift of agents, where the shifts use the same set

of phones but the agents do not work in the same splits.

Each extension-split assignment requires additional storage in CentreVu CMS. Therefore, assigning extensions to multiple splits can quickly consume the agent storage capacity on CentreVu CMS.

DEFINITY

G3 Switches

Example

December 1999

Issue 2

2-17Measured Extensions and Multiple Splits on a Non-EAS Switch

On a G3i, you assign 50 agent extensions to six splits. The switch sends 300 extension-split assignments to CentreVu CMS. In this case, CentreVu CMS creates space in real-time data storage for 300 agent splits, even if the number of agents log ged in is less than 100.

When Assignments Exceed Capac it y

The maximum number of agent-split configurations CentreVu CMS can measure is defined at installation or in the Data Storage Allocation window. If that number is less than the split-extension assignments CentreVu CMS receives from the switch, then the link between the switch and CentreVu CMS fails to come up.

Example

Your CentreVu CMS allows up to 400 measured agent-split configurations, but the G3i switch has 450 split-extension assignments. The link fails to come up.

Assignments are Not Logins

Do not confuse “agent extensions assigned to multiple splits” and “agents logged into multiple splits.” Even if an agent’s extension is assigned to six splits, the agent can be logged into only three splits simultaneously. (W ith EAS, the agent can be logged into four splits.) CentreVu CMS always creates space in real-time data storage for six agent-split pairs (one for each split), even though the agent is not logged into all six splits.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

555-233-503

Measured and Unmeasured Tr unks

System Requirements

The trunk capacities shown in CentreVu CMS maximum capacities [1-50] are for measured and unmeasured trunks. A minimum of 100 unmeasured trunks is provided by default. The 100 unmeasured trunks are required for:

n Internal calls (intraswitch) to a measured split or agent n Internal calls to VDNs n Calls made by agents to internal destinations or on an unmeasured trunk group n Transfers and conferences until the transfer/conference is complete.

Measured vs. Unmeasured Trunks

If more than 100 unmeasured trunks are needed for an ACD, the maximum number of measured trunks decreases accordingly. For example, if you have a G3i switch and choose to have 200 unmeasured trunks, 300 trunks are available for measurement.

December 1999

Issue 2

2-18Measured and Unmeasured Trunks

A switch can support many more unmeasured trunks than shown in CentreVu CMS maximum capacities [1-50] without affecting the available number of measured trunks. However, these additional trunks only can be used for non-ACD purposes. Using additional unmeasured trunks for ACD reduces the available number of measured trunks.

Determining Available Measured T runks

The measured trunks available can be determined as follows:

t=m-max(u-100,0)

t is the number of measured trunks, m is the maximum number of measur ed tru nks

Where possible, and

For example, CentreVu CMS is used to monitor a G3i ACD with 150 unmeasured trunks. You determine the maximum number of measured trunks that CentreVu CMS is able to monitor as follows:

0001 t=400-max(u-100,0)

0002 t=400-max(150-100,0)

0003 t=400-50

u is the number of unmeasured trunks.

0004 t=350

In this example, CentreVu CMS is able to monitor 350 measured trunks.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

3-1Introduction

DEFINITY

ECS ACD Call Cent er

Features

Introduction

This chapter contains the definitions of the ACD Call Center features that are administered on the DEFINITY ECS/switch.

The DEFINITY ECS/switch Call Center f orms from which these features are adm inistered are defined in the next chapter.

Feature-Related Information

The information for each feature is usually presented under five headings:

Feature title

Gives the name and a brief overview of the feature. Tells what it does or how it serves the system.

How to Administer

Provides a list of the forms that are used to adminis ter a featur e. Requir ed fields on these forms also are identified.

Detailed Description

Provides more detailed, technical information about a feature. When appropriate, additional guidelines and examples are provided. In some cases, expanded technical information is provided on one or several aspects of the feature.

Considerations

Discusses the applications and benefits of a feature and any other factors to be considered when using the feature.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

Interactions

555-233-503

Lists and briefly discusses other features that may significantly affect a feature. Interacting features are those that:

— Depend on each other — if one of the features is provided, the other also

must be provided.

— Cannot coexist — if one of the features is provided, the other cannot be

provided.

— Affect each other — the normal operation of one feature modifies, or is

modified by, the normal operation of the other feature.

— Enhance each other — the features, in combination, provide improved

service to the user.

List of Call Center Features

Table 3-1. Call Center Features

December 1999

Issue 2

3-2List of Call Center Features

Feature Page

Abandoned Call Search

3-4 Add/Remove Skills 3-6 Agent Call Handling 3-8 Auto-Available Split 3-22 Automatic Call Distribution 3-25 Basic Call Management System 3-41 Best Service Routing 3-44 Call Management System 3-56 Call Prompting 3-58 Call Vectoring 3-61

CentreVu Advocate 3-69

Expert Agent Selection 3-78 Inbound Call Management 3-86 Information Forwarding 3-93 Intraflow and Interflow 3-99

Look-Ahead Interflow

3-102 Multiple Call Handling 3-108

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

3-3List of Call Center Features

Table 3-1. Call Center Features —

Feature Page

Queue Status Indications Reason Codes 3-116 Redirection on No Answer 3-120 Service Observing 3-133 Universal Call ID 3-148 VDN in a Coverage Path 3-163 VDN of Origin Announcement 3-168 Voice Response Integration 3-174 VuStats 3-182

Related Feature or Form

Refer to the DEFINITY ECS Administrator’s Guide (555-233-502) for more information about the following related features or forms:

Continued

3-114

n Announcements/Audio Sources n Calling Party/Billing Number. n CallVisor Adjunct-Switch Application Interface. n Class of Restriction. n Hunt Groups. n Malicious Call Trace. n Record ed An nou ncemen ts (additi onal infor mation also avail able in the “Recorde d

Announcements” appendix of this book).

n Service Observing. n Callmaster phones. n 500, 2500, K2500, 7101A, 7102A, 7103A, 7104A, 8110, OPS, DS1FD, DS1SA,

and VRU phones.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Abandoned Call Search

Abandoned Call Search allows the switch to identify abandoned calls if the central office (CO) does not provide timely disconnect supervision. An abandoned call is one in which the calling party hangs up before the call is answered. Note that Abandoned Call Search is suitable only for older COs that do not provide timely disconnect supervision. Most COs provide timely disconnect supervision and do not require Abandoned Call Search.

Before an incoming Automatic Call Distribution (ACD ) split rings a hunt group member or agent, the system checks to make sure that the calling party has not aban don ed the call. If the calling party has abandoned the call, the call does not ring the hunt group member or agent.

If a call has been abandoned, the system determines if the calling party is still connected to the ground-start trunk at the CO. To do this, the system flashes (that is, opens the tip-ring loop for 150 to 200 ms) the CO end of the trunk. If the calling party is still connected, the CO does not respond. If the calling party has abandoned the call, the CO sends the system a disconnect signal within 800 ms. The system interprets this as an abandoned call, releases the trunk, and the call does not ring the hunt group member or agent.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-4Abandoned Call Search

Outside of the U.S., a flash of this duration may be handled differently. Refer to DEFINITY ECS Administrator’s Guide for more information about trunk flash.

How to Administer Abandoned Call Search

Table 3-2. Required Forms

Form Field

Trunk Group

—CO

FX WATS

You administer Abandoned Call Search on a per-trunk-group basis. Administer each ground-start CO, FX, and WATS trunk group eith er hav i ng Abandoned Call Search or not having it. Abandoned Call Search is not supported for tie trunks.

n Abandoned Call Search

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Considerations

NOTE:

Abandoned Call Search works with ground-start analog trunks that do not pro vide disconnect supervision and that do react to a 500-ms break.

Some older COs can take as long as two minutes to notify the switch of a disconnect. Thus, the switch must determine within one second whether the call has been abandoned, before extending the call. Even with Abandoned Call Search or disconnect supervision, there is a small probability that a call will be extended to the destination hunt group after the caller has hung up. Abandoned Call Search and disconnect supervi s ion si gn i ficant ly reduce that probability.

Abandoned Call Search allows agents and hunt group members to answer more calls because time is not wasted on abandoned calls. In addition, call-handling statistics that the Call Management System (CMS) generates are more accurate because it is clear when a call is abandoned.

Abandoned Call Search adds an overhead of up to one second to each call delivered to an agent.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-5Abandoned Call Search

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Add/Remove Skills

Add/Remove Skills allows an agen t using Expert Agent Sel ection (EAS) to add or remove

skills. A skill is a numeric identifier in the switch that refers to an agent’s specific ability. For example, an agent who is able to speak English and Spanish could be assigned a Spanish-speaking skill with an identifier of 20. The agent then adds skill 20 to his or her set of working skills. If a customer needs a Spanish-speaking agent, the system r outes the call to an agent with that skill.

Each agent can have up to 20 skills active at any one time. Agents can dial feature access codes (FACs) to add or remove a skill. Or a supervisor with console permission can enter an agent’s login ID and add or remove an agent’s skill. If a supervisor adds or removes a skill for an agent, the agent receives a change notification.

To determine if they need to add or remove a skill, agents and supervisors can use queue-status indications, VuStats, or Call Management System (CMS) or Basic Call Management System (BCMS) information. When adding a skill, the agent must specify the skill priority level (1 — 16).

December 1999

Issue 2

3-6Add/Remove Skills

On phones with displays, the system prompts the agent through the process of adding or removing a skill and displays the updated set of skills.

How to Administer Add/Remove Skills

Table 3-3. Required Forms

Form Field

Class of Restriction (COR) Feature Access Code (FAC)

Language Translations Hunt Group Class of Service

Considerations

n A skill cannot be removed from an agent’s skill set if the agent is on a call for that

skill or in the After-Call-Work (ACW) state for that skill.

n Add/Remove Agent Skills n Add Agent Skills n Remove Agent Skills n 41-44 on Page 5 n Skill n Administer console permissions for

supervisors

n With EAS, agents cannot remove their Direct Agent Skill.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Interactions

n Auto-Available Splits (AAS)

If an agent adds a skill that is administered as Auto-A vailable, on the Agent Login ID form, you must set the AAS field to y for that agent’s login ID.

n BCMS

BCMS begins tracking a new skill as soon as it is added. When an agent removes a skill, the real-time agent information specific to that skill is removed from the real-time reports, but it still appears on the historical reports.

n EAS-PHD

When EAS-PHD is set as an option, agents cannot remove their Direct Agent Skill. In an EAS environment, agents must have at least one skill assigned to them during a login session. With EAS-PHD, agents can specify up to 20 skills.

If EAS-PHD is not enabled, agents can specify only 4 skills.

n VuStats

Because VuStats displays information gathered by BCMS whether BCMS is enabled or not, the BCMS interaction above applies to VuStats.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-7Add/Remove Skills

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Agent Call Handling

Agent Call Handling allows you to administer functions that Autom a tic Call Distribution (ACD) agents use to answer and process ACD calls.

You define the following agent capabilities:

n Agent login and logout n Agent answering options: Automatic Answer (zip tone) or Manual Answer n ACD work modes: Auxiliary Work (AUX Work), Auto-In, Manual-In, or After

Call Work (ACW)

n Timed ACW n Agent request for supervisor assistance n ACD call disconnect (Release button) n Stroke counts n Call work codes

December 1999

Issue 2

3-8Agent Call Handling

n Forced entry of stroke counts and call work codes

‘‘

Agent Capacity and Related Limits’’ on page 3-16 describes agent-capacity planning.

NOTE:

All of these agent capabilities are also supported through the CallVisor Adjunct/Switch Applications Interface (ASAI). Refer to DEFINITY ECS

Administrator’s Guide for mo re information about the CallVisor Adjunct-Switch Application Interface.

How to Administer Agent Call Handling

Table 3-4. Required Forms

Form Field

Feature Access Code (FAC) Hunt Group

Vector Directory Number

n Feature Access Codes for ACD features n Forced Stroke Count or Call Work Code n Timed ACW I nterval n VDN Timed ACW Interval

Continued on next page

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

December 1999

Issue 2

3-9Agent Call Handling

Table 3-4. Required Forms —

Form Field

Station (multi-appearance)

n Button/Feature Button Assignm ents

n Active Station Ringing (DCP, Hybrid) n Idle/Active Ringing (Callmaster) n VuStats

Stations (all) Attendant Consol e

n Auto Answer n Feature Button Assignments

Continued

— manual-in — auto-in —aux-work — after-call —assist — release — work-code — stroke-cnt

Agent LoginID (EAS only)

— after-call —assist — auto-in —aux-work — manual-in — release — work-code — stroke-cnt

n Auto Answer n All

Continued on next page

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Detailed Description

This section describes how the switch controls agents’ work. For details on procedures that agents follow when using the capabilities provided by the switch, see DEFINITY

Enterprise Communications Server Generic 1, Generic 3, and System 75 Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Agent Instructions.

NOTE:

This information applies generally to ACD; see ‘‘‘Expert Agent Selection’’ on page

3-78 for more information on EAS.

Agent Login and Logout

To receive ACD calls, an agent must log into the system. An agent can be logged into multiple splits. If a hunt group is measured by Call Management System (CMS) or Basic Call Management System (BCMS) or is a skill, an agent must enter a login ID; otherwise, the login ID is optional.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-10Agent Call Handling

To log in, an agent goes off-hook and dials the login feature access code (FAC), followed by the split number and the log-in ID, if required. If login is successful, the agent automatically enters Auxiliary Work mode for that split. The Auxiliary Work button lamp for that split, lights steadily and the agent hears the confirmation tone.

If the split is measured, the system sends messages to CMS or BCMS that the agent (identified by login ID) has logged in and has entered Auxiliary Work mode.

n The agent dials an invalid login F AC or split number (that is, the number of a split

that does not exist or to which the agent is not assigned).

n The agent is already logged into the maximum number of splits. n The agent dials a split number for a split that he or she is already logged into.

Logout

The agent should log out when he or she leaves for an extended period of time and is unavailable for ACD calls. If the split is measured by CMS or BCMS and an agent logs out, a message is sent to the CMS or BCMS so that the agent’s status is no longer measured. If an agent is logged into multiple splits, he or she should log out of each split.

When temporarily unavailable for calls, an agent should use Auxiliary work mode, rather than logging out. CMS or BCMS can continue tracking the agent’s auxiliary work time.

T o log out of a split, an agent goes off-hook and dials the logout FAC followed by the split number. If logout is successful, the agent hears confirmation tone and work-mode button lamps darken. The logout is canceled and the agent receives an intercept if any of the following occur during logout:

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

n The agent dials an invalid logout FAC or split number. n The agent dials a split number for a split that he or she is not logged into.

If an agent is using a handset in Automatic Answer mode, the agent can log out simply by hanging up or turning o ff the h eadset. (This does n ot mean pressing the release b utton on a Callmaster phone.) This does not apply t o q uic k- di sco nnect. If the agent pulls th e h ands et to log out, the agent is automatically logged out of all splits that he or she has logged into.

Agent Answering Options

An agent can answer ACD calls by using either a headset, handset, or speakerphone. You can assign an agent as either Automatic Answer or Manual Answer.

NOTE:

Use Automatic Answer with a headset. See ‘‘‘Agents with Automatic Answer’’ on

page 3-19 for more information.

Automatic An s w e r

December 1999

Issue 2

3-11Agent Call Handling

The information in this section applies to ACD and EAS environments.

An agent assigned to Automatic Answer hears zip tone and connects directly to incoming calls without ringing.

NOTE:

You can administer Automatic Answer to apply only to ACD calls or to apply to all calls terminating to the agent’s set. If all calls are Automatic Answer and the agent receives direct-extension calls, he or she should always activate Call Forwarding, or Send All Calls when leaving temporarily or for an extended period, so that calls do not terminate to an unstaffed station.

Manual Answer

An agent assigned to Manual Answer hears ringing, and then goes off-hook to answer the incoming call.

ACD Work Modes

At any given time, an agent can be in one of four work modes:

n Auxiliary Work (AUX) n Auto-In n Manual-In n After Call Work (ACW)

An agent can change work modes at any time.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

To enter any work mode, an agent presses the button or dials the FAC for that mode, depending on what you have administered. If the agent has no active or held calls, the work-mode button lamp lights steadily and CMS or BCMS is informed of the agent’s

mode change. If the agent has active or held calls, the lamp flashes until all calls are dropped, then the new work mode’s lamp lights steadily and CMS or BCMS is informed of the agent’s mode change.

The attempt is canceled and the agent receives an intercept if the agent:

n Tries to enter a work mode for an invalid split n Tries to enter the work mode for a split of which he or she is not a member n Dials an invalid FAC

Auxiliary Work Mode

An agent should enter Auxiliary Work mode for a split whenever taking a temporary break. This makes the agent unavailable for ACD calls to that split and removes them from the most-idle-agent queue. CMS and BCMS can continue to track the agent.

The agent is no longer available to answer other ACD calls to that split. However, the agent may be available for ACD calls to other splits that the agent is logged into, depending on the agent’s state in those splits. The agent is still available for non-ACD calls. CMS or BCMS are notified whenever an agent in Auxiliary Work mode receives an incoming non-ACD call or makes an outgoing call. When an agent logs into a split, he or she automatically enters Auxiliary Work mode for that split.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-12Agent Call Handling

NOTE:

Agents in vector-controlled splits can go into Auxiliary W ork m ode even if they are the last agent and calls are queued to that split.

Auto-In Mode

In Auto-In mode, the agent automatically becomes available for answering new ACD calls upon disconnecting from an ACD call.

Manual-In Mode

In Manual-In mode, the agent automatically enters ACW mode for that split upon disconnecting from an ACD call and is not available for any ACD calls. To become available for ACD calls, the agent must manually reenter either Auto-In mode or Manual-In mode.

After Call Work Mode

An agent should enter ACW mode when he or she needs to perform ACD-related activities, such as filling out a form as a result of an ACD call. The agent is unavailable for ACD calls to all splits while in ACW mode. Switch administration determines whether the agent remains in the Most Idle Agent queue while in ACW.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

When an agent is in the Manual-In mode and disconnects from an ACD call, he or she automatically enters ACW mode. Although no longer available for ACD calls, the agent is still available for non-ACD calls. CMS or BCMS is notified whenever an agent in ACW mode receives an incoming non-ACD call or makes an outgoing call.

Timed After Call W ork

With Timed ACW administered, an Auto-In agent is immediately placed in ACW mode for a specific length of time after completing the currently-active ACD call. When the Timed ACW interval expires, the agent automatically returns to the Auto-In work mode. If the agent activates ACW while not on a call, the agent is placed in ACW (not timed) mode regardless of whether the agent is in Auto-In or Manual-In mode.

Use Timed ACW to allow agents to rest between incoming ACD calls, or to pace agents when they have to complete work from the previous call within an allotted time. In addition, if you have Home Agent, use Timed ACW to allow agents additional time to dial a FAC to place themselves in a different work mode after the current ACD call is completed.

Timed ACW and VDN

December 1999

Issue 2

3-13Agent Call Handling

You can administer Timed ACW for all calls to a split/skill and/or to a VDN. Any completed calls to the split/skill or to the VDN, including direct agent calls, are followed by a timed ACW when the answering agent is in Auto-In work mode. If a VDN call routes to a split/skill, the Timed ACW interval for the VDN overrides the Timed ACW interval for the hunt group. VDN override applies to VDN-Timed ACW.

Cancelling Timed ACW

When an agent activates Auto-In or Manual-In mode during Timed ACW, the agent becomes available and timed ACW is cancelled. An agent can change to Man ual-In mode before or during a call. The system cancels Timed ACW and applies ACW (not timed) mode when the call is released. The agent remains in ACW until he or she requests another mode. When the agent releases an ACD call, the ACW lamp (if provided) lights. At the end of the administered Timed ACW interval, the ACW lamp goes dark and the Auto-In lamp lights.

Timed ACW also is canceled when an agent presses the ACW button or dials the ACW FAC.

If an agent activates Auxiliary Work mode during Timed ACW, the agent is placed in that mode and Timed ACW is cancelled.

Agent Request for Supervisor Assistance

To request assistance from the split supervisor, an agent, with or without an active ACD call, presses the Assist button or puts the call on hold and dials the Assist FAC plus the split number. The agent must be logged into the split. Assist generates 3-burst ringing at

the supervisor’s station. If a split supervisor is not assigned, the agent receives intercept tone.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Attendants should press the St art but ton befo re press i ng the Assi s t button. This allows

them to later transfer the call. This rings like a priority call at the supervisor’s set.

When the agent presses the Assist button, the following happens:

1. If the agent is active on an ACD call, the ACD call is automatically placed on hold and a call is placed to the split supervisor. If the agent is not active on an ACD call, a call is automatically placed to the supervisor.

2. CMS or BCMS is notified of the request and the supervis or’s display shows that the call is a request for assistance. This rings like a priority call at the supervisor’s set.

3. The caller hears silence or music on hold.

4. After the agent has talked to the supervisor, the agent can drop the assist call and return to the ACD call, set up a conference call with the supervisor and the calling party, or transfer the call to the supervisor.

When the agent puts the call on hold and dials the Assist FAC plus the split number, the system handles the request as if the agent pressed the Assist button, except that the Assist call does not follow the supervisor’s coverage path.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-14Agent Call Handling

Stroke Counts

Stroke counts allow you to record in CMS the number of times that a particular customer-related event occurs. For example, agents could press a button each time a customer requests information on a certain item.

Stroke counts are reported to CMS in real time. The system does not store stroke counts. Use stroke counts only when CMS is connected and you have defined ACD splits to be measured by CMS.

Stroke counts allow agents to record up to nine administrator-defined events on a per-call basis. You can assign 10 Stroke Count button types. Stroke Count 0 is reserved for tracking Audio Difficulty or poor transmission quality.

For troubleshooting purposes, CMS records the equipment location of the trunk that the agent was using when he or she pres sed the Audio Dif ficulty button. Make sure that agents are aware that pressing this does not improve audio transmission quality.

To enter a stroke count, an ACD agent presses a Stroke Count button while off-hook. The system validates that the agent is either active on an ACD call o r in the ACW mode for an ACD split. If yes, the feature lamp lights steadily for two seconds to indicate activation and the stroke count is sent to CMS. If not, the feature lamp flutters and no message is sent.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

Call Work Codes

Call work codes are up to 16-digit sequences that ACD agents enter to record such customer-related information as account codes, social security numbers, or phone numbers. You define the codes for your site. Codes that agents enter are sent to CMS for storage for splits measured by CMS and only when the link to the CMS is up. Agents must have multiappearance phones (for example, Callmaster) to enter call work codes.

To enter call work codes, the agent must be off-hook and either:

n On an ACD call n In ACW mode after disconnecting from a call while in Manual-In mode n In Timed ACW after disconnecting from a call while in Auto-In mode n In Auto-In mode and pending for ACW mode

The sequence of event is as follows:

1. The agent select Call Work Code (CWC) button.

2. The CWC lamp lights steadily and a C: prompt appears on the age nt’s display. The

agent must wait for the ready indication before entering the call work code or the caller hears the touch-tone digits being dialed.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-15Agent Call Handling

3. Agent enters up to 16 digits on the dial pad. The agent can press * to erase digits.

4. The agent presses # to send the code entry to CMS.

5. The Call Work Code lamp goes dark and the display returns to normal.

6. If the agent presses any featur e button or han gs up dur ing d igit col lection, the co de entry is cancelled and data is sent to CMS. The CWC lamp goes dark and the display is cleared.

Call work codes may be used by as many as 100 agents simultaneously. If 100 agents are simultaneously using this function, and another agent attempts to enter a call work code, the agent receives a display message to try again later.

Forced Entry of Stroke Counts and Call Work Codes

You can administer a split so that agents must enter a stroke count and/or a call work code before becoming available for another call using Manual-In mode.

NOTE:

Multiappearance phones or an attendant console are required for agents to enter stroke counts or call work codes.

To enter a stroke count and/or call work code, the agent must be on a call, or in ACW mode after releasing a call in Manual-In mode.

DEFINITY ECS Release 8 Guide to ACD Call Centers

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

555-233-503

After releasing a call, the agent automatically enters ACW mode and cannot return to Manual-In mode until entering a stroke count or call work code. If the agent presses the Manual-In button or FAC before entering a stroke count or a call work code, the Manual-In lamp flutters or intercept tone is given.

Once the agent enters a stroke count or call work code and pres ses the Manual-In button o r FAC, he or she returns to Manual-In mode and the Manual-In lamp lights.

Any of the agent’s splits can have Forced Entry assigned. If the agent goes into Auxiliary Work mode in any split, the Forced Entry requirement for all other splits is removed.

Expanded Technical Information

Agent Capacity and Related Limits

Agent Sizing adds an overriding capacity limit to the number o f logg ed-in ACD agents. It can be used to limit the number of logged-in ACD agents to a number less than (or equal to) the maximum supported by the system configuration.

December 1999

Issue 2

3-16Agent Call Handling

The logged-in ACD agents limit applies to ACD agents in traditional (or non-EAS) ACD splits or in Expert Agent Selection (EAS) skills. Auto-Available Split/Skill (AAS) agent ports are logged in and counted when they are first assigned, while the non-AAS agents are counted when they actually log in. Each logged-in agent is counted as a single agent independent of the number of splits or skills logged in to for the Logged-in ACD agents limit. AAS and non-AAS agents are counted towards this limit whether they are BCMS/CMS measured or not.

Effective with the DEFINITY ECS R8 and CentreVu Advocate, the Logged-in Advocate Agent Count feature counts the number of CentreVu Advocate agents who are logged in at the call center. The feature bases the count on whether or not a logged-in agent has any CentreVu Advocate feature(s), except Predicted Wait Time, assigned or associated with the agent. With this feature, CentreVu Advocate counted agents are still counted as ACD agents.

The agent sizing limit is administered by authorized Lucent Technologies personnel via the Logged-in ACD Agents option (and Logged-in Advocate Agent Count) on the System-Parameters Customer-Options form. The maximum number of allowed logged-in ACD agents is set to correspond to the configuration you purchase.

For agent sizing, if you have agents working in shifts, you should purchase enough agent capacity to allow for a smooth shift change. If agents on a subsequent shift are logging in before agents in the previous shift have logged out, agents could be denied login because too many agents are currently logged in. Additionally, the non-ACD and/or non-agent (AAS/VRU) use of Hunt Group resources must be cons idered. Call Center man agers n eed to be aware of their logged-in ACD agent and other related limits when adding agents to handle a traffic peak or when planning a special campaign. Some of the resource utilization is displayed dynamically on the Display Capacities form.

AT&T Definity - Enterprise R 8-2 Guide to ACD Call Ctrs

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Preface — About This Document

Overview

Contents and Organization of the Guide

Audience

Reason for Reissue

How to Use this Document

Conventions Used in this Document

Trademarks

Related Documents

Administration Documents

Installation, Upgrades, and Maintenance Documents

Call Center Documents

End Users

How to Get Help

How to Make Comments About This Document

Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Basics — Overview and Exercises

Introduction

Exercises to Test Your Knowledge of ACD

ACD Terminology

Switches and Switch Features

What a Switch Does

What the ACD Does

Things to Know Before You St art

Automatic-In Processing of ACD Calls

DID Processing of ACD Calls

Split Queues

Split Queue Call Processing

Announcements for Calls in a Split Queue

Answer Supervision and Abandoned Calls

Intraflow and Interflow

Distributing and Handling Calls

How Calls are Distributed to Agents

How Agents Handle Calls

1-28ACD and Call Management Systems — BCMS, CMS R2 and CentreVu CMS

Basic Call Management System (BCMS)

ACD Measurement

Exercise 1 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Exercise 1 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Exercise 2 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Exercise 2 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Exercise 3 — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Exercise 3 Evaluation — Automatic Call Distribution (ACD)

Exercise 4 — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk States

Exercise 4 Evaluation — The ACD Agent and ACD Trunk S tates

1-45Exercise 5 — BCMS and CentreVu CMS

1-46Exercise 5 Evaluation — BCMS and CentreVu CMS

DEFINITY Call Center Capacities for ACD Software and Related Features

Introduction

2-2DEFINITY ECS R8 Capacities

2-6DEFINITY ECS R7 and DEFINITY ECS R6.3 Capacities

2-10DEFINITY ECS R5 and DEFINITY ECS R6.1 and DEFINITY ECS R6.2 Capacities

2-12DEFINITY G3V2, DEFINITY G3V3, and DEFINITY G3V4 Switch Capacities

2-14DEFINITY G3V1 Switch Capacities

2-15CentreVu CMS Maximum Capacities

Measured Extensions and Multiple Splits on a Non-EAS Switch

When Assignments Exceed Capac it y

Assignments are Not Logins

Measured and Unmeasured Tr unks

System Requirements

Measured vs. Unmeasured Trunks

Determining Available Measured T runks

DEFINITY ECS ACD Call Center Features

Introduction

Feature-Related Information

List of Call Center Features

How to Administer Abandoned Call Search

Considerations

How to Administer Add/Remove Skills

Considerations

Interactions

How to Administer Agent Call Handling