Automatic Call Distributor User Guide · When activated, night service takes a group of agents offline. While night service is in effect, agents cannot sign on to receive ACD calls

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© 2011 The University of Chicago – IT Services Last Edited: 12/15/2011

Table of Contents About This User Guide ................................................................................................. 5

Chapter One: ACD Concepts........................................................................................ 6

1-1: What is ACD?.................................................................................... 8

Typical ACD Configuration Diagram ...................................................... 9

1-2: The ACD Picture ............................................................................. 10

1-3: Phones Used with ACD.................................................................. 10

1-4: Phone Diagrams ............................................................................. 11

Chapter Two: ACD Roles and Features .................................................................... 13

2-1: Roles of the ACD Agent ................................................................. 14

2-2: Roles of the ACD Supervisor......................................................... 15

2-3: ACD Features.................................................................................. 16

Chapter Three: The ACD Reports ............................................................................. 24

3-1: Current Pilot Report ....................................................................... 26

3-2: Pilot Hourly Report......................................................................... 31

3-3: Agent Average Report .................................................................... 35

3-4: Agent Percentage Report............................................................... 40

3-5: Call Source Tracking Report ......................................................... 45

Chapter Four: Online Monitoring and Reporting Software...................................... 48

4-1: Centergy Manager Reporting Software ........................................ 49

Glossary....................................................................................................................... 50

About This User Guide Purpose

• This document explains the features that comprise the Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) and its related reports and reporting functions.

• It provides an introduction of each of the five ACD Standard Reports available.

• This document provides an overall reference for reading and analyzing the ACD Standard Reports.

• It may also be of further use in planning, operating, and administering the ACD service.

Intended Users

This document is intended for ACD Users, Supervisors and others interested in information about specific ACD features.

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Chapter One: ACD Concepts

8 Chapter One : ACD Concepts

1-1: What is ACD?

ACD stands for Automatic Call Distributor.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) is a communication service feature that processes high-volume incoming calls and distributes them to a single or group of extensions.

ACD distributes these calls equitably to extensions called AGENT lines.

ACD allows a limited number of staff members to effectively handle a large amount of calls, but it is important to remember that ACD assumes that someone is always available to answer the phone.

Among other statistics, ACD maintains records of peak calling hours, incoming call volume, and the amount of incomplete calls.

Chapter One : ACD Concepts 9

Typical ACD Configuration Diagram

About This User Guide Purpose

• This document explains the features that comprise the Automatic CallDistributor (ACD) and its related reports and reporting functions.

• It provides an introduction of each of the five ACD Standard Reports available.

• This document provides an overall reference for reading and analyzing the ACD Standard Reports.

• It may also be of further use in planning, operating, and administering the ACD service.

Intended Users

This document is intended for ACD Users, Supervisors and others interested in information about specific ACD features.

Chapter One : ACD Concepts 11

1-4: Phone Diagrams

The ITE 12-Plus / ITE12-Speaker Display Phone

12 Chapter One : ACD Concepts

The ITE 30 Speaker Display Phone

The ITE 30 Agent Phone

Chapter Two: ACD Roles and Features

14 Chapter Two: ACD Roles and Features

2-1: Roles of the ACD Agent

Agents Agents are the people who handle calls in the ACD group. Agents are the recipients of calls that are routed to them by the ACD. Agents are trained to answer calls quickly and efficiently. ACD agent station (line/phone) and pilot (main phone number) parameters define which features are available to each agent.

Agent phones are equipped with the standard hold and transfer features in addition to a queue button and sign offline button. With the queue signal feature, a light will flash when callers are waiting in queue. It is recommended that the agent have a display phone in order to determine exactly how many callers are in queue. The offline feature allows agents to sign on and off the ACD system through their phones.

ChapterThree: The ACD Reports 15

2-2: Roles of the ACD Supervisor

Supervisors Supervisors are members of the ACD group with responsibility for the performance of assigned agents and ACD pilots. Supervisors train agents, handle customer problems, and monitor phone traffic to ensure that all calls are answered. ACD supervisor station (line/phone) and pilot (main phone number) parameters define which features are available to each supervisor, such as calls in queue, monitor and night service.

With ACD features, supervisors can view the number of agents online and the number of calls in queue, listen to ACD calls, or activate the night service when agents are not available. The supervisor refers to various reports, which are sent daily through e-mail from the ACD reports system, to determine the following:

• How quickly the calls are being answered.

• How many calls are being abandoned.

• How many calls are waiting in queue.

• How often and how many calls are coming in at one time.


2-3: ACD Features

Night Service

This action either allows incoming ACD calls to be routed to available agents or send incoming ACD calls to the night call routing. When activated, night service takes a group of agents offline. While night service is in effect, agents cannot sign on to receive ACD calls. Night Service must be cancelled before agents can sign on. De-Activate Night Service

Your Action Lamp Indicator – Phone Response

Press the NIGHT SERVICE button once.

OFF

Agents are out of the Night

Service mode; agents can

sign on and receive ACD calls.

Activate Night Service


Press the NIGHT SERVICE button twice.

ON

FLUTTER

Agents are in Night Service

mode and signed offline once

remaining calls in queue are

answered.

NOTE: If Night Service button is pressed once, then the lamp flashes for 5 seconds and goes off (Night Service is NOT Active)


ACD Sign - On

An agent goes on line to receive ACD calls by using one of the following Sign-On methods:

• Automatic.

• Manual with Agent ID.

• Manual with Agent ID and password. General ACD Status:


NOTE: Before signing on, check the OFFLINE lamp.

ON

Agent is signed offline.

OFF

Agent is signed online.

ON FLUTTER

Agent group is in night service.


ACD Sign-On (Automatic)


1. Get dial tone on agent line.

2. Press OFFLINE button once.

OFF

You hear two beeps and you are signed online.

ACD Sign-On (Manual with Agent ID Number)




3. Enter 6-digit agent ID number

OFF



ACD Sign-On (Manual with Agent ID Number and Password)




3. Enter 6-digit agent ID number.

4. Enter 4-digit password, then

press

OFF

You hear one beep.


ACD Sign-Off

An agent goes offline to stop receiving ACD calls.

Your Action

Lamp Indicator – Phone Response



ON

You hear two beeps and you are signed offline.


Calls in Queue

This feature shows if calls are in queue by a lamp signal.

1. Queue lamp off - No calls in queue.

2. Queue lamp flashing slowly - Calls in queue are below customer defined limit.

3. Queue lamp fluttering - Number of calls in queue are above customer defined limit.

Your Action Phone Response

1. Press CALLS IN QUE button once.

LCD Display shows. CIQ: (calls in queue) and AOL: (agents on line).

Wrap-Up

This feature places an agent in an unavailable state for a predetermined period of time after each ACD call. Wrap-Up time allows each agent to complete paperwork or other duties before responding to another call. An agent can manually end wrap-up before the allotted time by pushing the WRAP/WORK button.


End of ACD Call. To Cancel:

Press WRAP/WORK button once.

SLOWFLASH

OFF

Wrap-up time begins automatically at the end of an ACD call.

When time limit is reached or manually cancelled.


Work

This feature enables agents to manually place their phone in an unavailable state preventing further ACD calls to ring their station. It gives each agent the flexibility to allocate additional time to complete paperwork or other duties before responding to another call. Work, which is a manual application of the Wrap-Up feature, shares the same feature button as Wrap-Up on agent phone.


Press WRAP/WORK Button once. To Cancel:

Press WRAP/WORK button once.

SLOWFLASH

OFF

To manually begin WORK time.

Manual WORK ends.

Answer/Release (headset users only)

This feature allows an agent using a headset to answer or hang up an ACD call by pressing the ANSWER/RLSE button on the agent phone.


Press ANSWER/RLSE button once.

Press ANSWER/RLSE button once.

ON

OFF

To answer a call or get dial tone. Release (hang up) a call.


Auto Answer (headset users only) This feature automatically answers a call without using a headset or by pressing a feature button. In some cases, this feature is set in the ACD pilot and the feature button is omitted from the agent phones. With auto answer, a warning tone is heard before the caller is on the line.


Press AUTO ANSWER button once.

Press AUTO ANSWER button once.

ON

OFF

You hear two beeps and AUTO ANSWER is ACTIVATED. You hear two beeps and AUTO ANSWER is DEACTIVATED.

Monitoring Modes Monitoring Modes include:

• Silent Monitoring: Listen to a conversation between an agent and a caller.

• Conferencing (Active): Join a conversation between an agent and a caller.

• Split Monitoring: Speak to just an agent without the caller hearing (for coaching, mentoring and training).


Press MON (MONITOR) button once.

Press a number from 1 to 7 in response to prompts.

To cancel Monitoring

ON

Prompts:

For agent directory number monitoring, press 1. For agent group call monitoring, press 2. For application pilot call monitoring, press 3. For agent number monitoring, press 7. You hear two beeps and monitoring session begins.


OFF

Hang up the line.

Chapter Three: The ACD Reports


The ACD Reports

There are a series of ACD reports provided by the system, which can be used as a tool to manage personnel and allocate resources. These reports provide the user with statistical information which allows them to do the following:

• Determine the number of calls received and call volume patterns.

• Evaluate agent performance.

• Determine the number of abandoned calls.

•• Obtain number of calls in queue and average queue time.

ACD reports are generated from the Centergy reporting system, which produces statistical reports from historical data collected from the telephone switch. Reports are sent daily to the user via e-mail attachment as an excel spreadsheet file. The report covers a 24-hour period of the previous calendar day.

ACD Reports Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) provides the following reports to assist in analyzing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of ACD group operations:

• Current Pilot report.

• Pilot Hourly report.

• Agent Average report.

• Agent Percentage report.

• Call Source Tracking report.

26 Chapter Three: The ACD Reports

3-1: Current Pilot Report

Description of Report

The Current Pilot report provides statistical data for all calls to a pilot (main phone number) since the statistics were last cleared. The report is a cumulative summary of statistics over a 24-hour period.

General Report Analysis Guidelines

Consider the following when reviewing and analyzing a Current Pilot report:

• This report is useful to understand the system's daily operations.

• Any patterns in the incoming calls to a pilot can help determine scheduling requirements.

• Increased numbers of abandoned calls at particular times or particular days may indicate a need for additional staffing for those periods.

• If most abandoned calls are associated with a particular pilot, that agent group may need additional training.

• High numbers of overflow calls may indicate a need for additional agents in the primary pilot group.

• A percentage of calls answered less than 100% may indicate either a need for more agents or a need to increase the target answer time (in ACD pilot parameters).

• High numbers of call deflections may indicate a need to increase maximum queue size.

• High numbers of call deflections with high numbers of calls in queue may indicate a need to decrease wrap-up and work times.

• High numbers of call deflections with low numbers of calls in queue may indicate a need for more agents.


• Low numbers of call deflections with high numbers of calls in queue may indicate a need for more agents.


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Pilo

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Report Headers and Descriptions

Reference Number for report headings shown on the sample report (see Figure 3.1) are as follows:

Reference Number

Report Field Header Name

Description

1 XX Current Pilot Report

Report title with assigned report number.

2 Dates Date range for reported statistics.

3 Period Time range for reported statistics.

4 Call Center Call Center name.

5 Time Descriptor.

6 Date The date of the statistics collected.

7 Time Interval The time of the statistics collected.

8 Calls Offered The total number of incoming calls to the ACD pilot. Included are calls that were re-queued, deflected, or overflowed from another ACD group.

9 Calls Deflect The number of calls routed or deflected to a designated phone number because the maximum queue size had been reached.

10 Calls Aband The total number of hang up calls while in queue or ringing at an agent station.

11 Final Disp Calls The total number of calls that remained in queue long enough to reach the last step in the call guide and were routed to the exit destination or final disposition.

12 Calls Answ The total number of calls to the ACD pilot that were answered by agents.

13 Avg Speed to Answ

The average length of time it takes a call to be answered by an agent.


Reference Number


Description

14 Calls Ans Norm The number of calls processed by the call guide and answered by agents from the primary agent group.

15 Calls Ans Over Number of calls that were processed in the call guide and ultimately answered by agents from an overflow agent group. This field reports both manual and automatic overflow.

16 TRGT Ans Time Seconds

The designated time set for the ACD pilot in which calls are to be answered. The target threshold is in seconds.

17 TRGT % Ans <TGT

The percentage of calls that were answered within the targeted threshold.

18 Calls Queued The number of calls received to the ACD pilot where there was no agent available to handle the call or at least not within one second.

19 Avg Q Time The average time calls remained in queue before being abandoned, answered, or routed to final disposition.

20 Long Q Time The longest time a call remained in queue before being abandoned or answered. This does not include calls that went to final disposition.

21 Calls Trans The number of calls transferred to a phone line as defined by the call guide. These are calls transferred by the pilot, not the agents.

22 Call Type The ACD pilot main phone number and name.

23 User Group Telephone system identifier.

24 Subtotal for Report column subtotals for the pilot.

25 Total Report column grand totals for the pilot.

26 Footer System generated report information.


3-2: Pilot Hourly Report


The Pilot Hourly report provides statistical data for all calls to a pilot (main phone number) since the statistics were last cleared. The report displays detailed information for all statistics on an hourly basis over a 24-hour period.


Consider the following when reviewing and analyzing a Pilot Hourly report:

• This report is useful to understand the system's daily operations.

• A comparison of call activity for different hours and different days can help you more effectively allocate resources based on call patterns and peak times.

• Determine busy times of day and busy day of week for staff scheduling.


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Pilo

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Reference Number


Description

1 XXPilot Hourly Report Report title with assigned report number.




5 Time Descriptor.


7 Time Interval The time of the statistics collected. All hours within the 24-hour time period are summarized in hour intervals.

8 Calls Offered The total number of incoming calls to the ACD pilot. Included are calls that were re-queued, deflected, or overflowed from another ACD group.

9 Calls Deflect The number of calls routed or deflected to a designated phone number because the maximum queue size had been reached.

10 Calls Aband The total number of hang up calls while in queue or ringing at an agent station.

11 Final Disp Calls The total number of calls that remained in queue long enough to reach the last step in the call guide and were routed to the exit destination or final disposition.

12 Calls Answ The total number of calls to the ACD pilot that were answered by agents.

13 Avg Speed to Answ The average length of time it takes a call to be answered by an agent.


Reference Number


Description

14 Calls Ans Norm The count of calls processed by the call guide and answered by agents from the primary agent group.

15 Calls Ans Over Number of calls that were processed in the call guide and ultimately answered by agents where the agents were selected from an overflow agent group in the call guide. The call guide ends processing when the call is delivered to (rings) an agent. This field reports both manual and automatic overflow.

16 TRGT Ans Time Seconds

The designated time set for the ACD pilot in which calls are to be answered. The target threshold is in seconds.

17 TRGT % Ans <TGT The percentage of calls that were answered within the targeted threshold.

18 Calls Queued The number of calls received to the ACD pilot where there was no agent available to handle the call or at least not within one second.

19 Avg Q Time The average time calls remained in queue before being abandoned, answered, or routed to final disposition.

20 Long Q Time The longest time a call remained in queue before being abandoned or answered. This does not include calls that went to final disposition.

21 Calls Trans The number of calls transferred to a phone line as defined by the call guide. These are calls transfered by the pilots, not the agents.

22 Call Type The ACD pilot main phone number and name.

23 User Group Telephone system identifier.

24 Subtotal for Report column subtotals for the pilot.

25 Total Report column grand totals for the pilot.



3-3: Agent Average Report

Description of Report The Agent Average report includes statistical averages for agents of the same pilot group. The report provides detailed information on agent activity in 30-minute intervals over a 24-hour period.


Consider the following when reviewing and analyzing an Agent Average report: A comparison of an agent's time online to the total number of ACD calls that the agent handled indicates the agent's general performance level.

• An agent may be ready to handle more calls or more difficult calls if: o The agent's number of ACD calls match that agent's number of

incoming calls.

o The agent has no unanswered calls.

o The agent has no transferred calls.

• An agent who handles a relatively low number of ACD calls may require additional training or experience.

• High numbers of outgoing, incoming, and internal calls may indicate one or more of the following:

o The agent may be avoiding ACD calls.

o The agent may need more training.

o The agent may be performing unusual or special tasks (such as returning customer calls).

• High numbers of unanswered calls may indicate that an agent was either not at their station or was otherwise unavailable, but did not place the line in a work or unavailable state


• High numbers of transferred calls may indicate a need for more training.

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Reference Number for report headings shown on sample report (see Figure 3.3) are as follows:

Reference Number


Description

1 XX Agent Average Report

Report title with assigned report number.




5 Time Descriptor.


7 Interval The time of the statistics collected. All hours within the 24-hour period are summarized in half hour intervals.

8 OnLine Time

The cumulative time the agent line was signed on to receive calls from the ACD.

9 Unans Calls The total number of ACD calls that were routed to, but not answered by the agent.

10 Trans Calls The total number of calls transferred by the agent.

11 ACD Calls Answ

The total number of calls routed through a call guide and answered by the agent.

12 Avg Talk Time

The average length of time the agent line was answering ACD calls.

13 Avg Wrap-Up Time

The average length of time the agent was in wrap mode after answering ACD calls.

14 Avg Avail Time

Average length of time the agent was available to answer ACD calls.

15 # Hold Calls The total number of ACD calls the agent put on hold.


Reference Number


Description

16 Avg Hold Time

The average length of time of all ACD calls that were kept on hold by the agent.

17 Outg Calls The number of outside calls placed by the agent while online.

18 Outg Call Avg Time

The average length of time the agent spent placing outside calls.

19 Incm Calls The total number of incoming (non-ACD) calls received by the agent.

20 Incm Call Avg Time

The average time length of incoming calls received and answered by the agent which were made to the agent’s line.

21 Intr Calls The total number of non-ACD calls placed and received by the agent on the University phone system.

22 Intr Call Avg Time

The average time of the internal call.

23 Agent Group

The ACD agent group main phone number and name.

24 Agent The unique agent ID number and name used by the agent during sign on procedures.

25 Agent Dirn The agent line (phone number) used by the agent to answer calls.

26 Dayend Total

Report column subtotals for the agent.

27 Group Total Report column grand totals for the agent group.



3-4: Agent Percentage Report


The Agent Percentage report includes statistics for agents within the same pilot group. The report provides detailed information (in percentages) on agent activity in 30-minute intervals over a 24-hour period.


Consider the following when reviewing and analyzing an Agent Percentage report:

• The ACD Calls, Auto Wrap, Work, and Avail fields are 100% of an agent's time.

• A comparison of an agent's individual statistics with values in the summary line indicate that agent's effectiveness relative to the agent group as a whole. A comparison of the ACD calls and Avail fields may indicate efficiency, either of individual agents or of the agent group as a whole.

• High Wrap, Work, or Time Hold values for an agent may suggest a need for more training.

• High Wrap or Work values may suggest a need to enable supervisors to use the Force feature, which automatically takes agents out of Wrap-up and Work and makes them available to answer calls.

• An agent who spends a large percentage of time handling outgoing, incoming (non-ACD) or internal calls may be using the system inappropriately to avoid handling calls.

• A low availability % for any agent warrants further investigation. (i.e. Why is an agent less available than others?).



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Reference Number


Description

1 XX Agent Percentage Report

Report with assigned report number.




5 Time Descriptor.


7 Interval The time of the statistics collected. All hours within the 24-hour period are summarized in half-hour intervals.

8 OnLine Time The cumulative time the agent line was signed on to receive calls from the ACD.

9 Pcnt Talk Time The percentage of time the agent line was answering ACD calls.

10 Pcnt Wrap-Up Time

The percentage of time the agent was in wrap mode after answering ACD calls.

11 Pcnt Work Time The percentage of time the agent was in work mode after answering ACD calls.

12 Pcnt Avail Time The percentage of time the agent was available to answer ACD calls.

13 Pcnt Outg Time The percentage of time the agent spent placing outside calls.

14 Pcnt Incm Time The percentage of time of incoming (non-ACD) calls received by the agent.


Reference Number


Description

15 Pcn Intr Time The percentage of time of the internal calls.

16 Pcnt Hold Time The percentage of time of all ACD calls that were kept on hold by the agent.

17 Agent Group The ACD agent group main phone number and name.

18 Agent The unique agent ID number and name used by the agent during sign on procedures.

19 Agent Dirn The agent line (phone number) used by the agent to answer calls.

20 Dayend Total Report column subtotals for the agent.

21 Group Total Report column grand totals for the agent group.


3-5: Call Source Tracking Report Description of Report

The Call Source Tracking report tracks all calls to a pilot. The report shows the total number of calls to the pilot group and the average duration of those calls that were answered by an agent line over a 24-hour period.


Consider the following when reviewing and analyzing a Call Source Tracking report:

• Call activity for primary pilots should typically exceed activity for overflow pilots. High numbers of calls to overflow pilots may indicate a need for more agents in the primary pilot group.

• An agent may be ready to handle more calls or more difficult calls if they are handling a higher number of calls with lower average call durations than other agents.

• Agent trainees with low call durations are good candidates for assignment to primary and overflow pilots.

An agent's average call duration for a pilot that is much greater than the overall average call duration for the pilot may indicate that the agent needs training on handling calls to that pilot.


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Report Headers and Descriptions Reference Number for report headings shown on the sample report (see Figure 3.5) are as follows:

Reference Number


Description

1 XXCall Source Tracking Report

Report with assigned report number.

2 Dates The date of the statistics collected.

3 Period The time of the statistics collected.


5 Time Descriptor.

6 Dirn Num The agent line (phone number) used by the agent to answer calls.

7 Agent ID The unique agent ID number used by the agent during sign on procedures.

8 Agent Name The assigned name to the agent ID.

9 Primary Pilot The main pilot group assigned to the agent ID.

10 Orig Pilot The main phone number of the ACD pilot that receved the initial call.

11 #ACD Calls The number of ACD calls answered by the agent for that originating pilot.

12 Avg Call Duration

The average length of time the agent line was answering ACD calls.

13 Agent Totals #Calls

The total number of ACD calls answered by the agent line.

14 Agent Totals Avg

The average duration of ACD calls answered by the agent line.


Chapter Four: Online Monitoring and Reporting Software


4-1: Centergy Manager Reporting Software

Centergy Manager is an enhanced automatic call Distributor (ACD) management tool with the capability of online reporting and real-time monitoring. This software application enables you to manage your ACD groups in the following ways:

• Provides a console (Centergy Client) for monitoring your ACD groups on your desktop computer.

• Enables you to view real-time statistics for ACD agents or pilots by creating and running display sessions.

• Generates standard or user-defined reports for recorded activity of your ACD groups.

• You can select from a variety of reports to output recorded statistics, including charts or graphs.

• These reports, charts, or graphs can be generated on demand or scheduled to run based on specific date and time criteria.

Centergy Manager has flexibility – you can monitor ACD call sessions, print reports, or snapshot a display for instant data capture. Centergy Manager has security – servers are protected behind a firewall. User log-in IDs and passwords provide access to assigned accounts and user-created resources. NSIT is confident that as a Centergy Client, you too will discover the versatile and beneficial uses of this powerful management tool. For more information on Centergy Manager Reporting Software, contact Support Services at 2-9100, option 4 or email [email protected]

Glossary ACD Pilot The main phone number receiving calls.

Agent A person who answers ACD calls.

Agent Group An ACD pilot to which one or more agents are assigned.

Agent ID The unique number used by the agent during sign-on procedures.

Agent Line The telephone number used to answer ACD calls.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD)

A communication service feature that processes high-volume of incoming calls and distributes them to a single or group of extensions.

Call Center The overall ACD operating environment.

Call Guide A series of instructions that specifies how the ACD pilot processes calls.

Call Type An ACD pilot.

Centergy The ACD real-time, online reporting and monitoring software.

DIRN Directory number

Documents

Automatic Call Distributor User Guide · When activated, night service takes a group of agents offline. While night service is in effect, agents cannot sign on to receive ACD calls