TMS Feature - Agent Workspace
The Agent workspace is not part of an administrator’s view but forms an essential part of the TMS. This is where a high productivity user will work from and requires an extension enabled as an agent.
The main reasons for enabling agent extensions are Time & Attendance; Productivity, and Workforce Management features and reporting.
This section is for users that the business wants to be highly productive and for whom communication is an essential part of their role; however, these users do not need to be part of a call centre. The features around th agent/ high productivity user role are designed to encourage and enhance their productivity and allow their performance to be monitored and reported on.
Queue membership, is part of, but not lomited to agents. Any extension can have the queues feature enabled (some extension types do by default) whilst not having the full advanced analytics; these extensions are termed “participants” and do not have the same statistics and functionality as agents.
Agent vs Participant
Below are detailed a few of the differences between an agent and a participant:
Agent Activation
For an extension to be an agent, it must have the Agent Extensions or Queue Agent Analytics activated. Then, the functionality should be enabled on the “Agent” tab within the extension using Extension Manager.
If the feature is not enabled, there will be an error message as such:
When the feature has been activated but not yet enabled, the Agent tab will display such:
Once the agent has been enabled, the Agent tab will reflect so:
It is essential to set an outbound queue for an agent; otherwise, they will not be permitted to make such calls. This is because without the queue being nominated, it is impossible to log the statistics of these calls.
External Client/WebRTC
To log in to the Agent Workspace, the agent will need a phone engine to transport the calls between the workspace and the server. Two such engines are available, the External Client or WebRTC.
The External Client is recommended to use, if possible. Refer to The External Client Troubleshooting section in the How to Guide if need be.
Status Toolbar
The Agent Workspace is an environment designed for agents to work quickly and efficiently; it is broken up into various sections with the status toolbar at the top of the window. This toolbar will change contents according to the current situation.
On the left-hand side, it will indicate the agent’s current status and the duration of this state. Next to that is the dialpad button, which will enable an agent to make a manual outbound call. It is important to note that the buttons available to the agent will depend on the permissions set for that extension on the agent tab.
At idle, the status toolbar will offer some buttons on the right-hand side of the toolbar, including:
Pause
Logoff
Mappings
Settings
Pause
The pause button enables the agent to enter a pause state; this will mean that they will not receive calls whilst this state persists. The agent’s state will change in the status toolbar, as well as in the Realtime Agents page, and any Realtime Queues or Campaigns that they are members of.
When pausing, the agent must select the appropriate pause reason. This reason will be displayed next to the status indicator whilst paused, as well as a timer of the duration that this pause has been in effect.
The duration and details of all pauses taken by the agent are available in Agent Analytics pages, as well as automated reports for the administrator’s use. The dialpad button is not available during a pause, as an agent may not make nor receive calls whilst paused.Agent Logon/Logoff
An agent should log on to the Agent Workspace at the beginning of the work day and log off when they have completed their workday. Agents should not use the log on as a pause as this will report inaccurate information. All information is available in a time and attendance report as well as a login summary in Agent Analytics.Agent Mappings
Agent mapping enables an agent to see if they have leads available for them. This is a diagnostic tool to be used if an agent is not receiving calls and expects to.
The mappings will list any contacts available for any campaigns the agent is currently assigned to and show them in the lists currently active and lastly if assigned or unassigned leads. Assigned leads being that this agent is specified to receive them, or unassigned as in a pool of leads with no agent specified, so they are available to anyone.
Settings
Suppose an administrator has selected for Auto Answer to be “Optional” within an extension’s agent settings. In that case, the Settings button will produce a window that allows the agent to set Auto Answer on or off. Auto Answer is an easy way to improve productivity, but an agent should be notified of it and be ready for the call. There is an audio beep to inform the agent of an incoming call just before connection to avoid awkward situations.
Performance Toolbar
The Agent Workspace is designed to give the agent maximum productivity and help them achieve the performance targets set out for them each day. To do this, it is important that they know their expectations and how they are performing in relation to these.
The performance toolbar that shows between calls when an agent is idle will display key performance indicators linked to calls and call outcomes. Besides “Calls”, these will only be populated by calls that have been dispositioned. Dispositions are set up within campaigns or queues. The available options will depend on how the call came to the agent, i.e. if this was a call from a campaign, then the campaign dispositions will be available for selection on disposition; if this call came from a queue and dispositions have been enabled for that queue. Those will be the ones available for selection.
Calls: The total number of calls that the agent has performed today.
Successful Calls
Unsure Calls
Failed Numbers: As it is impossible for a call made either manually outbound or inbound via a queue to have more than one
number associated with it, Failed Numbers will only be populated from campaigns.
Failed Contacts
Most Recent Activity
The Most Recent Activity section enables an agent to view all information about recent calls, including the date and time of the call, the number dialled, the disposition category (status) and outcome, as well as any notes that have been made during the call and CRM Tags. This history allows an agent to also redial a contact by selecting the number.
Within the contact column, each call will have an icon next to it. These icons represent the direction and function of a call:
Alternatively, suppose there is an incomplete disposition for any reason, such as a break in connectivity. In that case, the incomplete link will also show within the Most Recent Activity area and allow for an agent to select it and complete the disposition.
Dialling Activities within Agent Workspace
When selecting the dialpad button in the status toolbar, a dialpad box will appear to enable the agent to begin dialling.
A directory lookup will be conducted to search extensions and entries in the directory for matches while typing a name or number. Extensions that match will also display their status, for example, idle or offline.
If an entry is selected, it will populate the number into the dialpad; select the dial button to initiate dialling. When a call is in progress, the status bar will update accordingly and display several call control buttons. Which buttons are present will depend on the configuration on the agent tab in the extension settings. Below the Performance Toolbar, there is an area in which any additional information regarding the call is displayed.
If everything has been permitted, then these controls will be available:
Dialpad: To allow for DTMF input if necessary
Hold
Mute
Volume control
Transfer
Hangup
Line
Conference
Call Transfers
When transferring a call, the input does a similar lookup as on dial, allowing the agent to tell if the destination is available before transferring to them. The Transfer window also enables the agent to decide whether this transfer will be an “Attended Transfer”, meaning that the agent will speak to the recipient before transferring the call through, or a “Blind Transfer” where the call is transferred with no communication between the agent and the recipient. The “Call First” button enables Attended Transfers, whilst the “Transfer Now” button is for Blind Transfers.When connecting an Attended transfer, an additional confirmation will appear within the Transfer window, allowing to confirm the transfer or terminate it.
Adding a Line
Whilst on a call, an agent may need to pick up another line for purposes of a second call or conferencing. Whilst on call, if the line (+) button is selected, an additional dialpad will appear, allowing for another number to be dialled.Once the number has connected, two lines will be identifiable beneath the status toolbar, and by clicking on a line, the agent can toggle between them. The line currently not connected to the agent is placed on hold.When one of the lines is terminated, the other remains but in a hold state. The agent can resume the call by selecting the Hold button.
Conferencing
When an agent is on a call, a secondary number can be called by clicking on the + icon. Both callers can then be added to a conference call by Clicking on the Conference icon. Conferencing is not currently available on WebRTC.A call conference started by an agent, can be transferred when no more than 2 callers are in the conference call. By selecting the end call button, a transfer pop-up will open. When the Transfer button is selected, it will remove the agent to then only include Line 1 and 2’s callers.
When a call is created with Line 1, the call is recorded between the agent and Line 1. When a second call is created with Line 2, a new call recording is created between the agent and Line 2. When the two lines are added to a conference, lines 1 and 2 can hear each other, but the two call recordings remain separate in the call log.When a call is transferred from the agent to an internal destination, the call recording will function the same as an attended transfer report. The agent will have a recorded call up until the point of the transfer. The internal destination (Line 2) will have a call recording. If call recordings have been enabled for them, the call recording will be available from the moment the agent adds them in to the conference and through the transfer with the second caller(Line 1).When a call is transferred to an external destination, the agent will have a call recording up until the transfer, but there will be no further call recording for the conversation as both lines 1 and 2 are not part of the company extensions.Note: When a transfer is done (Attended or Blind) to two external callers, whether it is by the transfer button, or the conference transfer, the company will be billed as the call is still active on the company's trunk.
Campaign Dialling
When an agent uses the agent workspace for a campaign, if a script was defined in the campaign setup, it will appear in an area below the Performance Toolbar and above the call information. The call information area is populated with the information provided in the list and any custom fields that were defined in the campaign.
The right-hand side of the Call Information area is used for any In-Call webhook buttons and the “Add New Customer” and “Edit Customer Information” if they have been enabled for the campaign. There are also inputs for CRM tags or notes whilst the agent is on the call. Any information entered here will pull through to the disposition window that appears at the end of the call.
Editing Existing Contacts
Whilst in the call, should the agent select the “Edit” button, a pop-up window with the current contact information will be presented, allowing the agent to modify existing data or adding to it, for example, adding an alternative number. When additional numbers are added to a Preview campaign list, they will be prioritised as the next number to be dialled.Additional numbers added to a Power Dial campaign will only be dialled when the list cycles.Add a New Customer
Like Edit, an agent can add a new contact to the list whilst in a call if allowed in the campaign settings. Selecting the “Add New Customer” button will bring up a screen to add the details. Multiple numbers can be added with the use of the Add (+) button. Adding new contacts defaults to the current list.When additional contacts are added to a Preview campaign list, they will be prioritised as the next contact to be dialled. Additional numbers added to a Power Dial campaign will only be dialled when the list cycles.Dispositioning Calls
After a call, an agent will be required to report on the call’s outcome; this is referred to as Dispositioning. To make this as flexible as possible for clients’ reporting requirements and as easy as possible for agents, the first selection is the disposition category, being Fail, Unsure or Success. The Call Outcome dropdown will then be populated according to that category as is configured within the campaign (or queue) settings.Any notes or CRM tags captured during the call will populate automatically on this screen; alternatively, they can be captured at this point.While the agent performs this wrapup, they will automatically be paused in the state “Wrapup”, a system pause state and is considered a productive pause. Wrapup has a timeout value, which, if it runs out, will submit a disposition of “Unsure - No agent submission” on behalf of the agent.
Miscellaneous
An agent TMS Account automatically gets logged off at 12 pm at night.
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