Basic call center functionality

mlabuguen · ‎02-29-2008

Hello,

We have a two person helpdesk staff and I would like to set them up with some basic call center type of functionality.

Some requirements are:

Have a primary personal line for personal calls

Share the main helpdesk extension

Ability to login/logout of helpdesk line

Right now I added both of them as Attendant Console users and created a pilot point and included both end users in the pilot point hunt group, routing as "first available". This works pretty well but calls destined to the helpdesk line get FORWARDED to their personal lines.

This will be voicemail management issue because helpdesk voicemails will end up in thier personal mailboxes if they don't log off and don't answer their phones.

Is there another way to go about this?

Thanks for your help!

Marvin

Jaime Valencia · ‎02-29-2008

configure a routing rule in Unity and create an schedule for it to work.

when the users are not on shift have the rule become active and route the calls to the right VM box

HTH

HTH

java

if this helps, please rate

Rob Huffman · ‎03-01-2008

Hi Marvin,

I did read your post about the lack of Hunt Group Login/Logout in CCM 5.x :( If you are going with the AC setup, use the AC User plus Line Number method (line member) which supports Login/Logout. It sounds like the Broadcast Hunting method might be a nice fit for this Help Desk because it really approximates some standard Call Centre functions. The ability to Queue up callers and play either Music or some sort of "Hold in Queue" messaging as well as Login/Logout for the staff is great.You can use the setting for the "Always Route Member" to route calls to VM after a specified time or if too many calls are holding. This Voicemail can be setup on the Pilot Point number so that it doesn't hit the users Personal mailbox. Have a look;

**Broadcast Hunting - When a call arrives at the pilot point, Cisco TCD answers the call, places the call on hold, adds the call to the queue, and displays the call in the Broadcast Calls window on attendant PCs. While on hold, the caller receives music on hold, if it is configured. Any attendant can answer the call from the Broadcast Calls window. You can choose this option from the Attendant Console Configuration tool.

Understanding Broadcast Hunting

Broadcast hunting enables Cisco Cisco CallManager Attendant Console to answer calls and place them into a queue. The attendant console displays the queued calls to all available attendants after inserting the calls into the queue and to all attendants that become available while the call is in the queue.

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Note The attendant console only broadcasts calls to attendants that are set up as user/line number hunt group members in the broadcast hunting pilot point.

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The queued calls appear in the Broadcast Calls window on the attendant PC.

Any attendant in the hunt group that is online can answer the queued calls. Cisco CallManager Attendant Console does not automatically send the calls to an attendant.

You can specify the following values for each broadcast hunting pilot point:

Queue Size - This field specifies the number of calls that are allowed in the queue. If the queue is full, Cisco CallManager Attendant Console routes calls to the "always route" hunt group member that i s specified on the Hunt Group Configuration window. If you do not specify an always route member, Cisco CallManager Attendant Console drops the call when the queue size limit is reached.

Hold Time - This field specifies the maximum time (in seconds) that Cisco CallManager Attendant Console keeps a call in the queue. If the call is in the queue for longer than the "HoldTime," the call gets redirected to the "AlwaysRoute" member. If you do not configure an always route member, the call remains in the queue until an attendant becomes available.

When a call comes into a pilot point, Cisco TCD uses the hunt group list and the selected call routing method for that pilot point to determine the call destination. During hunt group configuration, you must specify one of the following options for each hunt group member:

Directory number (device member)

If a directory number is specified, Cisco TCD only checks whether the line is available (not busy) before routing the call.

**Attendant console user plus a line number (user member)

If a user and line number are specified, Cisco TCD confirms the following details before routing the call:

**That the user is logged in to the attendant console

**That the user is online

**That the line is available

From this doc;

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps556/products_administration_guide_chapter09186a008037e637.html#wp1144562

Hope this helps!

Rob

mlabuguen · ‎03-03-2008

Hi Rob,

Broadcast hunting is a good solution but the staff will not always be facing the pc and there is no audible tone to notify of incoming broadcast calls.

There are 4 probable workarounds to this issue that i came up with.

1. Hunt group without login/logout capability (until we upgrade CM6.0). The problem with this is there is no queue for hunt groups.

2. Employ the EM workaround that HTH talked about in my previous post.

2. Shared line appearance. This is more suited for an office staffed with multiple assistants.

3. AC with First Avail/ Longest Idle/ Circ Hunting and queueing enabled. In the case where a helpdesk tech is logged in but does not answer his phone, his personal voicemail will have a "to leave a message with helpdesk please press 1, to leave a message in my personal mailbox please press 2" message.

Question: While in a queue, is there a way to activate a button so callers can press it to directly go to VM if they don't want to wait in the queue anymore?

Thanks!!

Marvin

Rob Huffman · ‎03-03-2008

Hi Marvin,

I like your ideas here :) Very good! Sadly, with all AC Queueing the ability to Press a key to go straight to VM is not available. It sounds like what you really need is IPCC, so maybe when you get a spare MCS Server somehwere down the road you can install the small (5 Agent) version that comes with the Extended Services cd. Until then, the plan you have come up with should work just fine!

Take care,

Rob