The Queues page allows you to group agents by queue. Agents trained to use chat/email/SMS can be separated so those interaction types find the right person. Queues are also used as a way of grouping agents to take inbound calls. You can create queues for different campaigns/interaction channels such as 'customer service', 'sales' or 'technical support' for any interaction type. Agents can then be assigned to a interaction queue so that they take specific interaction types.
Select the images for a more detailed view.
Fig 1. To access the page, select Admin then Queues under the Telephony sub menu.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Settings
- (Interaction) Queues
- Allocating users
- Add to queue options
- Edit Queue Settings (Calls)
- Edit Queue Settings (Chat, Email & SMS)
- Edit User Settings
Settings
Fig 2. Along the top of the screen you will see the settings.
 | New queue |
 | Clone queue |
 | Filter - Allows you to filter the page by User, Team or Channel. |
 | Clear filters |
| Filter | Allows you to filter the page by All, Active or Inactive queues. |
| Type | Filter the page by type of queue, All, Call, Email, SMS, or Web chat. |
 | Save |
Queues
On the left hand side you will see a list of the queues currently on the system. There's no restriction to the number of queues you can add. If you need to add more, you can select the new queue button or clone an existing one.
Fig 3. List of existing queues. Initially, you may only see 1 or 2 queues after onboarding.
Web chat, email, SMS and conversation
You must have a separate queue for each channel. You can then allocate the queue to the channel (See further down this article for more).
Inbound call routes
You can create multiple inbound call queues for your IVRs. These can be used for each phone number, departments or other routing options you wish to use.
Transfers
You could create queues for groups of agents that can be used as transfer options. For example, if you have certain agents who are trained to deal with complaints, you could create a 'complaints queue' that agents can transfer to when a customer wishes to complain.
Allocating users
When you select a queue, the middle column will display the agents in the queue and agents not in the queue will be displayed underneath.
Fig 4. Users in and not in the selected queue.
When you select a skill group, the agent list will be filtered as shown in the image above. Clicking the + icon will add an agent to the selected group and clicking the - icon will remove them from the group.
You can select multiple users and move them at the same time by selecting the check boxes next to the required users and pressing 'assign selected'.
Add to queue options
When you add a user(s) to a queue, either by selecting the + or by using the multi select option, you will be presented with a dialog box.
Fig 5. Permanent or temporary move option.
Here you can select whether to move an agent permanently to a queue (usually when setting up your queues initially) or you can temporarily add users to queues ( to deal with high demand on a queue).
When adding users temporarily, they will be removed from the queue automatically at midnight of the day they were moved.
Temporary move example
When checking the live queues page, a supervisor notices that there is an unusually high demand for one of their chat channels. To combat this, they temporarily move some agents into the queue to help with the backlog. They do this without noting down which agents were moved. The system will automatically remove them from the new queue at midnight, leaving them in their original queues for the start of the next day.
Edit Queue Settings (Calls)
Fig 6. The settings options for a specific call queue.
| Queue name | Here, you can add/edit the name for the skill group. |
General | |
| Priority | This is a legacy feature that currently has no bearing on queue priority. The new setting can be found on the IVR page of MaxContact, via the Queue element settings. |
| Service level time (Secs) | You can set the amount of time (in seconds) you want your calls to be answered in (used for reporting purposes of SLA's). |
| Abandon threshold (secs) | Here you can set the minimum amount of time (In seconds) a call queues for, before it can be classified as an abandoned call, if the customer hangs up while in an inbound queue. |
| Zip tone | You can select the type of Zip Tone to use when the call is put through to an agent (either Beep, WAV file or system default). For more information on Zip Tones Click Here Selecting 'beep' or 'wav file' will give you a further drop-down allowing you to select the beep or wav file to use. Zip tone example Clients with multiple inbound routes, sometimes per product/service, will benefit from a different zip tone/whisper on each. As some agents are part of multiple queues, the 'heads up' from an audio cue as to what the call is about can be very beneficial. Better still, if you add your own voice alerts such as "customer service call" or "product A call" for example. |
Lead Matching | |
| Available lead match types | This option allows you to determine what an agent can do when searching and matching leads within the system on inbound calls. |
| Existing contact details - Should a customer call in on a number that doesn't match their lead in the system, when the agent searches for the lead and matches them, the number they have called in on DOESN'T GET ADDED to the lead. This will also mean that any call-backs set will default to the number that already exists on the lead, unless the agent has the option to set a result code to a new number. | |
| New contact details - Should a customer call in on a number that doesn't match their lead in the system, when the agent searches for the lead and matches them, the number they have called in on WILL BE ADDED to the lead. This will also mean that any call-backs set will default to the new number that has been added, unless the agent has the option to set a result code to a alternative number. | |
| Both - With this option selected, should a customer call in on a number that doesn't match their lead in the system, when the agent searches for the lead and matches them, they will have the choice whether to add the number or not. A tick button will not add the number and a head and shoulder + button will. Call backs will work as per the above rules for existing or new contact details. | |
| History phone number source | This option determines which number is stored in the history table, the number the call comes in on (Caller's Number) or the number stored against the matched lead (Lead Phone Number). This affects anywhere you can perform a search by phone number within the system such as record history, recordings playback and custom reports. The default action for this is to record the Phone Number the call came in on (Callers phone number) rather than the contact number for the lead when the call is matched (Lead Phone Number). |
| Caller's number - The number stored in the history table will be the phone number the call comes in on (Caller's Number). This is the default option for all queues. It is useful to use this option for a queue that is receiving calls from customers directly. This is because the number the call was received from will be stored in history even if the lead the call is matched to has a different contact number. This option is not useful for queues that are mainly used for transfers. This is because pages such as Record history and Recordings playback will display multiple calls from the same number even though they are different leads. This is because it is displaying the number transferred in on e.g. a switchboard or 3rd party contact number. | |
| Lead phone number - The number stored in the history table will be the phone number stored against the lead (Lead Phone Number) when this call is matched or created. It is useful to use this option for a queue that is receiving calls from transfers. This is because the system will record the phone number of the customer (Lead Phone Number) rather than the phone number the customer was transferred from (Caller's Number). The incoming telephone number (Caller's Number) will be disregarded. All calls into the system will be added to the history table with the phone number of the lead. This means pages such as Record history and Recordings playback will display the phone number of the customer (Lead Phone Number) rather than the transfer number (Caller's Number). Please be aware that if you select this option and direct customer calls ARE received on this queue, this will result in the incoming telephone number being disregarded if it's different to the phone number stored for the lead. | |
| Default display number | This option only appears when selecting 'Callers number' from the above option. It allows you to determine which number is displayed within web agent. The option that you don't select will still be available to the agent when they hover the mouse over the number. |
| Caller's number - Displays the number the lead called in on to the agent. | |
| Lead phone number - Displays the matched leads number to the agent. | |
Timeouts | |
| Queue Timeout Time (Secs) | You can set a time where, if the caller has been transferred to a queue, and the call goes over the set time, the customer will be transferred to an IVR that could play a message such as a 'we are experiencing a large volume of calls, please try again later...' |
| Timeout IVR | Here, you can set which IVR the customer will be sent to on queue timeout. |
Virtual Queues | |
| Call Removal | Select how Virtual Queue calls should be removed from this queue. This will only impact calls in this specific queue and is used to ensure calls do not remain in the queue for any longer than you require. You can set the duration using either Timeout Period or Scheduled functions. Removing a Virtual Queue call will result in the customer no longer being called back. |
| Scheduled | You are able to set which days of the week and at what time Virtual Queue calls are to be removed. |
| Timeout | You are able to customise how long a Virtual Queue call is to remain in the queue prior to it being removed. |
| Zip Tone | You can select the type of Zip Tone to use when a call is put through to an agent which was added to the virtual queue so they are able to differentiate the type of call being passed to them. Selecting 'beep' or 'wav file' will give you a further drop-down allowing you to select the beep or wav file to use. |
| Threshold | Enabled this setting will allow you to set a threshold where virtual queue calls are halted to deal with demand on the queue. When inbound calls on the queue reach the threshold, VQs will not be placed until the number of inbound calls drops below the threshold again. |
Edit Queue Settings (Digital queues)
Fig 7. The settings options for interaction channel queues.
Queue Name - Here, you can add the name for the queue.
Active - Tick this to make the queue active, untick to make inactive (hidden on the page by default).
Channel - Set the channel you want associating with the queue here (The channel needs to be created before coming to this page). You can quick launch the Channel Admin page by clicking the grey button.
Priority - You can set priority levels on all queues so if, for example you have users logged into multiple channels, you can prioritise which channels interactions come through to those users first.
Service Level Time - You can set the amount of time you want your interactions to be answered in for reporting on SLAs.
Abandon Threshold - You can set the minimum amount of time an interaction queues for before it can be classified as an abandon, if the customer quits the queue before getting a response from a user.
Interaction routing -
Order - Determines in which order interactions are assigned to users:
Replies First - Replies are assigned before new interactions.
Oldest First - Interactions are assigned based on the date they were received in the queue.
Wait for previous User - Enables reopened or replied interactions to wait for the previous user before reassignment. When disabled, interactions are first assigned to the previous user if available; otherwise, they go to the next available user.
Wait time - Sets how long a reopened or replied interaction waits for the previous user before being assigned to the next available user. A longer wait time may increase queue times.
Re-queued thread example
If you set a time here, the system will look to place the customer with the same agent as their last interaction. This can be useful for situations where customers get disconnected accidently and want to re-join with the same agent.
Edit User Settings
Fig 8. A user selected within a queue.
When selecting a user within a queue, the left-hand column will display an icon with their initials on each queue they are part of. The righthand side will display the users settings.
| Editing user | The selected users name. |
| Priority | The higher the number (up to 10) the higher the priority that user has for allocation of a call/interaction. |
| Auto bump | This option will allow you to 'bump' up the users priority. Selecting this will open further options below. |
| Bump interval (Secs) | This is the period of time you wish to lapse between 'bumps', e.g. start on 5, after 30 seconds change to 6 and so on. |
| Max bumps | The number of 'bumps' a user will have. |
Use case example for 'bumps'
An inbound route has several agents on the queue and have been taking inbound calls for some time. The company has taken on some more staff and the management team want to ease their new agents into the role. They set all their experienced agents to a priority of 8 and the new starters to 5 (default) with a 30 second interval. As calls come in, they are routed to the higher priority agents and every 30 seconds, the new starters not receiving a call will have their priority raised by 1. Once the agent hits the same as the highest priority users, they will receive a call. This then resets their priority back to 5. Its worth noting that if inbound is busy enough, the lower priority agents will receive calls before hitting the highest priority.