Dialling Modes and Skill Routing Accuracy

Outbound Skill-Based Routing works with all outbound dialling modes, but accuracy may vary:


  • Preview Dialling - Calls are routed with 100% accuracy as agents preview and accept each call.
  • Progressive Dialling - Also highly accurate with a 0% drop rate. But high volumes of inbound calls or mass User logout events can cause misallocated calls as the system attempts to ensure no calls are "Dropped".
  • Predictive Dialling - No guarantee of 100% accuracy. If there are more calls than available agents for a skill group, some calls will be misrouted as the system attempts to ensure no calls are "Dropped". 

The main point is that Preview and Progressive are most accurate. Predictive has potential for mismatch with fluctuating volumes.


Why it matters: In some cases, a call could be routed without an ideal agent being available. But in general, the system will route the call to the best match possible.


Accuracy is highest when:

  • Using Preview or Progressive modes
  • There are enough skilled agents to handle volumes
  • Skill groups, skills and Users are planned wisely.

How Calls are Connected to Agents


When an outbound call is answered, the system prioritises connecting it as follows:


  1. Originally Assigned Agent - The system first tries to connect the call to the agent it was originally assigned to based on skills and availability.
  2. Same Skill Group, High Proficiency - If the original agent is unavailable, it looks for another match within the same skill group, prioritising those with higher proficiency levels.
  3. Same Group, Drop Queue - Next it checks for agents from the same group who are in the drop queue due to undroppable calls.
  4. Any Available Agent - Finally, if no suitable match is found, the call goes to the longest available agent regardless of skill.

If no agents are available, the call enters the drop queue to await an agent.


With predictive dialing, if an agent has multiple calls queued and a customer answers, the other calls are re-assigned before new calls are dialled.


Understanding this priority order is crucial. The system works hard to connect calls to the most qualified agents based on original assignment and real-time skills. This balances prompt call handling with optimising for expertise.

Prioritising Skills from Plans and Direct Assignment


It's important to consider skill priorities when both assigning directly and via plans:

  • Each skill has a proficiency score from 1-10.
  • Higher scores mean the skill has higher priority for routing.
  • If a user gets the same skill from both a plan and direct assign, the higher proficiency will dominate.

For example:

  • Jane has "Apple" skill directly with proficiency 5
  • Her "Tech Support" plan also gives her "Apple" skill at proficiency 8
  • Jane will have a proficiency for Apple calls at level 8.

The highest proficiency overrides. This can change the combined priority and affect routing.


To avoid confusion:

  • Use consistent proficiency levels in plans and user skills.
  • Consider keeping one as the "source of truth" for proficiencies.
  • Review skills and priorities if routing is inconsistent.

Setting clear proficiency levels optimizes routing to the right agents. Let me know if any questions!

Using "NONE" Skill Group for Result Codes


The "NONE" skill group selection has a special meaning for result codes:

  • If set to "NONE", the lead's skill group will NOT be changed when that result code is applied.
  • The existing skill group will remain unchanged.
  • This acts as a "do not update" option.

For example:

  • A lead has the "Sales" skill group.
  • An agent dispositions it as "Not Interested" with NONE skill group.
  • The lead will keep the "Sales" group rather than getting a new skill.

Think of NONE as skipping any skill group update on disposition. The lead's skills stay the same.


This lets you apply specific result codes without altering skill routing. Use NONE to retain the lead's existing skill group.

Routing When Skill Groups Are Not Assigned

What happens when leads don't have an assigned skill group? There are two scenarios:


1. Leads with No Skill Group

  • The system will route the lead to any available agent.
  • It goes to whoever has been available the longest, regardless of skills.

2. Skill Routing Not Enabled

  • If skill routing is disabled, all leads go to longest available agent.
  • There is no skill matching. Any agent can receive any lead.

The main point:


Without skills, routing is purely time-based. Leads go to the agent waiting longest. This ensures even distribution but is not optimised for ability.


Enable skill routing and assign groups to fully leverage agent capabilities.

Effect of Ratios in Custom Data Fetching (CDF) with Outbound Skill-Based Routing

It's crucial to understand how these elements work together and how OSBR's specific characteristics can impact the application of ratios.

 

OSBR operates with its own set of rules and logic, primarily designed for outbound call routing optimisation.

 

When OSBR is in play, the ratios configured within CDF do not apply to outbound interactions routed through OSBR. In other words, OSBR operates independently of the custom ratios defined in CDF. This doesn't impact any of the other functionality that is available as part of CDF.

Impact of Changing Result Codes (In Record History) on Skill Group Assignment

What happens when you change the result code in the Record History to one that belongs to a different group?


When you change the result code via Record History to one associated with a different skill group, the system will not apply the skill group corresponding to the new result code to the lead. In simpler terms, the skill group will remain as it was before the result code change.


Here's an example to illustrate this:

  • Let's say you have a lead with an original result code that has a specific skill group assigned "Group A".
  • If you later change the result code for this lead on Record History to one that belongs to "Group B", the system will not automatically reassign the skill group to "Group B".
  • Instead, the lead will retain the skill group originally associated with "Group A"

Custom reporting options

We've introduced a new database table, named "skills_in_call_history". This table connects to the existing history table, enabling the creation of system reports that assess both the performance of specific skill groups and the overall effectiveness of the feature, such as determining the percentage of calls successfully matched to users with the corresponding skills.


The Custom Report Builder now allows you to include the Skill Group ID in any reports you build yourself.


Please contact the MaxSupport team if you require a report building around Skill Based Routing.