Agent Readiness Overview
Updated
In a contact center environment, missed calls can lead to customer dissatisfaction and operational inefficiencies.
Two Significant Causes of Missed Calls
Agents Marking Themselves Available Despite Technical Issues
Agents occasionally mark themselves as available while facing technical issues with their microphone or WebRTC connectivity. This results in calls being routed to agents who cannot effectively handle them, leading to poor customer experiences and increased call abandonment rates.
Missed Calls Due to Agent System Outages
When an agent's system goes offline unexpectedly due to hardware or network problems, incoming calls meant for that agent cannot be answered. These missed calls impact service levels and customer satisfaction.
Solving Missed Calls with Three Key Features
Agent Readiness Widget
Status Change Restriction
Agent Heartbeat
1) Agent Readiness Widget
Features
Microphone Status: Monitors and notifies agents of microphone issues.
WebRTC Status: Provides real-time WebRTC connection updates.
Readiness Status: Enables agents to set and display their readiness for calls.
Troubleshooting
A knowledge base document is available (within the widget) to assist agents with:
Microphone Issues: Muted, device selection, and common problems.
WebRTC Connectivity: Network settings, cache clearing, and more.
2) Restrict Status Change
This feature will implement a restriction that prevents agents from changing their status to a productive state, e.g., “Available” when they are experiencing connection issues. Agents will be prompted to resolve their connection or microphone problems before they can mark themselves as available.
Impact
The proposed solution to restrict agents from marking themselves as available when experiencing connection issues has several impactful benefits.
Calls Routed to Quality Connections: Calls are intelligently routed to agents with better connection quality, ensuring that customer inquiries are handled more effectively.
Timely Problem Resolution: Encouraging agents to address connection problems promptly minimizes downtime and reduces the number of missed calls, resulting in improved call center efficiency and customer service.
Fewer Dropped Calls: Customers experience fewer call drops, resulting in more seamless interactions with agents.
Smoother Interactions: Calls are less likely to be interrupted by technical glitches, leading to smoother and more satisfying customer-agent interactions.
In summary, this solution not only benefits customers by providing a smoother and more reliable interaction experience but also positively impacts agents, resource allocation, and the overall performance of the call center system.
3) Agent Heartbeat Feature
Note: This mechanism will also act as a fail-safe if in case an agent’s system loses internet connection due to which the above two features become redundant.
Purpose
The Agent Heartbeat feature enables agents in a contact center to periodically send status updates, called "heartbeats," to the Unified Routing module. These heartbeats convey the agent's current readiness and WebRTC connectivity status. The primary purpose is to ensure that incoming calls are routed only to agents who are ready and have a stable WebRTC connection and microphone.
How It Works
Heartbeat Messages: Agent’s system conveys status codes at configurable intervals (e.g., every 5 seconds).
Status Codes: Agent’s system uses predefined codes like "Ready," "WebRTC Partially Connected," etc. as shown in the image below.
Customization: Administrators can configure heartbeat intervals .
Timeout Handling: If an agent's heartbeat isn't received within the configured timeout or if the status received conveys that the system isn’t ready then they're considered unavailable for call routing. (This mechanism kicks in when the Unified Routing module tries to assign a call to an agent.)
Impact
Optimized Resource Utilization: Calls are directed to available agents who can efficiently handle them, leading to optimized service delivery and reduced idle time.
Minimized Missed Opportunities: The system ensures that calls are consistently offered to agents who are both available and equipped with stable connections, minimizing the number of missed calls and potential customer interactions.