agent desktop user guide

Nortel Contact CenterAgent Desktop User Guide

Product release 6.0 Standard 6.05 July 2007

297-2183-945


Publication number: 297-2183-945

Product release: 6.0Document release: Standard 6.05

Date: July 2007

Copyright © 2007 Nortel Networks. All Rights Reserved.

Information is subject to change without notice. Nortel Networks reserves the right to make changes in design or components as progress in engineering and manufacturing may warrant.

The process of transmitting data and call messaging between the Meridian 1 and Contact Center Agent Desktop is proprietary to Nortel Networks. Any other use of the data and the transmission process is a violation of the user license unless specifically authorized in writing by Nortel Networks prior to such use. Violations of the license by alternative usage of any portion of this process or the related hardware constitutes grounds for an immediate termination of the license and Nortel Networks reserves the right to seek all allowable remedies for such breach.

This page and the following page are considered the title page, and contain Nortel and third-party trademarks.

*Nortel, the Nortel logo, the Globemark, CallPilot, Contivity, DMS, DMS-10, DMS-100, DMS-200, DMS-250, DMS-300, DMS-500, DMS-MTX, DMS-STP, DPN, DPX, Dualmode, Helmsman, ICN, IVR, MAP, Meridian, Meridian 1, Meridian Mail, Meridian SL, Norstar, Optera, Optivity, Passport, Periphonics, SL, SL-1, Succession, Supernode, and Symposium are trademarks of Nortel Networks.

ADOBE, ACROBAT, ADOBE ACROBAT, ACROBAT READER, FRAME, FRAMEMAKER, and POSTSCRIPT are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

ACTIVE DIRECTORY, INTERNET EXPLORER, MICROSOFT, MICROSOFT ACCESS, MS-DOS, POWERPOINT, WINDOWS, WINDOWS NT, and WINDOWS XP are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Agent Desktop User Guide v

Contents

1 Getting started 7New in this release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12About Contact Center Agent Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Related documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16How to get help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17About logging on and handling contacts in the Contact Center . . . . . . . . . . . 19

2 Using the Contact Center Agent Desktop 23Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Using the CCAD for voice, outbound, and e-mail contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Using the CCAD in a SIP-enabled contact center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Changing your status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Working with contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Working with customers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3 Handling telephony contacts 59Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Accepting a call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Accepting a SIP call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Handling telephone calls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Making a call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Handling an emergency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Observing calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4 Working on outbound campaigns 75Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Using the outbound window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77Viewing contact details and customer information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Handling an outbound call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

5 Working with scheduled callbacks 83Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

vi Contact Center Agent Desktop

Contents Standard 6.05

Scheduling a callback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Calling the customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

6 Handling e-mail messages 89Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Using the e-mail window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Verifying customer information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Sending a reply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Transferring and reassigning contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Creating an outgoing e-mail message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Printing contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

7 Using Web communications 113Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Accepting a Web communications contact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Using Text Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Pushing Web pages to the customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Index 125

Agent Desktop User Guide 7

C h a p t e r 1

Getting started

In this chapterNew in this release 8

Overview 12

About Contact Center Agent Desktop 14

Related documents 16

How to get help 17

About logging on and handling contacts in the Contact Center 19

8 Contact Center Agent Desktop

Getting started Standard 6.05

New in this release

The following sections detail what is new in the Nortel Contact Center Agent Desktop User Guide (297-2183-945) for release 6.05.

“Features” on page 8“Other changes” on page 10

Features

See the following sections for information about feature changes:

“New for Release 6.0” on page 8“SIP Contact Center” on page 8“Web communications” on page 9“Agent Desktop configuration” on page 9“Hot Desking” on page 9“Conversation indicator” on page 9“Connection status indicator” on page 10“Displaying timestamps” on page 10“E-mailing chat logs” on page 10

New for Release 6.0Contact Center Agent Desktop contains new features for Release 6.0. For details on these new features, see “New features for Contact Center Agent Desktop Release 6.0” on page 14.

SIP Contact CenterA SIP Contact Center supports inbound voice contacts, video, document sharing, instant messages, and buddy lists. SIP updates affect the following sections:

“Multimedia PC Client” on page 21“Using the CCAD in a SIP-enabled contact center” on page 35“Accepting a SIP call” on page 63


July 2007 Getting started

“Transferring a SIP call” on page 66“Conferencing in another party on a SIP call” on page 68

Web communicationsUsing the Web communications feature, you can connect with a customer in real time, over the internet. The Web communications feature affects the following sections:

“Accepting a Web communications contact” on page 115“Using Text Chat” on page 117“Pushing Web pages to the customer” on page 123

Agent Desktop configurationThere are new Agent Desktop features that are configured using the Contact Center Multimedia Administrator. These features are documented in the following sections:

“Logging off the Agent Desktop application” on page 32“Accepting a call” on page 61“Accepting an outbound contact” on page 77“Accepting an incoming contact” on page 92“Accepting a Web communications contact” on page 115

Hot DeskingThe Hot Desking feature allows an agent to sit at a different desk everyday and log on to the Contact Center Agent Desktop. Hot Desking affects the following sections:

“Hot Desking” on page 29“Logging on to the Agent Desktop” on page 29

Conversation indicatorThe Conversation indicator on the Text Chat window of the Contact Center Agent Desktop indicates what point you are at in the text chat session. The Conversation indicator is documented in the following section:

“Conversation indicator” on page 119



Connection status indicatorYou can use the Connection status indicator to determine whether the customer is connected to the text chat session. The Connection status indicator is documented in the following section:

“Connection status indicator” on page 120

Displaying timestampsWhile using the text chat feature, you can choose to display timestamps on each message. For more information about timestamps, see “Displaying timestamps” on page 120.

E-mailing chat logsWhile using the text chat feature, you can choose to e-mail a copy of the text chat log to the customer. For more information, see “E-mailing the chat log” on page 121.

Other changes

See the following sections for information about changes that are not feature-related:

“Activity Code updates” on page 10“Opening a contact” on page 10“Scheduling callbacks” on page 11

Activity Code updatesThe procedure for entering activity codes has been updated. Activity Code updates affect the following sections:

“Changing to ready or not ready status” on page 40“Entering an activity code” on page 64“Making a call” on page 70

Opening a contactThe procedure for opening a contact has changed. This change affects the following section:

“To open a contact” on page 51



Scheduling callbacksInformation about scheduling callbacks was enhanced and moved to a new chapter. For more information about scheduling callbacks, see Chapter 5, “Working with scheduled callbacks.”



Overview

Introduction

Contact Center Agent Desktop is a client and server call center application that is fully integrated with the Contact Center Release 6.0 portfolio and assists call centers in managing multimedia contacts. Contact Center Agent Desktop expands call center capabilities to allow agents to receive, view, respond to, and track all types of inbound and outbound customer requests, whether by telephone or e-mail, through a unified Agent Desktop interface. Using Contact Center Release 6.0, you can interact with Session Initiated Protocol (SIP), where agents can handle voice and video calls with further enhancements such as sending files, sharing whiteboard, and sending Web pages.

The Agent Desktop User Guide provides overview information about the Contact Center Agent Desktop, and detailed instructions for agents and supervisors about performing tasks.

About this guide

The Agent Desktop User Guide is available only in electronic portable document format (PDF) on the DVD that contains the Contact Center software.

You can view this guide online using Adobe Acrobat Reader, or you can print the guide in whole or in part.

Some of the features described in this guide may not be available to you, as a result of licensing restrictions. If a feature is not available to you, the corresponding icons do not appear on the interface.

For information about using the Contact Center Agent Desktop interface, see Chapter 2, “Using the Contact Center Agent Desktop.”For information about handling voice contacts or contacts in a Session Initiated Protocol-enabled contact center, see Chapter 3, “Handling telephony contacts.”For information about handling outbound contacts, see Chapter 4, “Working on outbound campaigns.”



For information about handling e-mail messages, see Chapter 6, “Handling e-mail messages.” For information about handling Web communications contacts, see Chapter 7, “Using Web communications.”

Online help

Contact Center Agent Desktop includes online help for agents and supervisors. To access the online help, click the window for which you want to see help, and then click the help icon in the Contact Toolbar.

Skills you need

To use this guide and the Agent Desktop effectively, you must have experience with computers and the Internet.



About Contact Center Agent Desktop

Introduction

Contact Center Agent Desktop is an evolution of the Symposium Web Center Portal Release 4.0 product and contains several components that enable agents to respond to customer contacts through a variety of media, including phone, outbound contacts, e-mail, and text chat. The Contact Center Agent Desktop provides automation for these responses to eliminate repetitive actions, such as typing a common response in an e-mail message.

The Contact Center Agent Desktop also allows contact center supervisors to change the status of a contact or to reassign a contact to another agent.

When used in a Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) contact center, voice and video contacts, instant messaging, and sharing files all provide customer interaction. Outbound contacts and e-mail messages are not used in a SIP-enabled contact center.

New features for Contact Center Agent Desktop Release 6.0

Contact Center Multimedia Release 6.0 provides a number of new features and enhancements for agents and supervisors.

Unified Agent Desktop interfaceA unified Agent Desktop interface is deployed using Microsoft .NET Smart technology and accessed by entering a URL address in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer.

The Agent Desktop interface provides a single interface for management of all contact channels, with context-sensitive presentation based on multimedia contact type. The Agent Desktop interface provides a set of features similar to the prior release, with an updated look and feel, enhanced security, an incorporated agent telephony toolbar, and outbound capability.



Telephony toolbarThe Agent Desktop interface includes an integrated telephony toolbar, which provides agents with a user interface for call-related tasks, such as placing calls, transferring calls, and entering activity codes. For Release 6.0, computer-telephony integration is implemented using the Nortel Communication Control Toolkit (CCT), which pushes incoming contacts to the Agent Desktop.

OutboundContact Center Agent Desktop delivers fully integrated outbound capability with an Outbound Campaign Management Tool for the administrator to create outbound campaigns. Agents use the Agent Desktop to accept the outbound contact, view the customer details and agent script (if configured), and handle the outbound contact.

SIPThe Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) support provides new channels of communication and collaboration to the customer with integrated voice, video, instant messaging, and application sharing that deliver secure services enhanced with personal touches.



Related documents

The following guides are available on the Contact Center portfolio DVD or on the Nortel Web site (www.nortel.com).

For information about Refer to NTP number

Installation, upgrades, migration, and maintenance

Contact Center Multimedia Installation and Maintenance Guide

297-2183-929

Communication Control Toolkit Installation and Maintenance Guide

297-2183-946

Administering contact centers

Contact Center Manager Administrator’s Guide

297-2183-927

Supervising contact centers

Contact Center Manager Supervisor’s Guide

297-2183-928

Prerequisites and functionality of the Multimedia PC Client

MCS 5100 Multimedia PC Client User Guide

NN42020-102



How to get help

This section explains how to get help for Nortel products and services.

Finding the latest updates on the Nortel Web site

The content of this documentation was current at the time the product was released. To check for updates to the latest documentation and software for Contact Center 6.0, click one of the following links.

Getting help from the Nortel Web site

The best way to get technical support for Nortel products is the Nortel Technical Support Web site:

www.nortel.com/support

This site provides quick access to software, documentation, bulletins, and tools to address issues with Nortel products. From this site, you can

download software and related toolsdownload technical documents, release notes, and product bulletinssign up for automatic notification of new software and documentationsearch the Technical Support Web site and Nortel Knowledge Base for answers to technical issuesopen and manage technical support cases

Link to Takes you directly to

Latest software the Nortel page for Contact Center located at www.nortel.com/espl.

Latest documentation the Nortel page for Contact Center documentation located at www.nortel.com/helmsman.

http://www.nortel.com/espl

http://www.nortel.com/helmsman

http://www.nortel.com/support



Getting help over the phone from a Nortel Solutions Center

If you do not find the information you require on the Nortel Technical Support Web site, and you have a Nortel support contract, you can also get help over the phone from a Nortel Solutions Center.

In North America, call 1-800-4NORTEL (1-800-466-7835).

Outside North America, go to the following Web site to obtain the phone number for your region:

www.nortel.com/callus

Getting help from a specialist by using an Express Routing Code

You can use an Express Routing Code (ERC) to more quickly route your call to the appropriate support specialist. To locate the ERC for your product or service, go to

www.nortel.com/erc

Getting help through a Nortel distributor or reseller

If you purchased a service contract for your Nortel product from a distributor or authorized reseller, you can contact the technical support staff for that distributor or reseller.

http://www.nortel.com/callus

http://www.nortel.com/erc



About logging on and handling contacts in the Contact Center

Introduction

There are four ways that agents can log on and handle contacts in the Contact Center, depending on the types of contacts that they are receiving. These methods are:

use an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) phoneset to log on and handle incoming voice callsuse the Contact Center Agent Desktop to log on and handle voice contacts when Contact Center Agent Desktop is installed on a Nortel Communication Control Toolkit serveruse the Contact Center Agent Desktop to log on and handle voice contacts, outbound contacts (voice calls from the contact center to customers), e-mail messages, or text chat sessions when Agent Desktop is installed on a Nortel Contact Center Multimedia serveruse the Contact Center Agent Desktop along with the Nortel Networks Multimedia PC Client to handle voice, video, instant messaging, and file sharing in a SIP-enabled contact center

ACD phoneset

You can use the ACD phoneset to handle voice calls. See the ACD agent telephone user guide and the phoneset documentation for your current phoneset on Helmsman (www.nortel.com/helmsman).

ATTENTION ACD phonesets or Class of Service are not supported in a SIP-enabled environment.



Contact Center Agent Desktop

The Contact Center Agent Desktop is used by the agents in a contact center to handle the contacts and interact with customers in a single window. It uses Microsoft .NET Framework technology, which means that the agent accesses the application by entering a URL address in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer, rather than starting the application from each desktop. The Contact Center Agent Desktop is used to handle voice contacts, outbound contacts, e-mail messages, text messages, and Web communications.

The Contact Center Agent Desktop can be run together with the Agent Desktop Display application, which shows current statistics for the agent who is handling contacts.

Information about the functionality of the Contact Center Agent Desktop can be found in this guide.

Prerequisites for using the Contact Center Agent DesktopTo run the Contact Center Agent Desktop on a client machine, the client machine must meet the following requirements:

Windows 2000 Professional with service pack 4 or Windows XP Professional with service pack 2Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 with Service Pack 1You must copy and install dotnetfx.exe and NDP1.1sp1-KB867460-X86.exe from the Contact Center DVD to install the software. For more information, see the Contact Center Multimedia Installation and Maintenance Guide.CCMM_Security_Policy.msi

The current security file must be applied. For more information, see the Contact Center Multimedia Installation and Maintenance Guide.

Internet Explorer 5.5 or later



Multimedia PC Client

In a SIP-enabled contact center, the Contact Center Agent Desktop (or another CCT application) is also used for managing telephone calls. In addition to the Contact Center Agent Desktop, the Multimedia PC Client is used to perform the enhanced telephone features such as instant messaging, sharing files, and video functionality. Both applications must be running to handle these contacts.

Information about the prerequisites and functionality of the Multimedia PC Client can be found in the MCS 5100 Multimedia PC Client User Guide found on Helmsman (www.nortel.com/helmsman).


C h a p t e r 2

Using the Contact Center Agent Desktop

In this chapterOverview 24

Using the CCAD for voice, outbound, and e-mail contacts 25

Using the CCAD in a SIP-enabled contact center 35

Changing your status 40

Working with contacts 42

Working with customers 52


Using the Contact Center Agent Desktop Standard 6.05

Overview

The Contact Center Agent Desktop is used to handle voice contacts, or voice, outbound, and e-mail messages, depending on the installation and licenses. It can also be used with the Multimedia PC Client in a SIP-enabled contact center. This chapter describes the functionality of the Contact Center Agent Desktop used in the following situations:

to handle voice contacts when Contact Center Agent Desktop is installed on a Nortel Communication Control Toolkit serverto handle voice contacts, outbound contacts (voice calls from the contact center to customers), e-mail messages, or Web communications contacts when Agent Desktop is installed on a Nortel Contact Center Multimedia serverto work along with the Nortel Networks Multimedia PC Client, in a SIP-based contact center, to handle voice, video, instant messaging, and application sharing.


July 2007 Using the Contact Center Agent Desktop

Using the CCAD for voice, outbound, and e-mail contacts

Introduction

The Contact Center Agent Desktop is made up of two components:

telephony toolbarmultimedia toolbar

The multimedia toolbar is enabled only for the agents who have multimedia licensing through the Contact Center Multimedia server.

If the multimedia toolbar is not displayed, click (toggle button) in the left bottom corner of the telephony toolbar.

The Contact Center Agent Desktop also provides a status indicator and a contact timer.

Telephony functions of the Contact Center Agent Desktop

The telephony toolbar contains buttons used to access functions that are similar to the buttons on your telephone:

Accept—Accept the new contact.

Release/Reject—If you are currently on a call, click Release to end the call. When a contact is offered to the agent, the Reject button is displayed.

Originate—Make a call.

Hold/UnHold—Place a call on Hold. Click UnHold to release the call from Hold.

Transfer—Transfer a call to a specific agent.



The DTMF, Emergency, Supervisor, and Observe functions are hidden by default. Click the blue arrow on the right (next to Activity Code) to expand the toolbar and access these functions.

Conference—Conference a specific agent into the current call.

Ready/Not Ready—Change your state from Ready to Not Ready or from Not Ready to Ready.

Logged In/Logged Out—Log on to the Agent Desktop. If you are already logged on, you can log off.

Call list—View a list of the calls you are currently working on.

DTMF—Add digits in response to interactive voice requests.

Emergency—Immediately connect with your supervisor in case of an emergency.

Supervisor—Conference your supervisor into your current call.

Observe—Supervisors can listen in to a call between an agent and a customer.



Multimedia functions of the Contact Center Agent Desktop

The multimedia toolbar contains buttons used for creating other contact types, such as outbound and e-mail:

Customer Details—Review and edit the information about a customer.

Customer Search—Search for customers in the Multimedia database.

Contact Search—Search for contacts in the Multimedia database.

Schedule Callback—Create a future outbound call to a customer.

Customer E-mail—Create an outgoing e-mail message to a new or existing customer.

User Settings—Configure user settings such as the default location for e-mail attachments, the default location for user templates, the spelling dictionary, the agent signatures, and password changes.

Help—Get help for the last window you clicked.

The multimedia window is used to view details of the agent’s current multimedia contact and edit details of the current contact.



Starting the Agent Desktop

To start the Agent Desktop, type an HTTP address (URL) in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer. Your system administrator can provide you with the URL, which you can add to your personal favorites to quickly access the application.

Your system administrator can provide a shortcut to the URL on your desktop.

You can also create a shortcut to the URL by highlighting the item in your Favorites list, right-clicking, and selecting Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).

Telephony toolbar

Multimedia toolbar

Status indicator

Contact timer

Customerinformation

Activitylog

Currentcontactdetails



Hot Desking

The Hot Desking feature lets you launch and log on to the Contact Center Agent Desktop on any desktop PC in the contact center. In a standard Windows environment with Hot Desking enabled, when you start the Contact Center Agent Desktop, you are automatically mapped to the relevant terminal and address without user intervention.

If you are working in a Citrix environment and Hot Desking is enabled, you are presented with a dialog box asking you to enter your workstation name.

Logging on to the Agent Desktop

After the application is started, you can log on.

When you log on, you are available to handle all media types for which you are licensed (for example, voice, outbound, e-mail or Web communications contacts). If you are assigned to a skillset for a particular media, you can receive and create contacts in that media.

To log on

1 Start the application. In Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer, type http://<servername>/agentdesktop/CCAD.exe, where <servername> is the name of the server where the Agent Desktop application is installed. Your system administrator can provide the correct server name.

Tip: If you or your system administrator creates a shortcut on your desktop, you can start the application by clicking the Agent Desktop icon.

Result: The Agent Desktop telephony toolbar appears.

2 Click Logged Out.

Result: The result depends on which type of agent you are:

a. If you are an agent who handles e-mail messages or outbound calls, the Enter Login Details window appears.



Your logon ID is displayed in the ID box, based on the Communication Control Toolkit implementation for your contact center.

In the Password box, type your current password. Initially, for multimedia agents, your password is the same as your Agent Logon ID. You must change your password using the steps outlined in “Changing your password” on page 33.

Result: The system verifies your password and logs you on to the Agent Desktop application. The Logged Out button changes to Logged In.

b. If you do not handle outbound or e-mail contacts, you are not presented with a login prompt. Your logon ID is completed based on the Communication Control Toolkit implementation for your contact center.

Result: The system verifies your logon ID and logs you on to the Agent Desktop application. The Logged Out button changes to Logged In.

When you log on, your status is automatically set to Not Ready. For more information, see “Changing your status” on page 40.

To log on in a Citrix environment Follow this procedure to log on to the Contact Center Agent Desktop if you are working in a Citrix environment with Hot Desking enabled.



1 Start the application. In Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer, type http://<servername>/agentdesktop/CCAD.exe, where <servername> is the name of the server where the Agent Desktop application is installed.

Result: The HotDeskingLogin dialog box appears.

2 Enter your workstation name, and then click OK.

Result: The Agent Desktop telephony toolbar appears.

3 Click Logged Out.

Result: The result depends on which type of agent you are:

a. If you are an agent who handles e-mail messages or outbound calls, the Enter Login Details window appears.

ATTENTION If you click Cancel on the HotDeskingLogin dialog box, the Contact Center Agent Desktop session does not close. When you click Cancel, the Contact Center Agent Desktop continues to launch. To close the session, you must close the Agent Desktop telephony toolbar.



Your logon ID is displayed in the ID box, based on the Communication Control Toolkit implementation for your contact center.

In the Password box, type your current password. Initially, for multimedia agents, your password is the same as your Agent Logon ID. You must change your password using the steps outlined in “Changing your password” on page 33.


b. If you do not handle outbound or e-mail contacts, you are not presented with a login prompt. Your logon ID is completed based on the Communication Control Toolkit implementation for your contact center.


Logging off the Agent Desktop application

This section describes how to log off of the Agent Desktop interface.

Depending on the configuration of your contact center, when you log off the Agent Desktop, your phoneset can be set to idle or busy. If your phoneset is set to idle, you can still receive incoming calls on your DN key. If your phoneset is set to busy, you cannot receive any calls.

This option is configured by an administrator in Contact Center Multimedia. For more information, see the Contact Center Multimedia and Outbound Installation and Maintenance Guide.

To log offOn the Telephony toolbar, click Logged In.

Result: The Logged In button changes to Logged Out. The system ends your current session by logging you off of Contact Center Agent Desktop. After you log off, the Agent Desktop interface closes and you do not receive any more contacts.



If you attempt to log off while you have an active contact, the system displays a message to advise you. You must close any open contacts before closing the application.

Changing your password

If you are an agent who handles multimedia contacts, you must change your password. The default password is the same as your Agent Logon ID.

If you forget your password, contact your administrator who can reset your password on the Contact Center Multimedia server.

To change your password

1 If the multimedia component is not already displayed, click under the Accept button on the telephony toolbar to display it.

2 Click User Settings on the Multimedia toolbar.

3 Select Change Password.

4 In the Current Password box, type your current password.



5 In the New Password box, type your new password. Your new password cannot be the same as your Agent Logon ID.

6 In the Confirm Password box, retype your new password.

7 Click Save.



Using the CCAD in a SIP-enabled contact center

Introduction

Read this section only if you are working in a SIP-enabled contact center.

Functions of the Contact Center Agent Desktop

The telephony toolbar contains buttons used to access functions that are similar to the buttons on your telephone:

Accept—Accept the new contact.

Release/Reject—If you are currently on a call, click Release to end the call. When a contact is offered to the agent, the Reject button is displayed.

Originate—Make a call.

Hold/UnHold—Place a call on Hold. Click UnHold to release the call from Hold.

Transfer—Transfer a call to a specific agent.

Conference—Conference a specific agent into the current call.

Ready/Not Ready—Change your state from Ready to Not Ready or from Not Ready to Ready.

Logged In/Logged Out—Log on to the Agent Desktop. If you are already logged on, you can log off.

Call list—View a list of the calls you are currently working on.

DTMF—Add digits in response to interactive voice requests.



The DTMF, Emergency, Supervisor, and Observe functions are hidden by default. Click the blue arrow on the right (next to Activity Code) to expand the toolbar and access these functions.

Although you can perform actions, such as placing a customer on hold, on your phoneset, Nortel recommends that you use the Agent Desktop toolbar to carry out all telephony actions in a SIP-enabled contact center.

Functions on the Multimedia PC Client

The Multimedia PC Client toolbar contains buttons used for creating video, performing instant messaging functions, and sharing information with customers. For more information about the Multimedia PC Client, see the MCS 5100 Multimedia PC Client User Guide found on Helmsman (www.nortel.com/helmsman).

Emergency—Immediately connect with your supervisor in an emergency.

Supervisor—Conference your supervisor into your current call.

Observe—Supervisors can listen in to a call between agent and a customer.

Make a Call—Start an audio or video phone call.

Instant Message—Send and receive text notes among one or more recipients, even while you are engaged on an active call.

Directory—Manage, track, and access information about all of your key contacts.

Call Logs—See a listing of incoming and outgoing calls.

Friends Online—Show the connection status of your friends.



Starting the Multimedia PC Client

The Nortel Networks Multimedia PC Client is installed and configured on your machine by your system administrator. For more information about the Nortel Networks PC client, see the MCS 5100 Multimedia PC Client User Guide found on Helmsman (www.nortel.com/helmsman).

Your administrator can place an icon on the desktop for starting the Multimedia PC Client.

Preferences—Change your program preferences.

Send File—Send a file to another user.

Sharing—Initiate application sharing with another user.

Routes—Connect to your Personal Agent to specify your routing rules.

Personal Agent—Connect to your Personal Agent to change your settings.

Chat—Join or create a chat room to begin chatting.

End video—Stops video. However, the voice call can still remain active.

Start video—Adds video to the call.



To start the Multimedia PC Client

On the Windows Start menu of your client machine, click All Programs > Nortel > Nortel Networks PC Client.

Result: The Converged Multimedia PC Client window appears.

To ensure the MCS Multimedia PC Client properly reports you as available or on the phone, you must ensure the Report when on the phone check box is selected.

To enable Report when on the phone

1 Click Preferences.

2 In the Category box, click Preferences.

3 Select the Report when on the phone check box.

4 Click OK.



Starting the Contact Center Agent Desktop

Use the same process defined in “Starting the Agent Desktop” on page 28 to start the Contact Center Agent Desktop.

If your userID is configured on the Communication Control Toolkit server, the Agent Desktop toolbar appears. If you are not configured on the Communication Control Toolkit server, you must enter your user credentials in the User Credentials dialog box.



Changing your status

Introduction

When you first log on, your status is set to Not Ready by default. Use the Agent Desktop application to set your status to Ready or Not Ready at any time.

A color-coded bar on the toolbar indicates your current status as follows:

Red—logged off, logged on but set to Not ReadyYellow—logged on but idleGreen—on an active (inbound/outbound) contact. The bar changes to green when a contact is presented to the Agent Desktop.Orange—active contact on hold

Changing to ready or not ready status

When your status is set to Ready, you are available to create or receive contacts (inbound calls, outbound calls, or e-mail) depending on your assigned skillsets.

When your status is set to Not Ready, you remain logged on and can initiate new contacts or open existing contacts, but you cannot receive new contacts. You can only handle one contact at any one time. If you are currently handling a contact, you cannot create a new contact.

When you set your status to Not Ready, you must select a Not Ready Reason Code, if one is configured, to indicate your reason for changing your status to Not Ready.

To change to ready status

To change your status to Ready, click Not Ready.

Result: The system places you in ready status. The Not Ready button changes to Ready. You are now ready to accept contacts.



To change to not ready status

1 Click Ready.

Result: The system places you in not ready status. The Ready button changes to Not Ready.

2 If the administrator has configured that you must enter a reason code, then you must type a reason code in the Activity Code box, and then press the Enter key.



Working with contacts

Introduction

You can only work on one routed contact at a time. When you are working on a routed contact, you cannot be assigned another contact until the current contact is completed or the contact is transferred to another person.

Viewing the current contact

The routed contact is displayed in the list view on the Agent Desktop Telephony toolbar.

The three columns provide the information about the contact:

Type—The type of contact: Outbound, E-mail, or Voice contact, or Dialed Number call (an outgoing call from your computer).Local—The state of the contact on your machine: Ringing, Active, Held, Held for transfer (TransferInitiated), or Held for conference (ConferenceInitiated).Remote—The state of the contact on the remote machine, or the other end of the connection: Alerting, Established, Failed, or Conference.

When you are assigned a contact, it appears in the list view.

When you make a Dialed Number (DN) call, such as dialing an outbound voice call, the information about the dialed call is also displayed in this view.



Understanding the status of a contact

A contact has one of the following statuses:

New—Contact is in the queue and will be routed to the next available agent. If a contact was postponed, the status also appears as New.Open—An agent (who could be you) is working on the contact.Waiting—Contact is waiting to be queued into the contact center (outbound contacts only).Closed—Contact is complete.

Changing the status of the contact

If you fulfill a voice call, the contact status changes from Open to Closed when the call is completed. For more information, see “Ending a call” on page 69 for inbound voice calls.

In a Multimedia-enabled contact center, you close an outbound contact by completing the call. For more information, see “Ending the call” on page 82.

In a Multimedia-enabled contact center, when an e-mail message is complete, you must close it. For more information about closing an e-mail message, see “Closing the e-mail contact” on page 103. If you are working on an e-mail message, you can also forward the message to a person outside of the contact center or postpone work on the message to handle a more urgent issue. For more information about forwarding or postponing work on an e-mail message, see “Postponing work on a contact” on page 104.

If you are a supervisor, you can close multiple e-mail contacts. To close multiple e-mail contacts, perform the following steps.

ATTENTION The remaining sections in this chapter refer only to the operation of the multimedia-enabled contact center where agents work with e-mail and outbound contacts. If you are using the SIP-based contact center, continue withChapter 3, “Handling telephony contacts.”



1 Search for a list of the e-mail contacts you want to close.

2 Select the contacts you want to close by pressing the ALT or SHIFT key while you click contacts in the search results. Selected contacts are highlighted in blue.

a. Right-click a highlighted contact, and then click Close All.

Result: The Close Contact Details window appears.



b. Complete the reason for closing the contacts.

c. Add a note to describe the reason that you are closing the contacts. (optional)

d. Click Close.

Searching for multimedia contacts

In the operation of the Contact Center Agent Desktop as an application to handle e-mail and outbound contacts, you can search for existing contacts to review. If the multimedia component is not already displayed, click under the Accept button on the telephony toolbar to display it. You can be in either Ready or Not Ready status when searching for a contact.

You can search for any e-mail, outbound, or Web communications contact recorded in the multimedia database using the following criteria:

Skillset (is, is not)Status (is, is not)Subject (contains, begins with, ends with)Closed Reason (is, is not)

ATTENTION The remaining sections in this chapter refer only to the operation of the multimedia-enabled contact center where agents work with e-mail and outbound contacts. If you are using the SIP-based contact center, continue withChapter 3, “Handling telephony contacts.”



Type (is, is not)Disposition code (is, is not)Mail To (contains, begins with, ends with)Mail From (contains, begins with, ends with)Arrival Date (before, on, after)ID (less than, equal to, greater than)

You can use one or more search criteria to define the contacts you want to review. Each criteria limits the previous selection.

For example, to find all e-mail contacts, you can create a search of the contacts based on the type.

You can refine the search by adding a second search criterion, locating only the closed e-mail contacts.



To search for a contact

1 Click Contact Search in the multimedia toolbar.

Result: The Contact Search window appears.

2 In the first column, select the contact property by which you want to search (for example, ID, subject, or status).

3 In the second column, select the restriction for the search (for example, is or is not).

Tip: The search restriction depends on the contact property selected from the first column.

4 In the third column, type the text, number, or date that you want to find. The contact search is not case-sensitive).

5 Add as many search criteria rows as you require. Each additional search criteria narrows the search field.



6 Click Search.

Result: The Search Results appear.

Tip: You can sort the search results by clicking the column heading for the field by which you want to sort.



7 Double-click to select the contact you want to review.

Result: The Contact Details window appears. The Contact Details window contains information about the customer, the contact, and notes that agents have added to the contact record.

8 View or open the contact (see “Viewing and opening a contact” on page 50), or print the results of your search (see “Printing search results” on page 55). You can only open e-mail contacts.



Viewing and opening a contact

In the operation of the Contact Center Agent Desktop as an application to handle e-mail and outbound contacts, you can view a multimedia contact to see what information is available. You can also open an e-mail contact. You can only open an e-mail contact when your status is set to Not Ready and if no other agent is working on it. An icon in the first column of the History tab shows the status of the contact.

To view a contact

1 Use the search tool described in “Searching for multimedia contacts” on page 45, to find a contact.

2 Right-click, and then click Read Only Contact to view the contact details and the customer details.

Result: The information in the contact details and customer details are read-only. You cannot change any of the information in the window.

ATTENTION The remaining sections in this chapter refer only to the operation of the multimedia-enabled contact center where agents work with e-mail and outbound contacts. If you are using the SIP-based contact center, continue with Chapter 3, “Handling telephony contacts.”

Icon Description

The contact is new and in the queue waiting to be routed to an agent. The new contacts are usually from the customer, but they could also be contact transfers or scheduled callbacks.

The contact is open, and this agent is working on it. Actions in the right-hand side of the Agent Desktop window are recorded for the contact.

The contact is closed.

The contact is open.



To open a contact

1 Use the search tool described in “Searching for multimedia contacts” on page 45, to find a contact.

2 If the Contact History tab shows Take Ownership, another agent currently owns this customer. For more information about preferred agents for customers, see “Assigning a preferred agent” on page 58.

3 Ensure that your status is set to Not Ready.

4 Right-click, and then click Pull Contact.

Result: If the Pull Contact item is not available, another agent currently has the contact open and you can only view it. If the contact is currently closed, a dialog box appears asking if you want to open it.

5 Click Yes to open the contact.

Result: The Agent Desktop automatically changes your status to Ready and answers the pulled contact. In the historical contact list, the opened contact is indicated with a pin icon .

The length of time that a contact stays open on the agent’s desktop is controlled by the maximum open duration setting. The maximum open duration setting is configured in the Multimedia Administrator.

ATTENTION This procedure applies to e-mail contacts only. You cannot open an outbound contact.



Working with customers

Introduction

In the operation of the Contact Center Agent Desktop as an application to handle e-mail and outbound contacts, each contact is a communication, through telephone or e-mail with a customer. Contact Center Agent Desktop has a database that contains customer contact information such as the address, telephone number, or e-mail address.

You can use the Agent Desktop interface to communicate with customers:

by telephone, when a customer calls the contact centerby telephone, when your contact center is participating in an outbound campaignby e-mail, when a customer sends an e-mail to the contact centerby text chat, when a customer requests a text chat session from a web pageby creating a callback to schedule a call to a customerby creating an e-mail to send information to a customerby making a call to a customer

Finding a current customer

You can look up customer information for a contact. To search for a customer record in the database, use one or more of the following criteria:

First NameLast NamePreferred Agent

ATTENTION The remaining sections in this chapter refer only to the operation of the Multimedia-enabled contact center where agents work with e-mail and outbound contacts. If you are using the SIP-based contact center, continue with Chapter 3, “Handling telephony contacts.”



AddressPhone NumberE-mail Address

You can use one or more search criteria to define the customers you want to find. Each criteria limits the previous selection.

To find a customer

1 In the multimedia toolbar, click Customer Search.

Result: The Customer Search window appears.

2 In the first column, select the contact property by which you want to search (for example, first name, last name, e-mail address).

3 In the second column, select the restriction for the search (for example, begins with, contains, or ends with).

Tip: The search restriction depends on the contact property selected from the first column.

4 In the third column, type the text, number, or date that you want to find.



5 Click the plus sign (+) to add additional search criteria. Click the minus sign (-) to remove search criteria. Add as many search criteria rows as you require. Each additional search criteria narrows the search field.

6 Click Search.

Result: The Search Results appear.

Tip: You can sort the search results by clicking the column heading for the field by which you want to sort.

7 Click the contact you want to view.

Result: The Customer Search results appear.



Printing search results

You can print the search results displayed in the Customer Details window. You must ensure that you resize the window to show the information you want to print.

To print search results

1 Resize the details window to show the information you want to print. You can drag the pane size to the right and down to view more information.

2 Click the printer icon ( ).

3 Select the correct printer settings.

Creating a new customer

If the multimedia database does not contain information about a customer, you can create a customer record. When you create a customer record, the record contains only required information, such as the customer surname and either an e-mail address or a telephone number, to make the customer record valid. You can add other information to the customer record. For more information about adding information to customer records, see “Adding information to a customer record” on page 56.

When you create a customer, you automatically take ownership of the customer.

To create a new customer record

1 Click Customer Details.

2 If a customer is loaded in the customer details window, click Clear View to clear the fields.

ATTENTION The remaining sections in this chapter refer only to the operation of the Multimedia-enabled contact center where agents work with e-mail and outbound contacts. If you are using the SIP-based contact center, continue with Chapter 3, “Handling telephony contacts.”



3 Click Create Customer.

Result: The Create Customer window appears.

4 In the Title box, select the title (Mr., Mrs., or Ms) for the customer.

5 In the Last Name box, type the surname of the customer. You must complete this field.

6 In the First Name box, type the chosen name for the customer.

7 In the Email Address box, type the e-mail address for the customer.

8 In the Phone Type box, select the type of phone number (for example, home or business).

9 In the remaining telephone number boxes, type the international code, the area code, and the number.

Tip: You must type a number in the number box if you do not specify an e-mail message for this customer.

10 Select Default if the number is the default number for outbound calls.

11 Select Barred to bar this number from any outgoing call lists. When this box is checked, you can e-mail the customer but cannot call them.

12 Click Save.

Adding information to a customer record

You can type information about the customer into the text boxes in the Create Customer window, or you can copy the text from a current contact. In addition to the customer name, e-mail address, and telephone number, you can add



a mailing addressmultiple e-mail addressesmultiple telephone numbersother customer fields, if defined by the administrator, such as the age group for the customer or the customer’s birth date

You can configure more than one e-mail address for a customer. If you create more than one e-mail address, you must select a default address. The default address is used when you send a contact to the customer; however, you can change the address for an individual contact.

The details for the customer record appear on the Details tab.



Assigning a preferred agent

The preferred agent is the agent who handled the first contact by a single customer. If you are the preferred agent for a particular customer, the multimedia contacts from this customer route to you. If another agent reviews the contacts, the other agent can take ownership of the customer’s contacts.

To take the role of a preferred agent

On the Historical Contacts tab, click Take Ownership.


C h a p t e r 3

Handling telephony contacts


Accepting a call 61

Accepting a SIP call 63

Handling telephone calls 64

Making a call 70

Handling an emergency 71

Observing calls 72


Handling telephony contacts Standard 6.05

Overview

This chapter describes how to handle incoming telephone calls from customers in Contact Center Agent Desktop.

You can use the Contact Center Agent Desktop to perform the following telephone tasks:

Accept incoming contacts.Enter an activity code.Place a call on hold.Transfer a call to another party.Conference a call.End a call.Call a supervisor.Handle an emergency.Make a call.

Although you can use your phoneset to perform certain functions, Nortel recommends that you use the Agent Desktop toolbar to perform all telephony functions, such as logging on or off, changing your ready status, accepting or rejecting a call, placing a customer on hold, transferring a customer, calling a supervisor, and releasing a call. Do not perform any of the preceding telephony tasks by using a mixture of steps performed on your phoneset and the telephony toolbar. For example, do not place a call on hold using your phoneset and then retrieve the call by clicking Unhold on the toolbar.


July 2007 Handling telephony contacts

Accepting a call

Introduction

You can use the telephony toolbar in the Agent Desktop interface to accept and work with telephone calls. To receive the incoming calls, you must be in Ready status and you must have a skillset designated for handling telephone calls.

The Agent Desktop appears as follows when a call is assigned to an agent:

If you are assigned to a multimedia skillset, you can click on the telephony toolbar to search for, create, and update contact and customer details.

The Agent Desktop can be configured to give visual and audible alerts when a contact is presented. These features are configured by an administrator, using the Contact Center Multimedia Administrator.

Audible Alert—The Agent Desktop emits a beep.Bring to Front—The Agent Desktop comes to the front of the desktop to cover all current windows.Give Focus—The Agent Desktop window is given focus so that all actions in other windows are stopped.

For information about enabling or disabling these features, see the Contact Center Multimedia and Outbound Installation and Maintenance Guide.

Accepting or declining an incoming contact

When you accept an incoming contact, you are connected to it. The relevant telephony toolbar icons become active and the call timer is displayed in the status bar.

If your administrator has configured your call center to run in Force Call mode, you must handle all contacts presented to you.



To accept an incoming contact

Click Accept.

To decline an incoming contact

Click Reject.

Result: The contact is placed back in queue and queued to another agent. Your status is set to Not Ready. You cannot receive new incoming contacts until you change your status to Ready.



Accepting a SIP call

As an agent in the SIP-enabled contact center, accept the call using the Agent Desktop application.

When you click Accept, the Multimedia PC client shows that a call is in progress.

You can also reject the call. If you reject the call, you are placed into Not Ready status.

While the call is in progress, the call duration is tracked on the Agent Desktop and on the Multimedia PC client.



Handling telephone calls

Entering an activity code

You can use the telephony toolbar to enter one or more activity codes during your calls. Activity codes provide a method to track the time agents spend on various types of calls. For example, you can use an activity code to track sales calls. You can enter that activity code in the Agent Desktop during sales-related calls. Your supervisor or system administrator provides the Activity codes.

To enter an activity code

1 On the telephony toolbar, in the Activity Code box, type the code for your call.

2 Press the Enter key to submit the activity code.

Placing a call on hold

You can interrupt your current call by placing the call on hold. The following procedures describe how to place a call on hold and then how to release the call from hold to speak to the caller again.

The Hold button flashes orange when a call is on hold.

To place a call on hold

On the telephony toolbar, click Hold.

Result: The call is placed on hold, the status bar color changes to orange, and Hold changes to Unhold and starts flashing.

To release a call on hold

Click Unhold to release the call from hold.

Result: The call is taken off hold, the status bar color changes to green to indicate you are on an active call, and Unhold changes to Hold.



Transferring a call

You can transfer a call to another agent in your contact center. You can choose to perform a supervised transfer or a blind transfer. In a supervised transfer, the call is placed on hold, and you speak to the third party before completing the transfer. In a blind transfer, you simply transfer the call without speaking to the third party.

To transfer a call

1 On the telephony toolbar, click Transfer.

Result: The Transfer window appears. The Blind Transfer option is selected by default.

2 Select the Blind Transfer or Supervised Transfer option.

3 In the Number to transfer box, type the number to which you want to transfer the call.

If you select Supervised Transfer, the active call is placed on hold and a call is placed to the third party. While you speak with the third party, the Transfer and Hold buttons both flash to indicate that you have a customer on hold and must complete the transfer.

4 Click OK.

Result: The call is transferred to the third party and is dropped from your telephone. The call timer stops and the status bar color changes to yellow indicating that you are available to take another call.



Transferring a SIP call

To transfer a call in a SIP-enabled contact center, perform the steps outlined in “To transfer a call” on page 65. However, if a file transfer took place between you and the customer before you transferred the call, you need to perform an additional step to ensure that any subsequent file transfers are sent to the correct destination.

After you complete the transfer, you must close the PC client session window, which is shown in the following diagram.

If you do not close the PC client session window after you transfer the call and the customer sends another file, you receive the file instead of the agent who is now handling the call.



Conferencing in another party

In a conference, you can speak to your customer, as well as another agent or a supervisor from the contact center.

To conference in another agent

1 On the telephony toolbar, click Conference.

Result: The Conference window appears and the customer is automatically put on hold.

2 In the Number box, type the number of the party you want to conference into the call.

3 Click OK to begin the conference.

Result: You can now speak with the new party before starting the conference.

4 Click Conference again to set up the conference with the customer and the other agent.

To conference in a supervisor

1 On the telephony toolbar, click Supervisor.

Result: Your supervisor is brought into the call and the customer is automatically put on hold. You can speak to your supervisor before the conference begins.

2 Click Supervisor again.

Result: You, your supervisor, and the customer are conferenced into the call.



Conferencing in another party on a SIP call

To conference in another party on a SIP call where file transfers are not necessary, perform the steps outlined in “To conference in another agent” on page 67 or “To conference in a supervisor” on page 67.

If a file transfer occurs between you and the customer before you conference in another agent (or supervisor), and you need to send a file to the agent (or supervisor), you must know the identifier (number) of the target agent.

Perform the following steps to send a file to another agent on a conference call:

1 On the Multimedia PC Client, select Tools > Send File.

Result: The Send File dialog box appears.

2 In the Send File to box, enter the identifier of the target agent.

3 Click Select File to browse to the file you want to send.



4 Click Open to initiate the file transfer.

Ending a call

If you were in Ready status before the call, you automatically return to Ready when you terminate the call. If you require time to perform call wrap-up tasks before you accept another call, change your status to Not Ready and enter a Not Ready Reason Code in the Code field of the telephony toolbar. For more information, see “Changing your status” on page 40.

To end a call

On the telephony toolbar, click Release.

Result: The call is terminated.

Calling your supervisor

You can call your supervisor while you are not currently handling a call.

To call a supervisor when you are on a call, see “To conference in a supervisor” on page 67.

To call a supervisor

On the telephony toolbar, click Supervisor.

Result: You are connected to your supervisor.



Making a call

You can use the Contact Center Agent Desktop to make a call.

ExampleYou were working with a customer who asked for information that was not available yesterday. Today, the information is available, and you want to call the customer back.

To make a call

1 On the telephony toolbar, click Originate.

Result: The Enter Destination dialog box appears. By default, the telephone number from the customer’s record appears in the Number box.

2 Click OK to dial the default number, or type a new number and then click Call.

Result: The call is dialed.

3 Click Release when you complete the call.

4 If required by your supervisor, enter an activity code in the Activity Code box, and then press the Enter key.

Using DTMF digits

If, during a call, you must navigate through a call center menu, or dial numbers for accessing voice messages, you can use the DTMF feature.

The DTMF feature is launched by hovering your pointer over the arrow on the right of the telephony toolbar. A small keypad with the numbers 0-9, * and # appears. Use this keypad to enter the numbers.

ATTENTION In a SIP contact center, you should use the Contact Center Agent Desktop to make the call.



Handling an emergency

If you require immediate assistance while handling a call, you can summon the help from your Supervisor in the call center.

ExampleYou are talking to a customer who suddenly threatens you. You believe that you need a supervisor on the call immediately.

The caller is not put on hold when the supervisor is conferenced in an emergency.

To use the Emergency key

On the telephony toolbar, click Emergency.

Result: A supervisor is conferenced into your call.



Observing calls

Introduction

In a SIP-enabled contact center, a supervisor or agent-supervisor can use the observe and barge-in functions to listen in on a call. The supervisor or agent-supervisor can listen to a call, but cannot be heard during the call while observing the call. The supervisor or agent-supervisor can participate in a call between the agent and the customer when using the barge-in feature. The supervisor or agent-supervisor actions do not affect the normal connect and disconnect actions of the agent and customer conversation.

An agent-supervisor has the capability to both handle calls and be a supervisor to other agents.

Observing a call

While an agent is on a call, a supervisor or an agent-supervisor can perform the following steps to observe the agent’s call. Only one supervisor at a time can observe a call, and the supervisor can only observe one call at a time.

1 Log on to the Contact Center Agent Desktop. For information about logging on to the Contact Center Agent Desktop, see “Starting the Agent Desktop” on page 28.

2 Click the blue arrow on the right to expand the toolbar.



3 Click Observe.

Result: The Supervisor Control dialog box appears on the screen in addition to the Contact Center Agent Desktop toolbar.

Tip: In the Assigned Agents box, the indicates the agents assigned to this are ready to receive calls, and the indicates the agents are not ready to receive calls.

4 Under Current Agent Contacts, select the call that you want to observe.

5 In the Supervisor Control, click Observe.

Result: A new call is presented in the Supervisor’s Agent Desktop. This call is not a contact center call, so the agent does not have to be ready. The call connects the Supervisor or Agent-Supervisor to the selected Agent call.



6 Accept the call ringing on your Agent Desktop.

Result: You can now observe the agent call.

The agent or customer on the contact center call cannot hear the supervisor joining or leaving the call. Any action performed by the supervisor’s observe function does not affect the original call.

Ending your observation

Click Release to release the call you are observing.

The agent or customer on the contact center call cannot hear the supervisor joining or leaving the call. Any action performed by the supervisor’s observe function does not affect the original call.

Barging in on a call

If you observe a call that needs supervisor attention, you can barge in on the call that you are currently observing.

In the Supervisor Control, click Barge-In.

Result: The agent and customer on the contact center call can hear the supervisor. Any action the supervisor performs, such as leave the call, does not affect the original call.


C h a p t e r 4

Working on outbound campaigns


Using the outbound window 77

Viewing contact details and customer information 79

Handling an outbound call 80


Working on outbound campaigns Standard 6.05

Overview

This chapter describes how to perform the tasks for handling outbound calls and callbacks.

Outbound campaigns are created by the campaign administrator. When a campaign is running, the system pushes outbound contacts to your desktop in the same way that it presents voice or multimedia contacts. When you accept an outbound contact, you are actively working on a call.

When you accept an outbound contact, the Agent Desktop displays the customer information for the contact, along with any other information related to the campaign. Some campaigns include a script for you to follow during the call.

If the campaign administrator selected manual agent dial, you can call the customer after you review the customer and campaign information. If the campaign administrator selected autodial, the system automatically places the call for you after a predetermined number of seconds.

You use the Agent Desktop interface to perform the following tasks when handling an outbound call:

Accept the incoming contact.Review and update customer information.Follow a script.Assign a disposition code.

You can also use the Agent Desktop to create a callback.

Note: The tasks discussed in this chapter are not applicable to a SIP-enabled contact center.


July 2007 Working on outbound campaigns

Using the outbound window

Introduction

You can use the Agent Desktop interface to accept and handle outbound campaigns, one call at a time. To receive the contacts, you must be in Ready status and you must have the skillset for handling outbound contacts.

The Agent Desktop appears as follows when a contact is assigned to an agent.

Accepting an outbound contact

When you accept an incoming contact, you are connected to the customer. The Agent Desktop expands to show the contact and customer details and the call timer is displayed in the status bar.




To accept an incoming contact, click Accept.

To decline an incoming contact, click Reject.



Upon your acceptance of an outbound contact, the Agent Desktop application displays the customer details and the defined script for your call, and the call is dialed according to the settings in the outbound campaign.

Your outbound administrator can configure the outbound calls to be made immediately after you accept a call, specify a number of seconds before the call is placed, or configure the agent to make the call.

To make the call, click Originate. For more information about making a call, see “Making a call” on page 70.



Viewing contact details and customer information

Introduction

For multimedia and outbound contacts, the left side of the window shows the customer details, history about the recent contacts with this customer, and miscellaneous information such as the customer ID.

The Details tab shows the current customer information. Based on the content of the contact, you can change or add information to the customer record.

The History tab shows the history of previous contacts. You can view all interactions with the contact center. You can also view any notes from the agents who previously handled the contacts.

The CI Details tab shows the customer ID, the registration date of the customer record, the logon page, and a customer password, if applicable, for logging on to Web pages.



Handling an outbound call

Introduction

After you accept or open an outbound contact, you can call the customer and complete the following tasks:

Verify customer information. After you successfully place the call, confirm that you have reached the correct customer by reviewing the contact information on the screen with the customer.Follow the script or complete the questionnaire, if applicable.Complete the call and assign a disposition code, schedule a callback if required, enter any applicable notes, and save the call results.

Placing an outbound call

After you accept or open an outbound contact, you can review the customer details and outbound contact script. The Administrator can specify whether the calls are automatically made, or if you have some time to review the call information before you call the customer for each outbound campaign.

Your outbound administrator can configure the outbound calls to be made immediately after you accept a call, or specify a number of seconds before the call is placed. If you do not need to dial the customer number, proceed to step 3.

To place an outbound call


Result: The Enter Destination window appears. By default the telephone number from the customer’s record appears.

2 Click OK to dial the default number.

3 Do one of the following tasks:

If you can speak with the customer, proceed to “Reviewing the script” on page 81.



If you cannot speak with the customer, proceed to “Recording the result” on page 82 to update the contact with the appropriate disposition code, reschedule the call, and add any notes you have made.

Verify the customer information. You can update the customer contact fields if required. For more information about viewing customer information, see “Verifying customer information” on page 93.

Reviewing the script

The content of your script depends on the campaign. The script can contain an introduction, conclusion, and a number of questions or suggested phrases. As you progress through the script with the customer, you can record your answers or comments directly on the Script Questions tab.

If the campaign administrator did not assign an agent script to the outbound campaign, the Script Questions tab does not appear.

To use the script

1 Click the Script Questions tab.

2 Read the introduction to the customer.

3 For each question in the script, read the script to the customer.

4 Record the customer’s response using one of the three methods defined on the Script Questions tab:

In a drop-down list, select an option. Depending on the outbound campaign, you can read the options to your customer to select the appropriate response.

Select an option.

Type the customer’s comments in a text box.

Result: The customer’s responses are saved automatically.

5 Disconnect from the call by clicking Release.



Recording the result

At the end of an outbound call, you must select a disposition code to record the status of the call. The campaign administrator defines disposition codes to be used for each campaign. The disposition codes can be different in every campaign.

Some disposition codes indicate that the call was completed (for example, Not Interested or Sale Made), while other disposition codes indicate the call was not completed (for example, No Answer or Number Busy).

To record the result

1 Click the Disposition codes tab.

2 Select the disposition code that most accurately reflects the result of your call.

If the call was not completed, or the customer has requested a callback, you can schedule a callback.

Ending the call

When you have called the customer, verified the customer details, answered all of the questions in the script, and recorded a disposition code, the outbound call is complete.

If the call was not completed, or the customer has requested a callback, you can schedule a callback. For more information about scheduling a callback, see “To schedule a callback” on page 85.

To close the contact

Click Finish.

Result: If you close the contact, the script questions are saved in the multimedia database.

The script questions and answers are saved in the multimedia database if the disposition code selected is configured to save the script questions. Contact your supervisor or administrator for more information about which disposition codes to select.


C h a p t e r 5

Working with scheduled callbacks


Scheduling a callback 85

Calling the customer 87


Working with scheduled callbacks Standard 6.05

Overview

Both customers and agents can create scheduled callbacks. If your contact center is licensed for Web communications, a customer can request a call from an agent through a Customer Interface Web site. From the Web site, the customer can specify the reason they are requesting the callback, as well as a date and time for the call.

An agent can schedule a callback to a customer using the Schedule Callback button on the Multimedia toolbar. The Schedule Callback feature is only available if your contact center is licensed for outbound contacts. However, a scheduled callback is not associated with an outbound campaign.

At the specified date and time, the Contact Center Agent Desktop presents the contact to an agent with the appropriate skillsets. To perform a callback, an agent must be assigned a skillset to handle outbound contacts.


July 2007 Working with scheduled callbacks

Scheduling a callback

If you make a call from your desktop, and the customer is not available, you can schedule a callback to make another call to the same customer.

You can also schedule a callback in response to a request from a customer through e-mail, or telephone call.

To schedule a callback

If the telephony toolbar is open, click (Toggle) to open the multimedia toolbar and open the Schedule Callback dialog box. You can schedule a callback only if you are not working on another contact.

1 On the Multimedia toolbar, click Schedule Callback.

Result: The Schedule Callback window appears.



2 In the Skillset box, select a skillset from the list to direct the contact to the most appropriate agent skills.

3 Select an agent for the call. Select either an active agent, or choose a specific agent from a list of all agents.

4 In the Subject box, type a subject for the callback.

5 In the Time box, select the time to perform the callback.

6 In the Date box, select the date to perform the callback.

7 In the Reason box, type any additional information about the contact or the customer. Only agents and supervisors can view the information in the Reason box.

8 Click Send.

Result: The scheduled callback is entered into the database, ready to be routed when the selected date and time occurs.


July 2007 Working with scheduled callbacks

Calling the customer

A scheduled callback outbound contact is different than an outbound campaign contact. With an outbound campaign contact, your administrator can configure the call to be automatically dialed when you accept the contact. A scheduled callback cannot be configured to be dialed automatically. You must place the call manually after you review the contact information. A scheduled callback outbound contact is not pegged against an outbound campaign.

You must be assigned an outbound skillset to call the customer.

To call the customer

1 When the contact is presented to your desktop, click Accept.


Result: The Enter Destination dialog box appears. By default, the telephone number from the customer’s record appears in the Number box.

3 Click OK to dial the default number.

4 When you complete the call, click Release.

5 If required by your supervisor, enter an activity code in the Activity Code box, and then press the Enter key.


C h a p t e r 6

Handling e-mail messages


Using the e-mail window 91

Verifying customer information 93

Sending a reply 95

Transferring and reassigning contacts 106

Creating an outgoing e-mail message 108

Printing contacts 111


Handling e-mail messages Standard 6.05

Overview

When you are reviewing multimedia contacts, you can reply to the customer using e-mail.

Use the Agent Desktop to perform the following tasks when handling an e-mail message:

Accept the incoming contact.Review and update customer information.Send a reply.Add an attachment.Insert a template or auto signature.Forward an e-mail message.Finish an e-mail message.

You can also use the Agent Desktop to create an e-mail message.

This chapter describes how to perform the tasks for handling e-mail messages.



July 2007 Handling e-mail messages

Using the e-mail window

Introduction

You can use the Agent Desktop interface to accept and handle e-mail messages. To receive the incoming calls, your status must be set to Ready and you must have the assigned skillset for handling e-mail messages.

The Agent Desktop appears as follows when a contact is assigned to an agent.



Accepting an incoming contact

The Agent Desktop be configured to give visual and audible alerts when a contact is presented. These features are configured by an administrator, using the Contact Center Multimedia Administrator.



When you accept an incoming contact, the customer details are displayed. The Agent Desktop expands to show the contact and customer details and the call timer is displayed in the status bar.

To accept an incoming contact, click Accept.

To decline an incoming contact, click Reject.

Result: The telephony toolbar icons become inactive, except for the Originate button. You can use the Originate button to place a call to a customer. If you want to place a call to the customer, see “Making a call” on page 70.



Verifying customer information

Introduction

For multimedia contacts, the left side of the window shows the customer details, history about the recent contacts with this customer, and other information.

If a customer has more than 31 historical contacts, the Contact Center Agent Desktop cannot display all of the contacts at one time.

If you accept a contact, or choose to read a contact, a maximum of 15 contacts appear before your selection and a maximum of 15 contacts appear after your selection on the History tab. You can use the navigation arrow buttons to scroll through the contacts that appear in the customer history:

A page shows a maximum of 31 contacts. The status bar indicates the contacts you are viewing and the total number of contacts in the history list.

View first page of contacts

View previous page of contacts

View next page of contacts

View last page of contacts



The history tab also shows the action types in the customer history:

You can use the Action pane to determine the previous interaction with the customer, including auto responses sent and the contact of previous e-mail messages.

Reply

Contact rescheduled

E-mail to customer

Transfer



Sending a reply

Introduction

When a customer sends an e-mail to the contact center, you can use a reply to answer the customer request. You can use several features in the Agent Desktop interface to create your e-mail response in HTML or plain text:

the address bookone or more response templatesan autosignaturean attached filethe spelling checker

This section describes the process to reply to an e-mail message and describes these features.

You can also add a comment to an e-mail message in the Agent Note box for reference for later communications with the customer. The customer does not see the content of the Agent Note box.

You can use the following buttons to format the e-mail text.

Apply bold font to selected text

Apply italics to selected text

Underline selected text

Increase the size of the font for selected text

Decrease the size of the font for selected text



E-mail messages can be in HTML or in plain text. You can format an e-mail message in HTML using boldfaced and underlined text. Plain text e-mail messages cannot contain formatting.

Replying to an e-mail message

Create a response to a customer in the same format as the original request. Ensure your e-mail response includes text, and can include attachments. Also, ensure you check the address, format, and spelling in your response.

Align text to the left side of the e-mail

Center text in the e-mail

Align text to the right side of the e-mail

Insert an autosignature

Insert a template

Check spelling



To reply to an e-mail

1 After reviewing the customer contact, click Reply.

Result: The E-mail Response window opens and automatically populates the To field with the same e-mail address from which the message was sent.

2 To add other e-mail addresses from the corporate address book or multimedia database, click To, Cc, or Bcc. For more information, see “Addressing the e-mail message” on page 98.

3 In the Subject box, the subject of the reply is already displayed. You can edit the subject of the reply.

4 Add text to the reply using one or both of the following methods:

Type the message text.

Add a template response. For information about creating template responses, see “Creating and using e-mail templates” on page 100.

5 To add an attachment to the e-mail response, click Attach. For more information about adding attachments, see “Adding attachments” on page 101.



6 In the Agent Note box, type any additional information about the contact or the customer. Only agents and supervisors can view the information in the Agent Note box.

7 To perform a spell check, click (Check Spelling). For more information about the spell-check feature, see “Using the spell-check feature” on page 102.

8 To change the font size of any paragraph, select the paragraph and click

to increase the font size, or click to decrease the font size.

9 Click Send.

Result: The e-mail response is sent to the customer and any other addresses you select.

10 Close the contact. If required, select a close reason for closing the contact.

Addressing the e-mail message

When you use e-mail to reply to a customer or transfer a contact, you can use the address book to search for a recipient’s e-mail address in the corporate address book or in the customer database. You can search for addresses to add to the To, carbon copy (Cc), or blind carbon copy (Bcc) fields of your e-mail message. The address book can contain information from an external directory, a local directory, or a customer database.



To use the address book

1 In the e-mail window, click To, Cc, or Bcc.

2 In the Search for records from box, select the database in which you want to look.

Result: The address book opens and displays a list of entries from the database in the left pane, sorted in alphabetical order by last name.

3 Type a name in the search field in the following format: last name, first name. (The search field is not case-sensitive.)

Result: The list scrolls to the appropriate name or the closest match.

4 Select a name, and then click To, Cc, or Bcc to add the name to the appropriate recipient list.

5 To display more details about a name that appears in the address book, select the name, and then click Properties.

Result: A pop-up window appears showing the display name, e-mail address, and telephone number of the selected person.

6 Click Close to close the Properties window and return to the address book.

7 When you have selected all required recipients, click OK.

Result: The address book closes, and the e-mail addresses are added to the appropriate fields in your message.



To remove a name from the recipient list

Select the name, and then press Delete on your keyboard.

Result: You can remove a name from your recipient list, but you cannot remove a name from the address book or multimedia database.

Creating and using e-mail templates

Templates are predefined messages or complete responses to typical customer queries. You can create and store your own templates in a personal template response folder. You can then use one or more templates in your e-mail responses.

You can define the e-mail template folder on your machine.

To define your default template folder

1 On the Agent Desktop Multimedia toolbar, click User Settings.

2 In the Default Template Location box, type the path to the folder where the templates are located. Click Change to change the current location of the folder.

3 Click Save.

To create a template response

1 Create the response message in a text editor, such as Notepad.

2 Click Save As. Save the file with a .txt extension.

3 Navigate to the folder where you want to store the template response file.

4 Save the file using a descriptive name (for example, WarrantyURL.txt).

Tip: The template file must have a .txt extension.

To use a template response

1 In the e-mail window, click (Insert Template).

2 Navigate to the folder where your template response is stored.

Tip: If you have defined a template folder in the user settings, the folder automatically opens.



3 Select the template file, and then click Open.

Result: The text from the template appears in the e-mail body box.

4 If necessary, edit the text in the body of the e-mail message.

Adding attachments

You can add one or more file attachments to any e-mail message that you send to a customer. You can add a file from the Shared Files folder that your administrator creates, or you can navigate to any other directory, folder, or sub-folder on your computer and attach a file from there. You must save file attachments with UTF-8 encoding.

You can define the attachment folder on your machine.

To define your default attachment folder

1 On the Agent Desktop Multimedia toolbar, click User Settings.

2 In the Default Attachment Location box, type the path to the folder where the attachments are located, or click Change to change the current location of the folder.

3 Click Save.

To add an attachment

1 Click Attach.

Result: By default, the system points to the Default attachment folder. If you want to add a file from a different location, navigate to the appropriate directory.

2 Locate and select the file that you want to attach.

3 Click Open.



Deleting attachments

1 Click Remove.

2 Select the attachment you want to delete.

3 Click OK.

Viewing e-mail attachments

From the Contact Details window, you can view any associated files that are attached to a contact. You can view files that a customer attached, as well as any files that you, or another agent, attached to the e-mail message.

To view e-mail attachments

1 View the Contact Details History.

2 Double-click Attachments.

Result: The attachment opens in another browser window.

Some Internet browsers do not support some formats of attachments.

Using the spell-check feature

The Agent Desktop interface provides a spell-check feature. Use the spell-check feature to locate spelling errors in your e-mail message. You can also enable or disable the automatic spelling checker and you can select a preferred spelling checker dictionary language. Use the User Settings window to select the default spelling dictionary.



You can specify a spelling dictionary for a particular e-mail message. In the toolbar of the reply, select the new language from the drop-down list on the right-hand side.

The spelling checker highlights any words in the e-mail subject and body that are considered incorrect and presents alternate suggestions, which you can accept or ignore. If you accept the change, the new spelling is inserted in the message to replace the original word. If you ignore the change, the original spelling remains. When there are no more misspelled words, the spelling checker closes automatically.

To use the spelling checker

1 When you finish typing your e-mail message, click the spelling checker icon ( ).

2 If the spelling checker displays a correction, do one of the following:

Click Ignore to leave the original spelling of the word.

Click Ignore All to leave the original spelling of all similar words.

Click Add to add the selected word to the dictionary.

Click Replace to replace the word with the suggested text.

Click Replace All to add the word to the dictionary settings to ensure the spelling checker recognizes this spelling as the correct spelling of the word.

Click Options to configure conditions for the spelling checker, such as to ignore words with digits, in uppercase, and with HTML tags.

Click Cancel to end the spelling checker.

Closing the e-mail contact

1 Click Close to complete the contact.

2 Select one of the configured Closed Reason codes that best describes the reason you closed your e-mail message.

ATTENTION The spelling checker does not check spelling in attachments.



Postponing work on a contact

1 Click Reschedule to postpone work on the contact. You still own the contact, and can work on it when you receive a reply from the external source.

Tip: If an e-mail message is started, and the contact is postponed, the content of the e-mail message is lost. To prevent the content from being lost, copy the e-mail composition to a note, so that it is available when the contact becomes active.

2 Set the Pending timer to reopen the contact after a specific time. The default Pending timer is set in the Contact Center Multimedia Administrator application.

Result: The pending contact is viewed in the History tab. You can add a note to the contact to remind yourself why the contact is in Pending state. The pending contact reopens when the pending timer expires.



Following up on a contact

If you complete the contact and you want to perform a follow up action, such as transferring the contact, click Follow Up.



Transferring and reassigning contacts

Introduction

When you work on a contact, you can transfer the contact to

Another skillsetA specific agent within the contact centerAn e-mail address outside the contact center for consultation

Transferring contacts

When you transfer a contact to a skillset or agent, you transfer ownership of that contact to the new agent.

When you transfer a contact, the system automatically forwards the whole contact, including any attachments, to the new agent. When you transfer a contact, you can also add new attachments to the contact. For more information about adding attachments, see “Adding attachments” on page 101.

ExampleYou start working on a contact, and you discover that the customer wants post sales or service information. Because you are in sales, you forward the contact to a skillset that is appropriate for handling the service contacts.

ExampleWhile working on a contact, you decide to seek out the assistance of an expert on a particular topic. The expert works outside of the contact center. You forward the contact by e-mail to the expert and place the contact in Pending mode until the expert responds. The e-mail sent to the expert and the e-mail received from the expert are recorded in the multimedia database as part of the contact history but are not copied to the customer.



To transfer a contact within the contact center

1 Click Transfer.

2 Click the Skillset tab to assign the contact to any agent with a particular skillset or click the Agent tab to assign the contact to a specific agent.

3 Select the skillset or agent or person to which you want to transfer the contact.

4 In the Agent Note box, type a brief note about the reason for the transfer.

5 Click Transfer.

Result: The contact is transferred to another skillset, agent, or external person, along with any attachments.

To transfer a contact outside the contact center

1 Click Transfer.

2 Click the External tab.

3 Enter the e-mail address to which you want to transfer the contact, or click To to select an address from the corporate address book. For more information about using the address book, see “Addressing the e-mail message” on page 98.

4 In the Agent Note box, type a brief note about the reason for the transfer.

5 To add an attachment, click Attach. For more information about attachments, see “Adding attachments” on page 101.

6 Click Transfer.

Result: The contact is forwarded to the external party, along with attachments.



Creating an outgoing e-mail message

Introduction

You can create a new e-mail to provide more information to a customer. The contact is saved in the multimedia database.

Only agents assigned to multimedia skillsets, and who are not currently handling a contact, can create new contacts.

ExampleYou and a customer are talking on a voice call and the customer requests a new price list. The new price list will not be available until the next day. You create a new contact and pull up the customer record (or if none exists, you create a new customer record). You can then open up the contact the next day when the price list becomes available, compose a new e-mail message, attach the price list, and send the e-mail to the customer. The outbound e-mail message appears in the customer contact details.

Creating an e-mail message

You can create an e-mail to send to the customer, if you are assigned to an e-mail skillset.

You cannot create an e-mail message while you are currently handling another contact. You must place the current call on hold, or set a pending timer, before creating a new contact.



To create an e-mail message

1 On the multimedia toolbar, click Customer E-mail. (If the multimedia toolbar is not currently displayed, click under the Accept button on the telephony toolbar to open the multimedia component, and then click Customer E-mail.)

Result: The Create E-mail window appears.

2 Enter the customer’s e-mail address in the To box, and add additional Cc or Bcc addresses as required. For more information, see “Addressing the e-mail message” on page 98.

3 In the Subject box, type the subject of the message.

4 In the E-mail Body box, type the message text. You can type text or use a response template. For more information about Response Templates, see “Creating and using e-mail templates” on page 100.

5 To add an attachment, click Attach. For more information about Attachments, see “Adding attachments” on page 101.



6 In the Agent Note box, type any additional information about the contact or the customer. Only agents and supervisors can view the information in the Agent Note box.

7 Click Send to send the e-mail.

Result: The system performs a database search for the customer e-mail address. If the customer does not already exist in the database, the system creates a new customer record. The system also creates a new contact and response record.

8 Click Close to close the contact.

9 If required, select a close reason for closing the contact.



Printing contacts

You can print the summary of interaction for any contact. The summary of the contact is shown in the bottom left side of the e-mail or outbound contact window.

Click Print to print all information that appears in the contact summary.


C h a p t e r 7

Using Web communications


Accepting a Web communications contact 115

Using Text Chat 117

Pushing Web pages to the customer 123


Using Web communications Standard 6.05

Overview

With the Web communications feature of Contact Center 6.0, you can communicate directly with customers in real time over the Internet. You can use the Contact Center Agent Desktop to perform the following tasks when handling text chat:

Accept the incoming contact.Review and update customer information.Send an automated response.Push a Web page.Check whether the customer’s browser is still connected.Check the time of the last customer action and whether the customer is currently typing a message.Respond to the customer (e-mail or voice) if more information or clarification is needed.End a chat session.

To perform Web communications text chat, both you and the customer must use Web browsers that work with JavaScript and frames. Netscape 4.7 or later, Internet Explorer 5.5 or later, or Firefox are examples of acceptable browsers for the customer. Microbrowsers, such as those available for Win CE 2.0, WinTV, PDAs, or other portable devices are not supported.

This chapter describes how to perform the tasks for handling text chat sessions.



July 2007 Using Web communications

Accepting a Web communications contact

Introduction

With the text chat component of the Contact Center Agent Desktop, you and a customer can conduct a two-way conversation by exchanging messages. The customer requests a chat session by clicking a text chat icon on the Web site. The customer is presented with a form to fill in and is placed into Web-on-hold, or a similar treatment configured in your contact center, while waiting for an agent to accept their chat request. For example, in the sample Customer Interface (CI) supplied by Nortel, the customer is presented with a form to select the appropriate skillset, subject, and objective for their chat session. The customer is then placed into Web-on-hold. Web-on-hold provides a predefined multimedia presentation to the customer’s browser while they are waiting for an agent to become available.

To receive an incoming contact, your status must be set to Ready and you must have the skillset assigned for handling Web communications.




To accept a Web communications contact

On the telephony toolbar, click Accept.

Result: The customer is placed into the conversation.



To decline a Web communications contact

On the telephony toolbar, click Reject.

Result: The contact is placed back in queue and into Web-on-hold. Your status is set to Not Ready.

For more information about accepting and declining contacts, see “Accepting or declining an incoming contact” on page 61.



Using Text Chat

Introduction

The Text Chat feature is similar to Internet chat rooms except the conversation is private between you and the customer. The Text Chat frame shows the complete record of the conversation. Although only a few lines are visible in the Text Chat frame, you can scroll the frame up or down to view the entire conversation. This area also shows the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of any Web pages that you or the customer previewed or pushed.

You can use the Agent Desktop application to accept and handle a text chat session. To receive the incoming contacts, your status must be set to Ready and you must have the skillset assigned for handling Web communications.

Each chat message can be up to 4045 characters in size.



After you accept the contact, you can view the customer details and a history of all past interactions with the contact center in the left pane. The right pane shows the tools used for Web communications.

To use Text Chat

1 In the Chat box, type the text of your comments to the customer.

Tip: You can review your comments before sending them. If necessary, use the scroll bars to view the complete text.

2 Click (Send the Message) or press the Enter key while your cursor is positioned in the Chat box.

Result: Your name or other configurable text (agent label) appears in the Conversation frame, followed by your comments.

After you accept the incoming chat request, you can use the Agent Desktop to view the time the last message was sent by the customer, whether the customer’s browser is still connected to the session, and whether the customer is currently typing a message.

Send the Message—Add the comments from the Chat box to the Conversation frame.

Push the URL—Send a selected URL to the customer’s browser.

Preview the URL—Preview the URL in the Enter URL box.

Add the selected auto phrase—Adds the selected auto-phrase to the Conversation frame.

Select the text alignment—Change the direction of text from left to right to right to left and vice versa.

E-mail chat log—Select the check box to e-mail a copy of the chat log to the customer.

Display timestamps—Select the check box to display a timestamp to the left of each message you send and receive.



Conversation indicator

The Conversation indicator on the Text Chat screen changes color to indicate what point you are at in the conversation. When you begin the session and send the welcome message, the Conversation indicator is grey. When the customer responds to the welcome message, the Conversation indicator changes to yellow, indicating that it is your turn to respond. If the desirable response timer (set by your administrator) expires before you respond to the customer, the Conversation indicator changes to red, indicating that your response is overdue. After you send a response, the Conversation indicator changes to green. If the customer does not respond within the desirable response time set by your administrator, the Conversation indicator changes to black. When the customer leaves the text chat session, the Conversation indicator changes back to grey.

You can place your cursor over the Conversation indicator to display a tooltip, which provides more information.

The Conversation indicator does not appear on the customer’s side of the conversation.

You sent the welcome message but the customer did not respond yet or the customer left the conversation

The customer sent the last message. It is your turn to respond.

The customer sent the last message. It is your turn to respond. The maximum desirable response time (set by your administrator) was exceeded.

You sent the last message. It is the customer's turn to respond.

It is the customer's turn to respond. The customer exceeded the desirable response time (set by your administrator).



Connection status indicator

Use the Connection status indicator to determine if the customer’s browser is connected to the text chat session. The Connection status indicator is located below the Conversation indicator.

Displaying timestamps

You can choose whether to display the time that each message was sent or received.

To display timestamps

Select the Show checkbox, located below the conversation window.

Result: The time that you send or receive a message appears to the left of that message.

If you select the Display Timestamps checkbox during a text chat session, timestamps are displayed for the remainder of the conversation only. Any messages that you sent or received before you selected the checkbox do not display a timestamp.

Sending a predefined response

Responses that are used frequently can be configured so that you do not need to type them in each time you use them.

To send a predefined response

1 In the Chat frame, select the appropriate response from the list of auto phrases.

2 Click (Add the selected auto phrase).

Result: The auto-phrase is added to the Chat box.

The customer’s browser is connected to the text chat session.

The customer’s browser is disconnected from the text chat session.



3 Click (Send the Message) or press the Enter key while your cursor is positioned in the Chat box.

Result: The auto phrase is added to the Conversation frame and the Text Chat log.

Calling or e-mailing the customer

During the text chat session, if something requires further clarification or you need to send a large amount of information to a customer, you can call or e-mail the customer.

After you accept the incoming text chat request, the icons on the telephony toolbar become inactive, except for the Originate button. If you need to speak directly with the customer during the text chat session, click the Originate button. For more information about calling a customer, see “Making a call” on page 70.

If you want to send information that is too large for the chat message, such as a brochure, you can e-mail it to the customer while engaged in the text chat session. For more information about e-mailing the customer, see “Creating an e-mail message” on page 108.

If you make an outgoing call or send an e-mail to the customer, it is saved as part of the contact history.

E-mailing the chat log

If your contact center is licensed for e-mail, you can choose to send a copy of the text chat log to the customer by e-mail.

To e-mail the chat log

Select the Chat Log check box, located below the conversation window.

Ending the Text Chat session

1 Click Finish.

2 In the Notes box, enter any notes about the contact.

3 If closed reasons are configured, choose a closed reason.



4 Click Close.

Result: The text chat history is saved and can be printed.



Pushing Web pages to the customer

Introduction

Use the Page Push feature to push a Web page to the customer’s browser. The customer can also push a Web page to your browser.

Limitations of Page Push

Some Web pages may not appear the same when pushed to the other person’s browser. For example, with personalized Web pages that can be customized for the user’s choice of weather or news, each person sees their own version of the page. Dynamic pages that are customized through the use of cookies can appear differently because you and the customer each have separate cookies. Cookies are never shared by you and the customer.Framed pages cannot be pushed completely. The URL defining the frameset is pushed, but the individual URLs in each frame are not pushed.After a page is pushed, if either you or the customer follows a link to another page, the other person does not see that change.If you and the customer both click the Push Page icon at approximately the same time, you both see the form that was pushed last. However, both URLs appear in the Text Chat log.If a customer pushes more than one page to you, or you push several pages to a customer, only the most recent page shows in your browser.



Using Page Push

There are two ways you can select a Web page to send to a customer:

Select a URL from a list of predefined URLs associated with your skillset.Send an ad hoc URL.

You can also choose whether to display the pushed page locally on your desktop by selecting or clearing the Do not display Pushed pages locally check box.

Selecting a predefined URL

1 In the Enter URL box, select a predefined URL from the list.

2 Click (Push the URL).

Result: The page is pushed to the customer’s browser and the URL is added to the Conversation frame and the Text Chat log. If the Do not display Pushed pages locally check box is cleared, an Internet browser opens and displays the Web page on your desktop.

Entering an ad hoc URL

1 In the Enter URL box, type the URL you want to send to the customer.

2 Click (Push the URL).

Result: The page is pushed to the customer’s browser and the URL is added to the Conversation frame and the Text Chat log. If the Do not display Pushed pages locally check box is clear, an Internet browser opens and displays the Web page on your desktop.

Previewing a Web page

You can preview a Web page before sending it to the customer’s browser.

1 Do one of the following:

In the Enter URL box, select a predefined URL from the list.

In the Enter URL box, type an ad hoc URL.

2 Click (Preview the URL).

Result: Your Internet browser opens and displays the selected URL.


Index

Aabout logon ID 30, 32accepting

e-mail messages 92outbound calls 77SIP call 63telephone calls 62Web communications contacts 115

ACD phonesets, using 19activity codes, entering 64ad hoc URL 124addressing e-mail messages 98Agent Desktop

colors 40creating shortcut 28expanding toolbar 26logging off 32logging on 29opening 28

agent methods in the contact center 19agents

conferencing in a call 67, 68transferring calls to 65transferring contacts to 106

alerts 61, 77, 92, 115attachments

adding to e-mail messages 101default location of 101deleting 102

audible alert 61, 77, 92, 115autodial 76automatic spelling checker 102auto-phrase 120

BBarging in on a call 74Bcc, addressing in e-mail messages 98blind transfers 65book of addresses 98

Bring to Front 61, 77, 92, 115

Ccallback scheduling 85calling customers 70calls

accepting 62activity codes 64barging in on 74conferencing 67, 68forced to agent 61making 70observing 72on hold 64receiving 61releasing calls 64SIP call 63terminating calls 69to your supervisor 69transferring 65, 66using the emergency key 71

Cc, addressing in e-mail messages 98changing

your password 33your status 40

chat log, e-mailing to customer 121Citrix environment 30closing

e-mail messages 98, 110multiple e-mail contacts 43

colors 40Communication Control Toolkit ID 30, 32completing

calls 43e-mails 98, 110outbound contacts 82voice calls 69

conferencinga supervisor 67other agents 67, 68


Index Standard 6.05

Connection status indicator 120connected 120disconnected 120

Contact Center Agent DesktopAgent Desktop 20

contactsdeclining 62delaying work on 104explanations of symbols 50following up on 105opening (e-mail) 51preferred agents 58printing historical information 111pulling 51searching 45status 43status of routed contacts 42taking ownership 51viewing 42, 50

Conversation indicator 119creating

callbacks 85calls 70customers 55e-mail messages 108e-mail templates 100replies to e-mail messages 96shortcut to Agent Desktop 28

customersaccessing database 98creating 55finding 52

Ddeclining

contacts 62Web communications contacts 116

defaultattachment folder location 101folder for e-mail response templates 100password 33spelling dictionary 102timer for reopened contacts 104

delaying work on a contact 104

deleting attachments 102dictionary for spelling 102displaying

pushed pages locally 124timestamps on text chat messages 120

disposition codes 82

Ee-mail messages

adding attachments 101addressing 98checking spelling 102completing 98, 110creating 108defining default location for attachments 101formatting text 95, 96printing contact information 111replying 96searching for 45sending replies 96transferring 106using templates in 100viewing attachments 102

e-mailing the chat log 121emergency key 71ending

a text chat session 121observation 74outbound calls 82voice calls 69

entering an ad hoc URL 124expanding the toolbar 26external directories 98

Ffiles

sending 66, 68finding

contacts 45customers 52

follow up 105following up on a contact 105forced calls 61


July 2007 Index

formatting e-mail messages 95functions

Multimedia PC Client 36multimedia toolbar 27telephony toolbar 25

GGive Focus 61, 77, 92, 115

Hhandling calls

ACD phoneset 19help

from Nortel 17holding calls 64Hot Desking 29HTML format in e-mail 96

Iincoming calls 61initial password 30, 32installations of Contact Center Agent

Desktop 24

Llocal directories 98local state 42logging off 32logging on 29

Citrix environment 30logon ID 30, 32looking up customers 98

Mmaking a call 70Multimedia PC Client

functions 36

starting 37using 21

multimedia toolbar functions 27

Nnew in this release

Outbound 15SIP 15telephony toolbar 15Unified Agent Desktop 14

Nortel help 17Nortel Multimedia PC Client

starting 37using 21

not ready status 40, 62

Oobserving

calls 72ending the observation 74

openinge-mail contacts 51the Agent Desktop application 28

originating calls 70outbound

autodialing 76calling 80completing 82creating callbacks 85creator 76ending calls 82printing contact information 111reviewing script 81searching for 45

ownership of contacts 51, 55

PPage Push 123

displaying pushed pages locally 124limitations 123predefined URL 124


Index Standard 6.05

previewing a Web page 124using 124

passwordchanging 33default 33initial 30, 32

placing calls 70placing outbound calls 80plain text in e-mail 96postponing work 104predefined response 120predefined URL 124preferred agents for a contact 58prerequisites for using Contact Center Agent

Desktop 20previewing a Web page 124printing

contacts 111search results 55

pulling contacts 51pushing pages to the customer 123

Rready status 40receiving

e-mail messages 92incoming calls 61outbound contacts 77text chat 117

records, creating customer 55releasing calls from hold 64remote state 42replying to e-mail messages 96reschedule 104routed contacts 42

Ssaving templates 100scheduling a callback 85scripts 81searching

contact database 45customer database 52

printing results 55selecting a predefined URL 124sending

a predefined response 120e-mail replies 96files 66, 68

shortcut to Agent Desktop 28SIP calls

accepting 63spelling checker

automatic 102dictionary 102using 102

startingAgent Desktop 28, 39Nortel Multimedia PC Client 37

statuschanging 40changing to not ready 41changing to ready 40changing when a call is declined 62completing calls 43

status indicators 40supervised transfers 65supervisors

calling 69closing multiple e-mail contacts 43conferencing in a call 67transferring calls to 65

symbols for contacts 50

Ttaking ownership of contacts 51telephony functions 25templates

creating e-mail 100defining default folder 100

terminating calls 69text chat 117, 118

auto-phrase 120ending 121

text versus HTML in e-mail 96timestamps

displaying 120


July 2007 Index

transferringcalls 65contacts 106outside of call center 107SIP calls 66within call center 107

transfersblind 65supervised 65

Uunderstanding the symbols 50URL

ad hoc 124for Agent Desktop 28predefined 124

usingclose reasons 98Contact Center Agent Desktop 20e-mail templates 100Nortel Multimedia PC Client 21Page Push 124text chat 118

Vviewing

contacts 42, 50e-mail attachments 102

WWeb communications

accepting a contact 115declining a contact 116Page Push 123text chat 117

Web pagepreview 124

workpostponing for contacts 104


Index Standard 6.05

Reader Response FormContact Center Agent Desktop Product release 6.0Agent Desktop User Guide

Tell us about yourself:

Name:

Company:

Address:

Occupation: Phone:

1. What is your level of experience with this product?

New user Intermediate Experienced Programmer

2. How do you use this book? Learning Procedural Reference Problem solving

3. Did this book meet your needs? Yes NoIf you answered No to this question, please answer the following questions.

4. What chapters, sections, or procedures did you find hard to understand?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What information (if any) was missing from this book?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. How could we improve this book?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Please return your comments by fax to 353-91-756050, or mail your comments to Contact Center Documentation Research and Development Prime, Nortel, Mervue Business Park, Galway, Ireland.

Reader Response Form

Reader Response Form


Nortel Networks

Mervue Business ParkGalway, Ireland

Copyright © 2007 Nortel Networks. All Rights Reserved.

Information is subject to change without notice. Nortel Networks reserves the right to make changes in design or components as progress in engineering and manufacturing may warrant.

The process of transmitting data and call messaging between the Meridian 1 and Contact Center Agent Desktop is proprietary to Nortel Networks. Any other use of the data and the transmission process is a violation of the user license unless specifically authorized in writing by Nortel Networks prior to such use. Violations of the license by alternative usage of any portion of this process or the related hardware constitutes grounds for an immediate termination of the license and Nortel Networks reserves the right to seek all allowable remedies for such breach.

Publication number: 297-2183-945

Product release: 6.0

Document release: Standard 6.05Date: July 2007

To provide feedback or report a problem in this document, go to www.nortel.com/documentfeedback.

http://www.nortel.com/documentfeedback

agent desktop user guide

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