Business Units, Teams, and Agents

Create Business Unit

Business units allow multiple independent groups within an organization to use Clarity Connect while preserving their own separate administrators and data. Each business unit has its own agents, teams, queues, and calendars (Figure 1). Data cannot be accessed across business units except for some administrators and users broken down into groups spanning multiple business units.

Figure 1 Business Units example

1. From the home page of the administrative website, hover over Maintenance on the main menu bar and then click Business Units (Figure 2). The Business Units page will appear (Figure 3).

Figure 2 Main Menu bar

Figure 3 Business Units page

2. Click Create. The Create Business Units page will appear (Figure 4).

Figure 4 Create Business Units page

3. Enter a name in the Business Unit Name field. Leave the Authorizations field blank for now and click Save.

Create Team

Business units are broken into teams. Teams are collections of agents (Figure 5).

Figure 5Teams example

1. Hover over Maintenance on the main menu bar and then click Teams. The Teams page will appear (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Agent Teams page

2. Click Create. The Create Team page will appear (Figure 7).

Figure 7 Create Team page

3. Enter a team name in the Team Name field.
4. Select the previously created Business Unit from the Business Unit drop-down menu and click Save.

Create Skills

A skill defines an agent's area of expertise.

Clarity Connect uses skills-based routing to assign calls to agents with the appropriate expertise rather than simply choosing the next available agent. This means that agents skilled in Support are assigned a Support skill and can accept calls from the Support queue.

Queues are associated with a particular business unit (Support, for example), as well as a particular skill or set of skills an agent must have to accept calls from that queue.

Agents can have multiple skill sets, and each skill can be assigned a priority level via the Agent Profiles page. The most experienced agents can be assigned a first-level skill, while less experienced agents can be assigned a second, third, fourth, or even fifth-level skill. This ensures callers are routed to the most experienced agents first.

1. Hover over Maintenance on the main menu bar and then click Skills. The Skills Configuration page will appear (Figure 8).

Figure 8 Skills Configuration page

2. Click Create New Skill. The Create a Skill page will appear (Figure 9).

Figure 9 Create A Skill page

3. Enter a skill name in the Skill Name field and then click Save.

Create Agents

1. Hover over Agent Management on the main menu bar and then click Agent Profiles. The Agent Profiles page will appear (Figure 10).

Figure 10 Agent Profiles page

2. Click Create. The Setup New Agent page will appear (Figure 11).

Figure 11 Setup New Agent page

3. Populate each field using the descriptions below:

First Name

Enter the agent’s first name.

Last Name

Enter the agent’s last name.

Team

Select the team the agent is assigned to. This is independent of any business unit rules. Generally, administrators can be assigned to the default team as their permissions will be controlled at the business unit level.

Suspended?

Select this box if the agent has been temporarily taken off of the phones and will not be taking calls.

Termed?

Select this box if the agent has been permanently reassigned or removed (terminated). Terminated agents will appear in historical reports but are otherwise disabled.

Proxy Direct Calls?

Select this box if the agent should have all direct inbound and outbound calls proxied through Clarity Connect to enable metrics and recordings collection.

 

 

Recording Rule

Select Unset if no special recording option is enabled for this agent and either the queue or portal recording rule is used. Select Always Record to record all Clarity Connect communications with this agent. Select Never Record to never record any communications involving this agent.

Clarity Connect has several levels of recording rules:

• Calls in IVR
  • IVR level: always record or never record calls in the IVR. See Configuration Settings for information on managing this setting.
  • Node level: Use the Set Block Recording node to start or stop recording as a caller traverses through the call flow. This rule takes precedence over the IVR level recording rule. See Call Flows for information on using this node.
• Calls in Queue
  • Portal level: record a set percentage of all incoming calls to the portal. See Configuration Settings for information on managing this setting.
  • Queue level: always record or never record a queue. This rule takes precedence over the portal level recording rule. See Queues for information on managing this setting.
  • Agent level: always record or never record a specific agent’s calls. This rule takes precedence over the portal level and queue level recording rules. See Agent Profiles for information on managing this setting.
  • Agent Console level: if the Record and Stop Recording buttons are visible on the Agent Console, the agent can control his or her call recordings as desired. This takes precedence over the portal level, queue level, and agent level recording rules. The Record and Stop Recording buttons can be hidden from the Agent Console if supervisors do not want their agents to have access to them.

Public Name

Enter the agent’s public name. This is visible to callers.

Email

Enter the agent’s e-mail address.

Login ID

Enter the agent’s logon ID used to access the system.

Bandwidth Utilization Percent

Control the number of simultaneous voice, IM (instant messaging), and e-mail sessions an agent is able to participate in with this feature. Each agent has a maximum utilization of 100%, divided between voice and IM sessions. For example, if an agent is set to 33% for IM sessions and 66% for voice sessions, he or she may take up to three IM sessions or one voice and one IM session.

The Bandwidth Utilization Percent defaults assigned on a portal basis can be overridden here. If an agent should not be allowed to take calls for the modality, he or she can be assigned a value of more than 100%.

If an agent is configured to handle more than one IM session simultaneously (by having a configured utilization per IM session of 50% or less) and is participating in one or more IM sessions (and no audio calls), his or her Connect Agent Status will display on the Dashboard as InImCall, regardless of Skype for Business presence. This is because Skype for Business presence does not change when a Skype for Business chat is answered.

Voice

Select this box and use the arrows to set the utilization percentage for a single voice session to override the value configured at the portal level. The maximum value is 101% and the minimum value is 51%.

Instant Messaging

Select this box and use the arrows to set the utilization percentage for a single IM session. The maximum value is 101%.

Message (E-mail)

Select this box and use the arrows to set the utilization percentage for a single message (e-mail) session. The maximum value is 101%.

Phone Number

Enter the agent’s phone number using either the full phone number format (e.g., 3125551212) or an extension (e.g., ext=1212).

SIP URI

Enter the SIP uniform resource identifier (URI) the agent’s communications should be routed to via the Microsoft Skype for Business Server.

Exclude from Reports

Select this box to exclude the agent from reports.

Eligible for Additional Roles

Select this box to make the agent eligible for additional roles (e.g., supervisor). Additional roles can be configured on the Authorizations page.

Skill Template

Select a skill template from the drop-down menu to assign skill sets to the new agent. Skill templates help set a user’s skillset while editing. Altering the template will not change any agents’ skills who were previously assigned the template.

Skill Assignments

Select the desired agent skill level from the drop-down menu for each listed skill set. For this lab scenario, assign each Technical Support agent a 1st level Technical Support skill. Assign each Customer Support agent a 1st level Customer Support skill. Leave other skills Unset. Assign the business unit administrator a 1st level skill for both Technical Support and Customer Support.

3. Click Save. Repeat the steps in this section for each agent.

Authorize Agent Permissions

Authorizations are roles assigned to agents for a particular business unit, team, or group.

Clarity Connect offers seven customizable roles to allow flexible permissions matrices to various resources, including Agent (default), IVR Editor, QA Monitor, Web API Developer, Team Lead, Supervisor, and Administrator. By default, all users are given Agent-level permissions for their assigned team. This grants them access to the Agent Console, the Dashboard, the Session Search page, and their own recordings and sessions transcripts.

If an agent is marked as Eligible for Additional Roles on the Agent Profiles page, that agent can be assigned any role at the team, group, or business unit level (including all business units, allowing them to monitor everyone on the Dashboard). Alternatively, the agent can be authorized as a supervisor for their team so they can manage agent profiles.

1. Hover overAgent Management on the main menu bar and then click Authorizations. The Agent Authorizations page will appear (Figure 12).

Figure 12 Agent Authorizations page

2. Click the Agent drop-down menu and select an agent. Depending on the agent, enter the appropriate business unit, team, or group using the drop-down menus. Click the Add icon and repeat this for each agent.

Calendars & Queues

Create Calendar

Calendars control the system’s open and closed hours, as well as holiday hours.

When the portal receives an incoming call, an initial CheckTime node checks the current time against the selected calendar (typically the business hours for the entire portal). If the portal is closed, callers can hear a customizable message stating the business is either closed or on holiday. If the portal is open, callers can continue to navigate through the IVR.

Calendars can also be associated with a particular queue if that queue has different hours than the portal. For instance, the Benefits queue may only take calls from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. due to low call volume. The check time process works the same way as checking the hours for the entire portal. A CheckTime node checks the current time against the selected calendar (in this example, the Benefits calendar), and then routes the caller to either the queue (if it’s open) or to a Message node (if it’s closed).

In the event of an emergency, the entire portal can be closed by using the Force Close button. The Resume Normal Hours button reverses this to reopen the portal.

Holidays and special hours exceptions can also be configured.

1. Hover over Routing on the main menu bar and then click Calendars. The Manage Calendars page will appear (Figure 13).

Figure 13 Manage Calendars page

2. Locate the Portal Default Calendar and click the Edit icon. The Manage Calendars: Edit Calendar Template page will appear (Figure 14).

Figure 14 Manage Calendars: Edit Calendar Template page

3. Enter a calendar name in the Name field.
4. Select the appropriate time zone in the Time Zone drop-down menu if it is not already selected.
5. Select ALL or the appropriate Business Unit in the Business Unit drop-down menu.
6. Click the arrow next to Monday to expand it (Figure 15).

Figure 15 Expanded day

7. Enter open and closed hours in the time range fields. Repeat this for each day.
8. Click Save.

Create Queues

A queue holds calls and IMs until an available, appropriately skilled agent accepts the session.

Callers make selections while navigating through the IVR that dictate which queue the call is assigned to. Calls are then held in the assigned queue until an agent is available to take the call.

Clarity Connect uses skills-based routing to assign calls to agents with the appropriate expertise rather than simply choosing the next available agent. This means that agents skilled in Support are assigned a Support skill and can accept calls from the Support queue.

When you create a queue, you associate that queue with a particular business unit (Support, for example), as well as a particular skill or set of skills an agent must have to accept calls from that queue.

A calendar is also associated with that queue. This governs when the queue is open, allowing callers to be routed to agents within the queue, and when the queue is closed, allowing callers to hear closed or holiday messages.

1. Hover over Handling on the main menu bar and then click Queues. The Queues page will appear (Figure 16).

Figure 16 Queues page

2. Click Create New Queue. The Create Queue page will appear (Figure 17).

Figure 17 Create Queue page

3. Enter the queue name in the Queue Name field.
4. Enter the queue name in the Public Name field. This name is visible during IM or Web Gateway sessions.
5. Select the calendar you created in the Calendar drop-down menu.
6. Select the Business Unit you created in the Business Unit drop-down menu.
7. Select the appropriate Recording Rule from the drop-down menu.
8. Populate the Forwarding URI field. This is the URI for the voicemail for the queue. It can either be a SIP URI (sip:somewhere@domain.com, tel: +12223334444), UM voicemail (sip:somewhere@domain.com;opaque=app:voicemail), or alternate queue (qid:1).
9. Leave the Disabled field unselected. Selecting this will disable and conceal the queue.
10. Select the corresponding skill you created under Required Skills. Any skills checked here are prerequisites to an agent being able to accept calls from the queue.
11. Click Save.

Queues can be heavily customized (greetings, callback options, hold music, etc.) once they are created.

12. From the Queues page, click the Edit icon next to the queue and then click the Business Unit tab.
13. Select the appropriate Business Unit and then click the arrow to assign it (Figure 18).

Figure 18 Business Unit tab

14. Click the Phone Hold Treatment tab (Figure 19).

Figure 19 Phone Hold Treatment tab

15. Use this page to override the portal default values (if desired) to create specific greetings, callback options, hold music, etc. that apply only to the selected queue.

Call Flows & Call Flow Mappings

Create Call Flow

A call flow is a customized interactive voice response (IVR) engine that uses logic and interaction nodes to identify the appropriate queue a caller should be placed in.

Call flows can be used for both voice and IM sessions. Each Prompt and Message node must have the synthesized text field populated and Voice Prompt selected when using the call flow for IM sessions. Transfer nodes will be treated as hang ups as IM conversations cannot be transferred the way audio sessions can.

1. Hover over Routing on the main menu bar and then click Call Flows.
2. Click New Call Flow to create a new call flow. This will open the visual editor and display a default first node. For more information on how to configure call flows, see Call Flows.
3. Click Publish after configuring the call flow.

 

Create Call Flow Mapping

Call flow mappings are incoming URIs assigned to call flows. They define which call flow to use, as well as where in the particular call flow to begin.

Mappings must be configured on the Skype for Business server. Each phone number and SIP address must be configured as a trusted application endpoint so the Skype for Business server will properly route the call to the portal. This allows the mapping to send the call to the appropriate call flow.

1. Click Create New Mapping to create a new mapping (Figure 20).
2. Edit the following fields to create a new call flow mapping:

Figure 20 Incoming URI to Call Flow Mappings page

Name

Enter the mapping’s name.

Incoming URI

Enter the name of the incoming URI. This may be a partial (e.g., 56789) or full (e.g., 1234567890) name.

Call Flow

Select the call flow from the drop-down menu. This selection will automatically populate the list of Starting Nodes, which allows the user to override a Start node if desired. The call flow menu only lists currently published Call Flows.

Starting Node

Select the box to override the default starting node.

Description

Enter a name for the call flow mapping.

Click Save to finalize the new call flow mapping.