Lucent Technologies Centrevu Advocate Release 8 User Guide

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Overview10-1
10  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More 
Uniform
Overview10
Many call center administrators want to make agent idle time more uniform. 
Making agent idle time more uniform spreads the overall work load more 
equally between agents as well as reduces the possibility of “hot seat” agents 
and agent burnout. 
CentreVu® 
Advocate 
Feature
10
This chapter discusses the Least Occupied Agent (LOA) CentreVu Advocate 
feature. Use the 
CentreVu Supervisor reports presented in this chapter to 
verify that 
CentreVu Advocate is working.
Customer 
Example
10
The travel agency call center discussed in Chapter 9, “Control Agent Time in 
Skill” has 20 agents and four skills. For this example, not all agents have all 
skills and percentages assigned. New agents start with Airlines and then 
learn Domestic. Each agent has one of two levels of expertise for each of the 
four skills. Some agents would have a skill level of 1 assigned for a particular 
skill, while others can handle calls more evenly over all four skills. The call 
center supervisor wants to evenly distribute the calls among agents, which 
will make agent idle time more uniform and reduce the number of “hot seat” 
agents in the center. The following four skills are available:
lCruises
lAirlines
lDomestic
lInternational. 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Implementation10-2
Implementation10
The agent selection method is a form of Least Occupied Agent (LOA). In 
this solution, agents may be assigned any call handling preference, as 
determined by the call center administrator.
Agent Selection10Agent selection for this call center solution is through Expert Agent 
Distribution-Least Occupied Agent (EAD-LOA). With EAD-LOA, the 
agent will be selected who has the highest skill level for the incoming call 
(only two or three skill levels need to be used to benefit with LOA). LOA 
will select the agent who has the lowest amount of occupancy since 
login, which will more evenly distribute the work load between agents and 
make idle time more uniform. Most Idle Agent (MIA) is not used because 
MIA tends to give more calls to agents with more skills (“hot seat” 
emulation).
Call Selection10Agents may be assigned any call handling preference. All agents within a 
skill should have the same call handling preference assigned. No specific 
CentreVu ® Supervisor administration is necessary to implement this 
solution. 
Switch 
Administration
10
Several items must be administered on the switch administration forms 
for this business solution to work. See Chapter 11, “Administer 
CentreVu 
Advocate on 
DEFINITY® ECS” for more information on switch 
administration.
Customer Options 10On the System Parameters Customer Options form, set the following 
fields:
lCentreVu Advocate? must be set to Y
lExpert Agent Selection (EAS)? must be set to Y.
Hunt Group 10On the Hunt Group form, set the following parameters:
lEnter the skill number on the command line.
lOn page 1, the Group Type: field should be set to EAD-LOA or 
UCD-LOA, depending on how agents are to be selected for calls.
Administer these parameters for the Airlines skill, the Domestic skill, and 
the International skill. 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-3
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10
This solution can be verified by reviewing idle time and overall agent 
occupancy for the staffed agents. The results of implementing this 
solution can be seen in any report with AVAIL or ACD time as a report 
item, or in Agent Status and Agent Information reports. Agent occupancy 
will also indicate the results of implementing this call center solution.
Reports10The following reports have been modified to support CentreVu Advocate, 
and are meaningful for this call center solution:
lReal-Time Graphical Agent Information Report
lReal-Time Split/Skill Graphical Status Report
lReal-Time Queue/Top Agent Status Report
lReal-Time Queue/Agent Status Report
lReal-Time Split/Skill Graphical Top Skill Status Report 
lReal-Time Skill Top Agent Report
lHistorical Agent Summary Report
lHistorical Agent Group Summary Report
lDrill-Down Top Agent Work State Report
lDrill-Down Work State Report.
The modified fields for each of these reports are described in “Modified 
Reports” in this section.
Drill-Down Reports10If you use a customer-created drill-down report to view information 
related to 
CentreVu Advocate and that report uses Location ID as an 
input field, a completely new drill-down report will display. This report will 
differ from the current set of drill-down reports and will include agent 
location ID as a report field. 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-4
Agent Occupancy 
Calculation
10
Agent Occupancy, which is 100 * (sum(I_RINGTIME + I_ACDTIME + 
I_ACDOTHERTIME + I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + I_ACDAUXINTIME + 
I_ACWTIME) / sum(TI_STAFFTIME - TI_AUXTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + I_ACDAUXINTIME)) where I_ACWTIME is an 
optional component, may be used as a comparison measurement. This 
calculation can be used when creating a new report with CentreVu 
Report Designer or CentreVu Report Wizard. AUX time is not included in 
the calculation of agent occupancy.
Additional 
Information
10
These reports are fully documented in the CentreVu® Supervisor Version 
8 Reports
 document (585-210-929). They are summarized as they relate 
to 
CentreVu Advocate in this chapter. See the Reports document for 
more information on Real-Time and Historical reports. In addition, any 
report that illustrates agent occupancy can be used to verify this solution.
Database Items and 
Calculations
10
New database items and calculations for CentreVu Advocate, along with 
modified, existing database items, are described in Chapter 13, 
“
CentreVu® Advocate Database Items and Calculations.” Existing 
database items and calculations are described in the 
CentreVu CMS 
R3V8 Database Items and Calculations 
(585-210-939) document.
Modified Reports10Several Reports have been modified to support CentreVu Advocate. The 
reports are listed in this section, along with the report fields that have 
been modified to support 
CentreVu Advocate and the Make Agent Idle 
Time More Uniform call center solution. 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-5
Real-Time 
Graphical Agent 
Information Report 
10
The following table describes the modified report fields: 
Real-Time 
Split/Skill Graphical 
Status Report
10
The following table describes the modified report fields: Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item, 
Calculation, or 

Top Skill:The agent’s first-administered, highest-level, measured 
skill, where skill level 1 is the highest, skill level 16 is the 
lowest. The TOPSKILL of an agent will be 0 except 
when PREFERENCE is a skill level (LVL). This means 
that an agent will not have a top skill or be counted in 
any split table TOPSKILL items if their call handling 
preference is Greatest Need (NEED) or percent 
allocation (PCNT). In addition, agents who have skill 
level preference, but only reserve levels for all their 
skills, will not have a TOPSKILL.syn(TOPSKILL)
Call Handling 
Preference:The agent’s call handling preference. Values are blank, 
skill level (LVL) or greatest need (NEED), or percent 
allocation (PCNT).syn(PREFERENCE)
Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item/ Calculation, 
Ta b l e  N a m e
Skill StateCurrent state of this skill, compared to the 
administered thresholds.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(SKSTATE) 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-6
Real-Time 
Queue/Top Agent 
Status Report 
10
The following table describes the modified report fields: LevelThe skill level associated with the agent’s 
current WORKSKILL, when WORKSKILL, is 
not null.
Requires a Generic 2.2 or Generic 3 Version 2 
or later switch with the EAS feature.
For 
CentreVu Advocate, in the cagent table, 
WORKSKLEVEL contains either a skill level 
(1-16) for a normal skill, or a reserve level (1 or 
2) for a reserve skill. This WORKSKLEVEL 
applies to WORKSKILL.syn(WORKSKLEVEL) Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item/ Calculation, 
Ta b l e  N a m e
Report 
HeadingDescriptionDatabase Item, Calculation, or 

Skill StateCurrent state of this skill, compared to the 
administered thresholds.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(SKSTATE)
Flex Agents 
StaffedNumber of agents who are staffing this skill, 
but are neither top or reserve agents.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.FSTAFFED
Reserve1 
Agents 
StaffedNumber of agents staffing this skill as 
reserve1.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.R1STAFFED
Reserve2 
Agents 
StaffedNumber of agents staffing this skill as 
reserve2.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.R2STAFFED 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-7
Real-Time 
Queue/Agent 
Status Report 
10
The following table describes the modified report fields: 
Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item, Calculation, 
or 
Skill StateCurrent state of this skill, compared to the 
administered thresholds.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(SKSTATE)
RoleThe Agent’s service role for this SPLIT, as 
defined in the Dictionary.
Requires 
DEFINITY ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu Advocate.syn(ROLE)
PercentThe Agent’s percent allocation for this SPLIT.
Requires 
DEFINITY ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu Advocate.PERCENT
LevelThe skill level associated with the agent’s 
current WORKSKILL, when WORKSKILL is 
not null.
Requires a Generic 2.2 or Generic 3 Version 
2 or later switch with the EAS feature.
For 
CentreVu Advocate, in the cagent table, 
WORKSKLEVEL contains either a skill level 
(1-16) for a normal skill, or a reserve level (1 
or 2) for a reserve skill. This 
WORKSKLEVEL applies to WORKSKILL.syn(WORKSKLEVEL) 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-8
Real-Time 
Split/Skill Graphical 
Top Skill Status 
Report 
10
The following table describes the modified report fields: 
Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item/ Calculation, 
Ta b l e  N a m e
Skill StateCurrent state of this skill, compared to the 
administered thresholds.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(SKSTATE)
LevelThe skill level associated with the agent’s 
current WORKSKILL, when WORKSKILL, is 
not null.
Requires a Generic 2.2 or Generic 3 Version 2 
or later switch with the EAS feature.
For 
CentreVu Advocate, in the cagent table, 
WORKSKLEVEL contains either a skill level 
(1-16) for a normal skill, or a reserve level (1 or 
2) for a reserve skill. This WORKSKLEVEL 
applies to WORKSKILL.syn(WORKSKLEVEL)
Top Agents 
Staffed:The current number of top agents that are 
staffed in this skill.TSTAFFED
Flex Agents 
Staffed:Number of agents who are staffing the skill, but 
are neither top or reserve agents.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.FSTAFFED
*
Reserve1 
Agents StaffedNumber of agents staffing this skill as 
reserve1.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.R1STAFFED
Reserve2 
Agents StaffedNumber of agents staffing this skill as 
reserve2.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.R2STAFFED
*This field will contain backup agents if the CentreVu Advocate feature is not used, since the database item consists 
of agents whose role in the skill is backup (applicable regardless of whether 
CentreVu Advocate is administered), 
allocated, or roving. 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-9
Real-Time Skill Top 
Agent Report 
10
The following table describes the modified report fields:
Historical Agent 
Summary and 
Agent Group 
Summary
10
The Historical Agent Summary and Historical Agent Group Summary 
reports have been modified for CentreVu Advocate to include the 
following fields: Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item, Calculation 
or 
Skill StateCurrent state of this skill, compared to the 
administered thresholds.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(SKSTATE)
Flex Agents 
StaffedNumber of agents who are staffing the skill, but 
are neither top or reserve agents.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.FSTAFFED
*
Reserve1 Agents 
StaffedNumber of agents staffing this skill as reserve1.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.R1STAFFED
Reserve2 Agents 
StaffedNumber of agents staffing this skill as reserve2.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.R2STAFFED
*This field will contain backup agents if the CentreVu Advocate feature is not used, since the database item consists 
of agents whose role in the skill is backup (applicable regardless of whether 
CentreVu Advocate is administered), 
allocated, or roving.
Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item, Calculation, or 

% Agent Occup 
w/ACWAgent occupancy, displayed as a 
percentage, including agent ACW 
time as work time.100 * (sum(I_RINGTIME + I_ACDTIME + 
I_ACDOTHERTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME + I_ACWTIME)/sum 
(TI_STAFFTIME - TI_AUXTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME)) 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-10
Drill-Down Top 
Agent Work State 
Report 
10
This table describes the modified report fields: % Agent Occup 
w/o ACWAgent occupancy, displayed as a 
percentage, not including agent 
ACW time as work time.100 * (sum(I_RINGTIME + I_ACDTIME + 
I_ACDOTHERTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME)/sum (TI_STAFFTIME 
- TI_AUXTIME + I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME))
% Agent Group 
Occup w/ACWAgent group occupancy, 
displayed as a percentage, 
including agent ACW time as 
work time.100 * (sum(I_RINGTIME + I_ACDTIME + 
I_ACDOTHERTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME + I_ACWTIME)/sum 
(TI_STAFFTIME - TI_AUXTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME))
% Agent Group 
Occup w/o ACWAgent group occupancy, 
displayed as a percentage, not 
including agent ACW time as 
work time.100 * (sum(I_RINGTIME + I_ACDTIME + 
I_ACDOTHERTIME + 
I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME)/sum (TI_STAFFTIME 
- TI_AUXTIME + I_ACDAUX_OUTTIME + 
I_ACDAUXINTIME)) Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item, Calculation, or 

Report Heading DescriptionDatabase Item/ Calculation, 
Ta b l e  N a m e
Skill StateCurrent State of this skill, compared to the 
administered thresholds.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(SKSTATE)
RoleAgent’s service role for this SPLIT, as defined 
in the Dictionary.
Requires ECS R6 or later with 
CentreVu 
Advocate.syn(ROLE)