Lucent Technologies Centrevu Advocate Release 8 User Guide

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Verifying the Solution Through Reports10-11
Drill-Down Work 
State Report 
10
This table describes the fields of the report: 
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) 
						

							  Call Center Solution: Make Agent Idle Time More Uniform CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Things to Note10-12
Things to Note10
The following list includes some things to be aware of when implementing 
this solution:
lAgents should be assigned skills based on their existing skill level 
assignment or level of expertise within a skill. 
lCurrent R3V5 algorithms give more calls to agents with more skills, 
resulting in a higher occupancy for those agents. Because LOA 
gives agents with more skills more idle time over current methods, 
ASA is improved. This is because the probability of leaving an agent 
available with the needed skill for the next call increases.
lThis solution can help increase both agent and customer 
satisfaction. Agents will have a reduced chance of being in the “hot 
seat” and will experience more even idle time throughout the call 
center, while callers should still have their calls answered promptly 
by skilled agents. 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Introduction11-1
11  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® 
ECS
Introduction11
While CentreVu® Advocate features can be administered through CentreVu 
Supervisor or 
DEFINITY® ECS software for existing agent login IDs and hunt 
groups, both login IDs and hunt groups must be created on 
DEFINITY ECS 
through the System Administration Terminal (SAT) or a terminal emulator. 
Call selection Measurements (Current Wait Time and Predicted Wait Time) 
can only be administered on 
DEFINITY software. This chapter presents step-
by-step instructions for administering all the 
CentreVu Advocate features on 
DEFINITY ECS through the SAT or a terminal emulator.
System 
Requirements
11
To use any of the CentreVu Advocate features, your system must meet the 
requirements shown below
Individual features may have additional requirements. Refer to the 
appropriate procedures under “Administering Agent Selection”
.
NOTE:
Form Page FieldMust display…
Software Versions 1 Memory Resident G3V6i.03 or
G3V6r.03
System-Parameters 
Customer-Options3 Expert Agent Selection 
(EAS)?Y
3
CentreVu Advocate? Y
Feature-Related 
System Parameters8 Adjunct CMS Release R3V6 or higher, or left 
blank 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Agent Selection11-2
Administering Agent Selection11
Agent Selection 
Methods
11
When more than one agent in a skill is available to receive an incoming 
call, 
DEFINITY ECS must select which of the available agents will handle 
the call. There are four agent selection methods. The following table lists 
the methods and describes the result of using each.
Uniform Call Distribution (UCD) treats all agents the same by distributing 
calls evenly. Expert Agent Distribution (EAD) delivers calls to the 
available agent with the highest skill level. Within each skill level, EAD 
also distributes calls evenly.
Most Idle Agent (MIA) selects the available agent in a skill who has been 
idle the longest since their last ACD call. Least Occupied Agent (LOA) 
compares agents’ occupancy and selects the available agent with the 
lowest occupancy.
* Least Occupied Agent is most useful when you need 
to balance the work load more evenly among agents.If the agent selection method 
for a skill is…
DEFINITY ECS will select…
Uniform Call Distribution-Most 
Idle Agent (UCD-MIA)The available agent who has been 
idle the longest since their last ACD 
call.
Uniform Call Distribution-Least 
Occupied Agent (UCD-LOA)The available agent with the lowest 
percentage of work time since login.
Expert Agent Distribution-Most 
Idle Agent (EAD-MIA)The available agent with the highest 
skill level who has been idle the 
longest since their last ACD call 
(compared to other available agents 
with the same skill level).
Expert Agent Distribution-Least 
Occupied Agent (EAD-LOA)The available agent with the highest 
skill level and the lowest percentage 
of work time since login (compared 
to other available agents with the 
same skill level).
*Agent “occupancy” is the ratio of time an agent spends on ACD calls to the total time the agent is staffed on a skill. 
“Time spent on ACD calls” is an agent’s total time since login with one or more ACD calls ringing, active, or on hold in 
any of their assigned skills. Staffed time does not include time in AUX work. If the ACW Agents Considered Idle 
option on the Feature-Related System Parameters form is not set, total After-Call Work (ACW) time is also counted in 
calculating agent occupancy. “Occupancy” is thus a percentage that represents an agent’s work load.  
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Agent Selection11-3
Before You Start11lLucent recommends using UCD-LOA or EAD-LOA in most 
situations: compared to MIA, work will be distributed more evenly 
among agents and Average Speed of Answer will be lower.
lEAD-LOA works best if you have only 2–4 skill levels.
lIf you use the Most Idle Agent agent selection method, Lucent 
recommends that you set MIA Across Splits or Skills? to Y. (LOA is 
always applied across skills.)
Setting Up Agent 
Selection
11
This procedure provides instructions for administering agent selection 
methods on 
DEFINITY ECS. These instructions assume you are using 
the System Administration Terminal (SAT) or terminal emulation software 
to administer the switch.
To Administer an 
Agent Selection 
Method
11
1. At the command line prompt of your SAT or terminal emulator, type 
change hunt-group xxx and press  . (“xxx” is the number 
of the skill you want to change.)
The Hunt Group form for the skill appears.
Return
change hunt-group xxx Page 1 of X
HUNT GROUP
Group Number: ___ ACD? 
Group Name: ____________________________ Queue? Group Extension: ____ Vector? Group Type: Coverage Path: ____
TN: Night Service Destination: _____
COR: MM Early Answer?     Security Code: ____ 
  ISDN Caller Disp: ________
Queue Length: ___
Calls Warning Threshold: ___ Port: _
Extension: ____
Time Warning Threshold: ___ Port: _Extension: ____ 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Agent Selection11-4
2. In the Group-Type field, enter one of the following options:
3. Press 
 to save your changes.
To Administer MIA 
Across Skills
11
1. At the command line prompt, type change system-parameters 
features and press  .
The Feature-Related System Parameters form appears.
2. Go to page 8 of the System-Parameters Features form.UCD-MIASelects the available agent who has been 
idle the longest since their last call.
UCD-LOASelects the available agent with the lowest 
percentage of work time since login.
EAD-MIASelects the available agent with the highest 
skill level who has been idle the longest since 
their last call (compared to other available 
agents with the same skill level).
EAD-LOASelects the available agent with the highest 
skill level and the lowest percentage of work 
time since login (compared to other available 
agents with the same skill level).
Enter
Return
change system-parameters features  Page 8 of 8
CALL CENTER SYSTEM PARAMETERS
AGENT AND CALL SELECTION
MIA Across Splits or Skills? _
ACW Agents Considered Idle? _
Call Selection Measurement: __________________
Service Level Supervisor Call Selection Override? _
REASON CODES
Aux Work Reason Code Type: ____
Logout Reason Code Type: ____
CALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Adjunct CMS Release: ____
ACD Login Identification Length: _
BCMS/VuStats Measurement Interval: ____
BCMS/VuStats Abandon Call Timer (seconds): ____
Validate BCMS/VuStats Login IDs? _
Clear VuStats Shift Data: ________ 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Agent Selection11-5
3. In the MIA Across Splits or Skills? field, enter one of the following:
lY sets up one idle-agent queue for the entire system. When the 
EAD-MIA or UCD-MIA agent selection method is used, the time 
since an agent’s last ACD call in any of their assigned skills 
determines his or her place in this idle agent queue.
lN sets up an idle-agent queue for each skill. When the EAD-
MIA or UCD-MIA agent selection method is used, the time 
since an agent’s last ACD call in a given skill determines his or 
her place in that skill’s idle agent queue.
4. Press   to save your changes.
To Include ACW in 
the Calculation of 
Agent Occupancy
11
1. At the command line prompt, type change system-parameters 
features and press  .
The Feature-Related System Parameters form appears.
2. Go to page 8 of the System-Parameters Features form.
3. In the ACW Agents Considered Idle? field, enter one of the 
following:
lY means that agents’ time in ACW is counted as idle time.
lN means that agents’ time in ACW is counted as work time. 
4. Press 
 to save your changes.
Enter
Return
change system-parameters features  Page 8 of 8
CALL CENTER SYSTEM PARAMETERS
AGENT AND CALL SELECTION
MIA Across Splits or Skills? _
ACW Agents Considered Idle? _
Call Selection Measurement: __________________
Service Level Supervisor Call Selection Override? _
REASON CODES
Aux Work Reason Code Type: ____
Logout Reason Code Type: ____
CALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Adjunct CMS Release: ____
ACD Login Identification Length: _
BCMS/VuStats Measurement Interval: ____
BCMS/VuStats Abandon Call Timer (seconds): ____
Validate BCMS/VuStats Login IDs? _
Clear VuStats Shift Data: ________
Enter 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Call Selection11-6
Administering Call Selection11
Overview11When an agent becomes available and one or more calls are in queue for 
any of the agent’s skills, or more than one of the skills has calls waiting, 
DEFINITY ECS must choose which call to deliver to the agent. This 
section describes the features you can use to control call selection:
lCall Selection Measurements
— Current Wait Time
— Predicted Wait Time
lService Level Supervisor
lCall Handling Preferences
— greatest need
— skill level
— percent allocation
lService Objective
lDirect Agent Calls First
Call Selection 
Measurements
11
DEFINITY ECS provides two call selection measurements: Current Wait 
Time and Predicted Wait Time. When an agent becomes available
Current Wait Time selects the call that has currently waited the 
longest.
Predicted Wait Time selects the call that will wait the longest if the 
current agent does not answer it.
Predicted Wait Time is most useful when you need to balance wait times 
between specialized skills with a few agents and one or more skills with 
large staffs.
Before You Start11These instructions assume you are using the System Administration 
Terminal (SAT) or terminal emulation software to administer the switch.
To Administer Call 
Selection 
Measurements
11
1. At the command line prompt, type change system-parameters 
features and press  .
The Feature-Related System Parameters form appears.
2. Go to page 8 of the System-Parameters Features form.
Return 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Call Selection11-7
3. In the Call Selection Measurement field, enter one of the following 
options:
lpredicted-wait-time
lcurrent-wait-time
4. Press   to save your change.
Service Level 
Supervisor
11
Service Level Supervisor automatically manages agents during periods 
of peak load. Using criteria you supply, Service Level Supervisor can 
change the priorities of agents logged into a specified skill and add 
predefined reserve agents to the skill when Expected Wait Time exceeds 
preset thresholds. When the skill is no longer in trouble, Service Level 
Supervisor can reset the priorities of the agents normally assigned to the 
skill and remove the reserve agents. Your call center automatically 
adapts to changes in call volume without supervisor intervention, keeping 
wait time (and thus abandonments) low for important customers.
Before You Start11
Administering Hunt 
Groups and Agent 
Login IDs
11
lNew hunt groups and agent login IDs must be created on the 
DEFINITY ECS System Administration Terminal (SAT) before they 
can be administered for Service Level Supervisor. Acceptable 
Service level must always be administered on 
DEFINITY ECS.
change system-parameters features  Page 8 of 8
CALL CENTER SYSTEM PARAMETERS
AGENT AND CALL SELECTION
MIA Across Splits or Skills? _
ACW Agents Considered Idle? _
Call Selection Measurement: __________________
Service Level Supervisor Call Selection Override? _
REASON CODES
Aux Work Reason Code Type: ____
Logout Reason Code Type: ____
CALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Adjunct CMS Release: ____
ACD Login Identification Length: _
BCMS/VuStats Measurement Interval: ____
BCMS/VuStats Abandon Call Timer (seconds): ____
Validate BCMS/VuStats Login IDs? _
Clear VuStats Shift Data: ________
Enter 
						

							  Administer CentreVu® Advocate on DEFINITY® ECS CentreVu® Advocate Release 8 User Guide
Administering Call Selection11-8
lYou can administer Service Level Supervisor for existing agents and 
hunt groups from the SAT or from the Change Agent Skill screen in 
CentreVu Supervisor. You can also set agent reserve levels for 
existing agents from the Move Agents Between Skills dialog box in 
the Multi-Agent Skill Change screen. These instructions assume you 
are using the System Administration Terminal (SAT) or terminal 
emulation software to administer the switch.
lDirect Agent calls will not put a skill over threshold, so do not set 
thresholds on Direct Agent skills. The thresholds will not do 
anything.
Important Interactions 11lAn agent cannot receive Direct Agent calls on a reserve skill.
lPercentage allocations cannot be assigned to reserve skills.
For a complete list of feature interactions on 
DEFINITY ECS, see 
“Feature Interactions”
.
Recommended Initial 
EWT Setting
11
For your first implementation of Service Level Supervisor, Lucent 
recommends setting threshold levels as shown in the following table. You 
must set the Acceptable Service level for a skill before you set the 
thresholds.
Use this table for implementing Service Level Supervisor only when 
Service Level Supervisor Call Selection Override on page 8 of the 
Feature-Related System Parameters form is set to N. For guidelines on 
setting thresholds when call selection override is set to Y, see Chapter 2, 
“Custom 
CentreVu® Advocate Solutions.” 
Initially set this 
threshold…To  a n  E W T  …
Level 1 5 seconds lower than your Acceptable Service 
Level
For example
If the Acceptable Service Level is 30 sec., initially 
set the Level 1 threshold to 25 seconds.
Level 2 Set the Level 2 threshold 5 seconds below the 
skill’s Average Time to Abandon.
NOTE: