Contact supports “channel blending”.
Channel blending determines the most important incoming item across all items of different channel types and therefore the next item to be processed by an agent. A blending formula with configurable parameters is applied to queued items to determine which item is allocated to the next available agent. Items can be allocated to an agent even if they are currently working on a task in a different channel.
Channel blending automatically allocates incoming items to the most suitable agent, where multi-skilled agents belong to a group. By default, calls, webchats, work items and WhatApp messages are automatically allocated to the next available agent. Emails and SMS messages are not. You can select which type of items are automatically allocated to agents by disabling (and re-enabling as required) automatic allocation for each individual channel type (System > Channel Configuration > Agent Capacity).
Note: If automatic allocation is enabled for webchats, WhatsApp messages or SMS messages, an alerting icon (a ringing bell) is displayed when a message arrives in an agent’s inbox.
If automatic allocation is disabled (unticked) for a channel, items must be manually taken from the queues by agents.
For webchats, WhatsApp messages, emails or work items, regardless of whether automatic allocation is enabled (the items are automatically allocated to agents) or disabled (the items must be manually taken from the queues by agents), the items remain inactive until the agent selects each of them as their active item. Each active task must be finished before a new one is activated.
Note: By default, calls always have priority over other channel items. If a new call arrives, an agent that is actively handling a webchat, WhatsApp message, email or work item will be interrupted and allocated the call, if no other suitable agents are available to handle the call. However, the default settings for the blending rules can be reconfigured to suit the company’s requirements.
How the blending formula works #
A priority value is given to each channel type (the channel priority) and each queue (the importance weighting). These values, along with the waiting time in a queue, are used in an algorithm (the blending formula) to determine the next item to be processed across all items of different types. The blending formula is:
Minutes in the queue + (channel priority * constant multiplier) + (importance weighting)
When an agent becomes available (for example, after finishing their current task), the blending formula is used to find the next (most suitable) item for the agent to process. It does this by looking at all of the queues for which the agent is currently active, across all channel types, and comparing the relative priorities of the topmost waiting items in these queues. The blending algorithm calculates (by using the length of time in the queue, the channel priority, a global variable value, and the queue importance weighting) which of these items has the highest global priority. It then selects the item with the highest global priority to present to the agent.
For example, consider a blending formula with the following settings:
- The constant multiplier is set to 7.37
- The call channel type has the channel priority set to 100
- The email channel type has the channel priority set to 1
- The importance weighting is set to 0.
The blending formula would be:
(time in queue/60) + (channel priority * 7.37) + (importance weighting)
This would mean that an email would need to be in a queue for 12 hours and 11 minutes before it would take precedence over a voice call.
Note: In addition to the priority values above, you can also specify different priorities for individual items on different channels by configuring parameters in the routing flows for different channel queues. For example, could you configure an email from a VIP customer to always be more important than a call from a regular customer. For the appropriate routing flow, this is done in a Set Variable node (before a Join Queue node), by specifying the channel item priority as an integer parameter. By default, each item takes the priority value of the queue.
Agent capacities #
Capacity values allow multiple items from different channels to be allocated to an agent, whilst providing a method to limit what is allocated per channel.
Company administrators can determine how many queue items (emails, webchats, WhatsApp messages, etc.) each agent can be allocated simultaneously, up to a maximum limit, and how these items are allocated.
Each channel has a Maximum number of items allocated to an agent setting (between 1 and 30).
Note: This is the setting for the system. If a different value is set for an individual queue, that will be used instead.
For calls and work items, the Maximum number of items allocated to an agent parameter is not configurable. This is because the number is fixed at 1.
When an item is ready to be allocated to an agent, the Maximum number of items allocated to an agent setting of agents in the group is checked as well as the number of items already allocated to them. An agent is only considered if the new item does not cause the agent’s capacity to be exceeded. Only one voice call or work item can ever be allocated to an agent.