May vs. Might, what could go wrong? 1

[kwbMitel]

I spent WAY too much time trying to figure out which word, may or might, would be the better choice in an emergency preparedness document for a customer.

The section in question was regarding reasons that an agent in a Call Center (Might/MAY) not be able to answer a call.

I finally resorted to using the word Could instead as I could not decide.

Which choice would you have made? May or Might or Could?

Here is the final draft

If an agent hears the burst of ring and is available to answer the call but the call is not offered: (assuming the phone is otherwise functional)
[ul]
[li]The agent could be in Do Not Disturb[/li]
[li]The agent could be in Make Busy[/li]
[li]The agent could be Logged Out[/li]
[li]The phone could be off hook unknowingly (Busy) - Check the prime line light and try to hangup[/li]
[/ul]

NOTE: The burst of ring and flashing key are ONLY indicators that a call is present. The key has no impact on the ability to answer the call​

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[ChrisHunt]

I think, in this specific context, "may", "might" and "could" are synonyms. You could use any of them.

Of the three, I'd possibly steer clear of "may" as - whilst it would be perfectly fine in the examples you list - it could be ambiguous in some other contexts:

The phone may not be answered after 6pm

Is that a warning of the possibility that late calls won't be answered, or an instruction not to lift the receiver after 6pm?

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[SamBones]

I agree with Chris, "You could may use any of them".

 

[gbaughma]

A quick google of "Define might" lists it as the past tense of may.

I'm not sure that it follows as such.

I usually use "may" as in asking permission. "May I have a cookie?"

I usually use "might" as something that could happen. "It might explode"

Could is usually the past tense of "can".
I can do that tomorrow.
I could do that as of yesterday.

But, that's just my own views. I may be wrong, I might be right. I could be mistaken.



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

 

[kwbMitel]

But, that's just my own views. I may be wrong, I might be right. I could be mistaken.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[Andrzejek]

As a side note/question:
[ul]
[li]The agent could be in Do Not Disturb status (?)[/li]
[li]The agent could be in Make Busy state (?)[/li]
[li]The agent could be Logged Out of what?[/li]
[/ul]

Have fun.

---- Andy

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Could is usually the past tense of "can".

The past tense of can is canned, isn't it? <grin>

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[SkipVought]

That was a can-did response!

 

[kwbMitel]

@ Andrzejek

Each agent has a key on their phone to activate / deactivate each type of function

Make Busy, Do Not Disturb, and Login/logout

They are related to the status of the phone but for the purposes of this user document, the word status would be redundant as each function clearly understood by the users



**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Like Andy I think the may/might/could is the least problem.

We use Lync in our company and you can set your own state to Available or Busy or Do Not Disturb besides others.
Sure you get used to these terms and can understand them as that state from the context, but like this sample I'd simply format these states in bold to make this clearer. You could also put them in quotation, but that can have another unwanted meaning. I'd say sometimes not only grammar can help.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

I could jump off a bridge, but I'm not sick of life.
I might jump off a bridge, if I were.
I may be pushed off a bridge, by someone sick of my life. I'd fight that back with all my might.

 

[Andrzejek]

I see your point. I was under the impression that was "an emergency preparedness document for a customer.", but now you state all of these is "understood by the users"

Have fun.

---- Andy

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

The typical programmer's point of view. All other people are users. Sorry.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Actually I didn't say users. Sorry for being sorry. Your turn, kwbMitel.

 

[kwbMitel]

Ok full story for understanding

The customer is a Natural Gas Utility
They get upwards of 20 emergency calls a day for gas leaks or cut lines
I recently redesigned the system to accommodate a regulatory mandate on reporting of calls that requires 80% of calls be answered within 30 seconds or less
One of those changes was to program Alert Keys on every agent phone that would emit a burst ring when a call is in queue and a second burst ring after 10 seconds
Each of these threshold alerts are accompanied by a different flashing rate of the key 1/s and 2/s
Some of the agents were confused by this new functionality as they thought the key was what they should answer as it was ringing and flashing
The reality is that if their phone was available to receive the call it would already have been offered to them by ringing their Agent Line.
The purpose of the point form was to provide a quick reference that could be referenced in seconds and allow the agent to clear the issue and answer the call within 30 seconds
All of the terms are clearly understood by the users and all have individual keys clearly labelled on their phone for each function.

I like Olaf's suggestion about highlighting the terms for each function so that the agent does not need to work to hard to find them.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[ChrisHirst]

It's more of how optimistic/pessimistic/cynical you want to seem.

"May" is akin to "You'll be lucky if that happens"

"Might" is "Go on ... Try it, it could be your lucky day"

"Could" is "Hah! in what lifetime do you expect that to happen???



Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.
Webmaster Forum

 

[kwbMitel]

@ Chris, I am no longer quite so ashamed of the amount of time I spent thinking about this.

It is definitely not cut and dry in my application.

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ... There is no spoon.

 

[johnherman]

consider the poetic....
Star light, star bright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight



==================================
adaptive uber data for info galaxies (bigger, better, faster than agile big data clouds)

 

[SantaMufasa]

Then there is the Southeastern U.S. convention of might could, which seems to combine the best/worst of two of the three options:

Manager: Will you be able to finish that project by Friday?

Southern Technician: I might could.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
“People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

 

[Gunnaro]

How about this:

If an agent hears the burst of ring while available, the phone might be in one or more of the following states:

- Do Not Disturb
- Make Busy
- Logged Out
- Off hook unknowingly (Busy) - Check the prime line light and try to hangup
(This assuming the phone is otherwise functional)

Kind regards

Gunnar
__________________________________________________________________
Hippos have bad eyesight, but considering their weight, it’s hardly their problem