Setting up Expected wait time CV 1

[andyokeefe]

I am trying to set up Expected wait time on our Symposium, can anyone help in setting up a Expected wait time CV

Thanks

 

[cgilmer]

If you are asking how to get the information into a variable its like this:

Assign EXPECTED WAIT TIME skillset_cv to exp_wait_cv

((exp_wait_cv would be set up as a seconds variable.))

I've never been a fan of giving them the exact minutes and seconds on a call waiting so I do something like this:

WHERE exp_wait_cv EQUALS
VALUE 60..180: GIVE IVR INTERRUPTIBLE ivr_mermail_gv WITH TREATMENT three_minute_gv
VALUE 181..300: GIVE IVR INTERRUPTIBLE ivr_mermail_gv WITH TREATMENT five_minute_gv
VALUE 301..600: GIVE IVR INTERRUPTIBLE ivr_mermail_gv WITH TREATMENT ten_minute_gv
VALUE 601..9999: GIVE IVR INTERRUPTIBLE ivr_mermail_gv WITH TREATMENT over_minute_gv
DEFAULT: GIVE IVR INTERRUPTIBLE ivr_mermail_gv WITH TREATMENT treatment1_cv
END WHERE

This example uses Meridian Mail but you get the idea of the logic. What it does is check for under 3 miunites, under 5 minutes, under 10 minutes and over 10 minutes. The Default value plays when there is under a minute of wait time. Thus only informing them when their wait time exceeds one miute. Unless you expect a call to potentially wait for 10,000 seconds the 601..9999 value should work for you as "all calls over 10 minutes".

This gives the caller basic information about how long they can expect to be answered. It doesn't specifically say "Your wait time will be 3 minutes and fifty-three seconds." People tend to start watching the clock and get agrivated when its wrong. So i try to be as general as possible and just give them enough information to decide if they want to wait or hang up. Which is pretty much the sole purpose of giving them the information in the first place.

In addition this allows you to only have to maintain a few messages to provide the service and they won't sound like a robot speaking to the caller. Also, most calls are "over estimated" due to the way you say it. For example saying "Your expected wait time isless than five minutes". gives you a buffer for any variations that might happen in agent status after a message is played to the caller of anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes.

I also only play this once to the caller when they reach the call center. The last thing you want to do is play it twice and have them get a longer expected wait time the 2nd time you play it.

 

[DancingDave]

Shouldn't the exp_wait_cv (call variable) be set up as an integer?

Also if you don't want customers to hear their expected wait time go up, you need to use a couple of variables for EWT and compare the two to see if the EWT has gone up or down. I can post an example if anyone want's it.

We are currently looking at implementing an EWT for our Help Desk, but we are finding the EWTs are wildly inaccurate. We are calcuating the exact times and comparing them with reality using a separate script that queues to the help desk skillset (If moved into production, we'll use a banded approach as above)

My question is, would the fact that most of the agents are multi skilled cause this, or is it likley to be the fact that the length and volume of calls is variable? Do Nortel recommend a certain volume of calls or spraed of calls lengths for the algorithm to work reasonable well?

 

[StanleySteamer]

DancingDave - Suggest you read the Scripting Guide intrinsics section for Expected Wait time.
It talks about factors that affect wait time.
It also advises to play the expected wait time only once to a caller. Even if it doesn't go up it will still be frustrating to the caller if there is no significant change while they wait.
Steamer

 

[cgilmer]

The expected wait time is accurate as long as the agents are stable. If they go in and out of Not Ready a lot this can cause the number to jump, and rightly so. Same goes for logging in and logging out. The biggest problem with Expected wait time are the agents.

Obviously, if you only have 10 agents and 2 go into Not Ready this is a lot more dramatic than having 100 agents and 2 going into Not Ready. Additionally, your multi-skillsed agents have a greater likelyhood of becoming unavailable by answering a call from another skillset.

This is why I never give an exact number to the caller and I never play it more than once. The whole point of giving this information is to give the caller up front information so that people will abandon(hang-up) before the threshold and call back later.