Creating a Queue

Queue setup and modification is a Manager user level function. Queues are used to hold calls and distribute those calls to Agents that are assigned to the Queue. Distribution of calls in Queues is done on a skills-based best fit criteria. This means the skill(s) and proficiency associated with the call are compared to the skills and associated proficiencies of available Agents. Out of the available Agents, the Agent with the best match to the caller’s needs/issue is offered the call. This allows the most qualified Agents to respond to calls improving efficiency and satisfaction.

To create a Queue:

Using the Flow domain provided, access the interface as a Manager user.
Click Queues in from the docked navigation menu found on the left of the window.
In the Queue List view, click +New located at the bottom left of the Queue List.
Set the Queue Status by clicking the desired radio button:
1. Active: Queue is accepting calls and distributing to Agents.
2. Disabled: Queue is present, but is not accepting calls.
Use the drop-down selector under Team to select the Team that will own the Queue.
In the Description text box, give the Queue a name. This name will be used throughout the interface to identify the Queue.
For Agent Distribution Strategy use the dropdown list to select a distribution strategy:
1. Longest Idle: send calls to an Agent assigned to the Queue with the longest idle time.
For Agent Management options, click the checkbox to allow users with Supervisor access to modify Agent membership (assignment) to the Queue.
For the Agent Skill Matching section used the dropdown boxes next to each listed skill to assign the ideal proficiency level to accept calls from the queue.

Skill proficiency ranges from 0 to 9, with 1 being the least proficient (a trainee level) and 9 being the most proficient in the skill. 0 is used to denote an invalid skill for the Queue.

Multiple skills can be used to determining the Agents best suited to accept calls from the Queue.
Queue Position Announcement is an audio announcement to the caller noting their waiting position in the Queue. To enable, click the checkbox and set a time interval (in seconds) using the text box. The queue announcement will interrupt any playing hold music and return to it when the announcement is finished. It may be interrupted during playback if an agent becomes available, which ensures that the caller’s position will be answered as quickly as possible.
A call’s priority within a Queue can be escalated naturally over time using the Service Level option. To enable, check the box under Service Level. In the text box, enter the amount of time (in seconds) that the call should be waiting for before being escalated one level in priority. The call will continue to escalate one level in priority each time the desired time interval expires until the call is answered or it reaches the highest priority.
Under the Overflow Calls section, an overflow plan can be created so that if the Queue becomes too busy, calls can be sent to a new Queue to accommodate the call volume. Priority level followed by length of wait time will determine which calls are sent to the overflow queue once one of the two shoveling methods are met.

Calls can be shoveled (moved to new Queues) based on two methods:
1. Shovel Calls based on wait times above a certain duration: click the checkbox next to the wait time option. In the text box enter the wait time (in seconds) at which calls should be sent to the specified overflow Queue.
2. Shovel Calls based on the number of calls in the queue: check the checkbox next to the number of calls in the queue option and then in the text box enter the number of calls that should be exceeded for the queue to overflow.
Once the overflow method is selected use the dropdown list to select what Queue overflow calls should be placed in.

If the overflow queue has not been created first, create the queue and return to this step to select the overflow queue from the dropdown list.

NOTE: It is recommended to ensure Queues into which calls overflow are not themselves configured to overflow. Such a configuration can result in cascading behavior where overflow calls are potentially shoveled into incorrect Queues resulting in excessively complex call handling.

Use the Integrations area to Enable Screen Pops for Agents being offered calls for the Queue.

Screen Pops allow for visual information related to the call to be displayed to the Agent. The following example will set up a Google search with the Caller’s Telephone Number and Caller ID Name:

While a static URL can be used, a dynamic one will be the most typical use case for Screen Pops. In this way information can be both posted to an external source or pulled from one allowing Agents to receive relevant information to calls in the same window. While this feature is configured on each Queue, Screen Pops can be set to display or not display with a toggle available to the Agent. For Screen Pops to display, it must be configured for the Queue and enabled for each Agent. Screen Pops are enabled by default for every Agent, so not displaying Screen Pops is on aper Agent opt-out basis.

When designing your Screen Pop, you can construct your URL to include the following variables:

%ID%	Flow database unique call ID
%HOST%	Flow server’s hostname
%CHANNEL%	SIP channel
%AGENTID%	Agent’s ID number
%EXTENSION%	Agent’s logged in telephone extension number
%DTQUEUED%	Timestamp in UTC that the call was queued in Flow
%DURATION%	Queued duration
%CNAM%	Caller ID name
%CNUM%	Caller ID phone number (Max. 10-digits, e.g. 5037644300)
%CNUME%	Caller ID phone number in e.164 format (e.g. +15037644300)
%TN%	Flow inbound telephone number
%NOW%	Flow server’s current date and time in UTC
%FLOWQID%	Flow database queue ID
%FLOWAID%	Flow database agent ID

Click the Save button to complete Queue creation.

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To create a Queue:

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