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The Agent Scheduling editor allows you to create shift calendars and assign agents to specific shifts. You can publish this shift schedule and make it available for the agents and other managers. You can create and manage agent work schedules, mass assign shifts, generate shift assignments and shift reports. Expand the following sections to learn about the available options.

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titleCreating and Managing Shifts
Expand
titleCreating Shifts

The Shifts tab in the Agent Scheduler menu allows you to create a shift schedule.

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Before creating a shift schedule, you must configure the work area, Time Off Category, shift duration, and break duration. See Agent Scheduling Settings section for more information on Time Off Category, Work Area and General shift settings.


  1. Click the Shifts tab and then click the new shift  button.
    The Create Shift window appears.
  2. Specify the Shift Name, description, and click Save.
  3. Double-click the shift to add details to the shift.
  4. Select the Manager for Approvals from the drop-down menu to approve tasks for the shift
  5. Select the Call Center from the drop-down menu to associate the shift to a call center. 
  6. Select the Number of slots for the shift.
  7. Select the Work Area for the shift in the Area field.
  8. Select the Start time of the shift.
  9. Select the End Time of the shift.
  10. You can choose to Color a shift in a specific color to distinguish between different shifts.
  11. Select the Required Skills for the shift you are creating. Select the skills from the Available column and move to the Selected column.
  12. Select the Allow Break checkbox to define the break time and duration for the shift.
    1. Select the Break Duration from the drop-down menu.
  13. Define the Schedule of the Shift:
    1. Select the Start and End Date
    2. Select specific days of the week.

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All times are displayed in Eastern Time.

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titleEditing Shift Details

You can edit the Shift Details from the Schedule tab.

  1. Hover the mouse on the shift you want to edit from the Shifts panel on the top-left corner of the Schedule tab.
  2. Double-click to open the shift details form on the Shift Details tab.
  3. You can modify the required fields of the shift.
  4. Once updated, click Save to accept the changes.
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titleAssigning Shifts

You can assign shifts by simple Drag and Drop.

  1. Hover the mouse on the shift you want to assign.
  2. Drag the shift to the required agents in the Agent panel to apply the shift.
  3. You can do this for the number of slots available for the respective shift.
  4. Once all slots are filled, you cannot apply that shift to other agents.

  5. Click Publish to save all the changes and make the schedule available for the agents and other managers.
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You can assign agents to multiple shifts per day and schedule multiple breaks per shift.

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titleModifying the Assigned Shift

You can change the hours for the shift and breaks per shift.

  1. Double-click the shift you want to modify for an agent in the Agent Details section. The Modify Assignment popup window appears.
  2. Click the + (plus) icon for the required shift.
  3. Modify required options. You can modify Start time, End time, add or delete breaks. You can also add comment.
  4. Click the Save button.
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If non-active time or published shifts are modified for an agent, a notification is sent to the agent in the Work Queue.

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titleAssigning Shifts in Bulk
  1. Select the Bulk Assign option at the bottom right corner of the Agent Scheduling editor.
  2. The Bulk Assign screen appears which allows you to select multiple agents for shift assignment.

  3. Select the required Shift for scheduling.
  4. Select the Scope to assign the shift for a specific time.
  5. You can Filter the list of Available Agents by:
    1. Agent Name
    2. Call Center
    3. Inactive Agents
    4. Agent Team
    5. Agent Skills
  6. Select one or multiple agents (hold CTRL to select multiple) from the Agents Available column and move them to Agents To Schedule column using the arrow buttons.
  7. Select Assign to save the shift assignment.
  8. Click Publish button on the bottom right corner of the Agent Scheduling editor to save all the changes and make the schedule available for the agents and other managers.
Expand
titleAgent Scheduling Settings

You can use the Settings tab of the Agent Scheduling window to define the work schedule for agents, approval workflows for requests sent by agents, and thresholds for compliance. Depending on the settings, agents can perform the following actions on the Agent Desktop:

  • View their work calendar
  • Request leave
  • Request swapping of shifts
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  • You must configure these settings before you create a shift.
  • All times will be displayed in Eastern Time.
Expand
titleConfiguring General Settings

To define a shift (such as the first day of the week, time format, start and end time, and the duration of break); allow shift notifications; and to allow agents to swap shifts and request leaves, in addition to configuring the respective approval workflows:

  1. Click the Settings tab.
  2. On the General subtab, specify values in the following fields.

    • First day of the week: This field contains the days of the week as options. Select the day when you want the work week to begin for a shift.

    • Time format: If you want the time in the shift to appear in the 12-hour time format, select 1:00 pm. If you want the time in the shift to appear in the 24-hour time format, select 13:00.

    • Open time: Select the start time of the shift.

    • Close time: Select the end time of the shift.

    • Default break duration: Select the duration of the break.

    • Shift Notifications On: Select this checkbox only if you want agents to be notified when their shift is about to begin after five minutes or when the shift begins.

    • Allow agents to swap shifts: Select this checkbox only if you want to enable agents to request swapping of their shifts with other agents.

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      The agent who receives a shift swapping request can accept or reject the request.

    • Require manager approval for swaps: Select this checkbox only if you want the shift swapping requests to be sent to the shift manager for approval.

      Info
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      The shift manager is the user that appears in the Manager for approvals field on the Shift Details tab of the Agent Scheduling window.

    • Allow agents to request time off: Select this checkbox only if you want to enable agents to request leave.

    • Require manager approval for time off requests: Select this checkbox only if you want leave requests to be sent to the leave manager for approval.

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      The leave manager is the user that appears in the Manager column for the respective leave category on the Time Off Categories tab of the Agent Scheduling window.

  3. Click Save.
    The general settings are configured.
Info

To view, approve, or reject the requests sent by agents, use the Work Queue option in the Quality Monitoring section of the WFO tab.

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titleCreating a Leave Category

To create a category for leave (for example, PTO, sick leave, and training):

  1. Click the Settings tab, and then the Time Off Categories subtab.
    A table appears, displaying the following columns:
    • Time Off Category
    • Description
    • Manager
    • Delete
  2. Click Add.
    A blank row appears in the table.
  3. In the blank row, in the Time Off Category column, enter the category in the cell.
  4. If required, in the blank row, in the Description column, enter a description of the category in the cell.
  5. In the blank row, in the Manager column, in the cell, select the name of the manager who must be notified of the leave request.
  6. Click Save.
    The leave category is created.
Info

To delete a leave category:

  1. In the row containing the category, in the Delete column, click .
  2. Click Save.
    The Warning window appears.
  3. Click Yes.
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titleCreating a Work Area

To create a work area for a shift (for example, IT, sales, security, and support):

  1. Click the Settings tab and then the Areas subtab.
    A table appears, displaying the Areas, Description, and Delete columns.
  2. Click Add.
    A blank row appears in the table.
  3. In the blank row, in the Areas column, enter the area in the cell.
  4. If required, in the blank row, in the Description column, enter a description of the area in the cell.
  5. Click Save.
    The work area is created.
Info

To delete a work area:

  1. In the row containing the area, in the Delete column, click .
  2. Click Save.
    The Warning window appears.
  3. Click Yes.
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titleViewing Agent Details

The Agent Details tab allows you to filter and view agent's shift deatils for today, specific day, week, two weeks, or a month with comapct or expanded view. 

Info
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All times will be displayed in Eastern Time.

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titleGenerating Shift Reports

You can generate shift report that displays shift details, number of slots available for the shift and number of slots filled by each date. To generate the report:

  • Select the Type of Report from the drop-down menu.
  • Select the Month from the drop down menu to export report for a specific month.
  • Filter the results of the report by selecting specific shifts under the Filter Shifts section or agents under the Filter Agents section.
  • You can Export the report and data to another file type by selecting a format from the drop-down menu (PDF, CSV, Excel) for storage and analysis.
  • You can enable Include assignment comments to view the comments if any, in exported report.
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You can view only first 25 characters of the comment in exported file, if Include assignment comments is checked.
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titleHistory

The History tab tracks and displays the details of the changes made to Shift Assignment, Shift Creation, etc.  

Note
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Shifts and Time Off times are displayed in Eastern  and the Changed On times are displayed in local