Configuring Group Voice

You can configure agent groups for the purpose of organizing agents and specifying group settings. You can also configure skill groups for the purpose of matching agents with skills. After you configure agents at the group level, you can override the group settings at the agent level.

Creating Agent Groups

You create new agent groups and specify properties for each group. Later on, when you assign agents to these groups, as described in Configuring Voice Agent Properties, you have the option of using the group properties or overriding them by specifying properties for the individual agent employee records.

While logged into HEAT as an administrator, open the Voice - Agent Group workspace.

Click New Voice - Agent Group. The Voice - Agent Group page appears.

Enter information into the fields.

--fields--

Field	Description
Name	A unique name for the agent group that you want to create.
Not Ready Reason Required	The reason why agents are not ready, if all agents in the group must indicate a reason when they select the not ready state. Required: A reason is required when the agent is in the not ready state. Not Required: No reason is required for the not ready state. Server Defined: Uses the global setting defined on the IPCM server via the IPCM Management Portal.
Wrapup Timeout	The automatic wrapup timeout for all agents in the group after one call ends and before the ready status is enabled for the next call. Not Required: An automatic wrapup time is not required. Server Defined: Uses the global setting defined on the IPCM server via the IPCM Management Portal. Group Defined: The wrapup timeout value entered is applied to all agents in the group. To specify the wrapup timeout setting at the agent level, see Configuring Voice Agent Properties.
Wrapup (Seconds)	The wrapup timeout time in seconds. Appears if you select Group Defined for the Wrapup Timeout field.
Initial Agent Status	The initial agent status upon login. Ready: The agent is ready to take calls. Not Ready: The agent is not ready to take calls. Select an initial not ready reason. Server Defined: Uses the global setting defined on the IPCM server via the IPCM Management Portal.
Initial Not Ready Reason	The initial reason for the not ready status that appears when the agents in the group first log in. This field is enabled if you enter not ready or server defined for the Initial Agent Status field. Server Defined: Uses the global setting defined on the IPCM server via the IPCM Management Portal. <no reason>:Does not enter a default reason. Pick from group defined reason: The system applies the value entered to all agents in the group when they are in the initial not ready state.
Audit Group Agents	Determines if you want agents in the group to be audited. The audit option allows you to record agent state changes from the Agent dashboard. True: Audit all of the agents in the group. False: Does not audit all of the agents in the group. You can also configure agent auditing at the individual level, as described in the procedure Configuring Voice Agent Properties. Server Defined: Uses the global setting defined on the IPCM server via the IPCM Management Portal.

The Voice toolbar enables agents to manually indicate when they are in the ready state (available to handle calls) or the not ready state (unavailable to handle calls). If an agent switches to the not ready state, the toolbar allows the agent to select a defined not ready reason. To specify the not ready reason at the agent level, see Configuring Voice Agent Properties.

Click Save.

Creating Skill Groups

Skills are organized in skill groups. The default skill groups are technical skills, FrontRange products, and language. You can use these default skill groups and the skills they include or create new skills under the skill groups. You can also modify the skill groups, delete the default skill groups, and create new skill groups.

When you configure agent skill properties (as described in Configuring Voice Agent Skills), you use the skill groups created here to assign agents to skill groups.

Creating a Skill Group

While logged into HEAT as an administrator, open the Voice - Skill Group workspace.

Voice Skill Group Workspace

Click New Voice - Skill Group. The Skill Group page appears.

In the Name field, enter a unique skill name. For example, you might want to enter a skill group name called hardware if it does not exist.

Click Save.

In the bottom of the window, click New Voice - Skill. The New Voice - Skill window appears.

New Voice Skill Window

Enter a skill name for the skill group in the Name field. For example, for the skill group called hardware, you might want to enter a skill called telecom devices.

Click Save. The skill is added to the list.

Voice Skill Group

Repeat this procedure to create other skills.

Voice Synch Status

Synchronization between HEAT and IPCM occurs via a service running on the IPCM server. The service polls the configured HEAT server on a defined basis. If the service finds the Sync Status field set to start, it copies values from HEAT to IPCM.

Setting the Synchronization Period or Manually Requesting Synchronization

While logged into HEAT as the administrator, open the Voice - Synch Status workspace. The default sync record appears.

There is only one IPCM Synch Status record at a time.

Double-click the record to see the record details.

Ensure EnableSync is selected, then enter the following:

Field	Description
Sync Period (seconds)	The number of seconds after which synchronization starts.
Start Synch	Starts synchronization.
Notes	Additional information about this record.

The system hides the Start Synch button when a synchronization is scheduled or in progress.

Click Start Sync to set the sync status to start, which causes the synchronization service to run. The Synch Status record also shows the last synch date and result.

You can find additional details in the audit table. A backup of the host configuration and SIP server configuration files is automatically attached.

For security reasons, the HEAT user password is not accessible to the IPCM synchronization service, and therefore cannot be used to se the user's password in IPCM. If the user logs into IPCM through the Voice toolbar, the IPCM password for the user is not required and does not need to be set in IPCM. If you need to log into IPCM-specific applications, such as the management portal, agent dashboard, or web statistics console, you must open the IPCM Management Portal and manually set the user password there.