Siebel Universal Queuing Administration Guide > Installing and Running Siebel Universal Queuing > Configuring Siebel Universal Queuing >

Assigning Employee Skills

Siebel Universal Queuing uses a skills-based algorithm to determine the most qualified agent to handle a work item. To be considered a qualified agent by Siebel Universal Queuing, an employee must first be defined as an agent in a communications configuration. The employee then needs to have skill definitions assigned in the UQ Administration screen.

For more information about defining employee skills, refer to Applications Administration Guide.

In the case where more than one agent is qualified to handle a work item, then the work item will be assigned to the agent who was least recently assigned a work item.

An employee can have many skill definitions. Each skill definition consists of a skill identifier (skill ID), a skill value (competency), and a skill expertise value ranging from Novice to Expert. A skill identifier can be used multiple times with different skill competencies when defining an employee's skill set. The same skill competency can be used for more than one skill identifier.

For example, an employee could have the following skill definition:

Skill expertise values are always considered to be greater than or equal to. For example, a work item requiring a skill expertise of Novice could be handled by an agent with a skill expertise of Intermediate or Expert. However, a work item requiring a skill expertise of Expert would not be routed to an agent with a skill expertise of Intermediate or Novice.

A predefined list of skill identifiers and allowable skill competencies is loaded each time the routing engine is started. These skill identifiers and competencies are lists of values created in the Applications Administration screen. Skills are stored in the database, using the Skill:skill_name parameter. The skill identifiers and skill competencies are data items used by the routing rules to match against work item data properties. For more information about this parameter, see Table 7.

A virtual agent skill called AgentID is automatically added to an agent's skill profile when the agent logs on. The AgentID value is equal to the agent's user ID with an expertise value of expert. This virtual agent skill can be used just as any other skill when defining escalation rules. The purpose of this skill is to simplify routing of work items to a specific agent. For information on using the virtual agent skill in route escalations, see Defining a Route Escalation.

An agent's skill profile is made available to Siebel Universal Queuing when that agent logs on. The agent's skill profile can be changed through the UQ Administration screen while the agent is logged on by using the Notify UQ button. Notify UQ reloads routes and skill definitions. For more information, see Notifying Siebel Universal Queuing of Updates.

Employee skills are defined through the Employees view in the UQ Administration screen.

To assign a skill to an employee

1. From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > UQ Administration > Employees.
2. Select the desired employee.
3. From the Skills list, add a new record.
4. Choose a skill category from the Skill drop-down list.
5. From the Employee Competencies list, add a new record.
6. In the Skill field, click the select button.

   The Skill dialog box appears.

7. Choose the specific skill from the list and click OK.

   For example, if you chose Product in Step 4, then you will see the Product drop-down list.

8. Choose the expertise level for the skill.

   The following expertise levels are available:

   • Expert
   • Intermediate
   • Novice
9. Save the skill record.
10. If the employee whose skills you have changed is currently logged on to Siebel Universal Queuing, click Notify UQ.

    Otherwise, the changes will take affect the next time the employee logs on. If you have added a new Skill:skill_name configuration parameter, then you must use Notify UQ. For more information, see Notifying Siebel Universal Queuing of Updates.

11. Continue to add skills in the Employees view, as needed, to create skill profiles for employees.