Setting Up Unified Agent Desktop

This chapter provides an overview of Unified Agent Desktop (UAD) and discusses how to:

Configure agents for Unified Agent Desktop.
Define Multichannel Toolbar settings.

Understanding Unified Agent Desktop

The Unified Agent Desktop is a consolidated tool that provides agents easy access to tasks of different media (phone calls, email, chat, and generic tasks). This section discusses:

Multichannel Toolbar.
Application dispatcher.
Channel-specific workspaces.
Task management.

Multichannel Toolbar

Multichannel Toolbar, the focal point of the UAD, is where agents receive and process incoming tasks. From the toolbar, agents receive notifications about inbound tasks from queues (both voice and multichannel) to which they are logged on. Agents can also perform relevant actions on those tasks. When agents log on to either the voice queue or the multichannel queue, the toolbar starts automatically. Multichannel Toolbar provides a task navigation window for agents to switch among tasks that they work on concurrently. Agents can perform activities such as these from the toolbar:

Receive inbound phone calls and perform CTI functions such as transfer, hold, conference call, release, and so on.
Place outbound calls.
Receive and process inbound email.
Receive and process inbound chat requests, both customer to agent and agent to agent.
Initiate outbound chat requests to other agents.
Receive and process generic tasks, such as working on a support case.
View statistics of queues that agents are currently logged on.

Multichannel Toolbar Appearance

When agents log on to PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture, the toolbar appears as a pagelet on the top or bottom of the home page. As they navigate to different components, the toolbar appears across the top of CRM component pages that use the DEFAULT_TEMPLATE portal template because Iscript makes use of this template to render the toolbar. Wherever an agent navigates, the application dispatcher passes the information about the toolbar state to make sure that the toolbar state remains consistent in different browser windows.

The pagelet for Multichannel Toolbar appears only after it is added to the Content link on the home page. If an agent adds the pagelet but is not yet configured as a voice or configured agent, a message shows in the toolbar notifying the agent and the toolbar will not start.

Agent Status Update

Agents can update their queue statuses on the Multichannel Toolbar using the two sets of status codes that are defined for the toolbar. From the status settings window, agents can perform these actions:

Log on or log off from the corresponding multichannel queue server or the CTI system.
Update the status for the corresponding queue, such as making themselves available for incoming tasks or unavailable with a reason.

Based on configuration, agents can be placed in certain statuses automatically. For example, their voice queue status changes to busy after they accept phone calls. They may also enter the wrap-up status after they finish or release calls.
Log on to another multichannel queue to which agents are assigned.
Resynchronize the voice queue.

Application Dispatcher

Application dispatcher is a small browser window that launches when agents log on to PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture. It is responsible for processing all events requested and received from the CTI queue and multichannel queue systems for the Multichannel Toolbar. Application dispatcher provides the Multichannel Toolbar a set of encapsulated APIs for executing and interpreting corresponding JSMCAPI events and messages.

Application Dispatcher Behavior When Different Agents Log On to PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture

When a user logs on to PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture and the application dispatcher is about to launch, it first checks if an instance of application dispatcher already exists because this user is the last user who logged on to the machine. If so, it will not be started because only one instance is allowed for any given session. If the application dispatcher window remains open after the last user logged off, the system closes it automatically when a different user logs on to PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture from the same machine at a later time. A system message appears and the new user must log on to PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture again to access the Multichannel Toolbar. Application dispatcher determines the appropriate channel access for agents on the Multichannel Toolbar.

The window attributes of the application dispatcher are predefined and cannot be updated by agents.

Important! Do not close the application dispatcher window while in session. All the current UAD sessions will be terminated if the application dispatcher window is closed. Close the window after logging off from the system.

Tracer Window

In addition to the application dispatcher window, agents may notice the launch of a tracer window when they log on to queues. The tracer window appears if the administrator enables tracing in the agent's voice, multichannel, or both configurations for debugging purposes. If the levels of tracing set up for both configurations are different, the deeper level is used.

Session Management

Sometimes agents work on multiple tasks simultaneously, and each task has its own browser window with the Multichannel Toolbar. The system uses the application dispatcher to manage browser instances. To make sure that content appears consistently in all toolbar instances, each of them needs to be registered with the application dispatcher. Therefore, when a change occurs on one instance, the application dispatcher can pass on the corresponding event and invoke the session-specific function in each instance. When the function receives that event, it can render the changed content and updates it on the Multichannel Toolbar accordingly. When a browser window is closed, that instance is unregistered from the application dispatcher. All browser instances are disabled if the application dispatcher window is closed by accident. If the task browser window is closed, a new browser window will be relaunched.

To summarize, the application dispatcher maintains:

Content consistency in Multichannel Toolbar instances.
A task navigation list.

The application dispatcher ensures that the list is updated when the agent receives or finishes a task.
An internal chat list.

The application dispatcher is responsible for initiating agent-to-agent chat and ensures that the list is updated when the agent receives or finishes an agent-to-agent chat session.

The multichannel queue system processes external chat requests.
Agent states.

In each toolbar instance, the application dispatcher maintains the agent's state in the queues to which they log on. The Multichannel Toolbar leverages this information to correctly render user action buttons.
The 10 most recently dialed phone numbers in the phone directory for outbound calls.

This data is no longer available if the agent logs off from PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture and logs on again.

Channel-Specific Workspaces

After agents accept tasks from the Multichannel Toolbar, the system launches a work page where agents begin their work based on the media type of the tasks.

Voice Tasks

Depending on the caller information that the CTI middleware provides, the system launches the proper CRM transaction page, which can be the 360-Degree View of the caller or the Case page that populates with the caller's case information.

When an incoming call arrives, it's routed to a voice agent based on availability and workload. If the agent cannot accept the call within the preset timeout value, the system routes the call to the next available agent.

See Mapping CTI Transactions to Application Pages.

Email Tasks

The system launches the email workspace when agents accept inbound email.

See Managing Email.

Chat Tasks

When agents accept chat requests, the chat workspace appears in a separate browser window. In addition to the chat window, agents can view a CRM page that is presented based on the self-service page that the chat request originated.

If the agent cannot accept a chat task from the toolbar within the preset timeout value, the system routes it to the next available agent (customer-to-agent chat tasks) or drops it (agent-to-agent chat tasks).

Generic Tasks

Generic tasks are specific to PeopleSoft PeopleTools. For testing purposes, if you want to see incoming generic tasks appear on the Multichannel Toolbar from another system, send the generic tasks from the other system through the PeopleTools sample pages.

Note. To accept sample generic tasks, use the delivered users SD_ADMIN or SD_SUPERVISOR to log on to the system on which you are testing the Multichannel Toolbar.

Task Management

When agents accept calls, email, or chat requests or open other work items, these items are organized under the task navigation list. To work on an item, agents click it from that list and the window of that item appears as either a new browser window or within the work area of the same window that is currently open on the desktop.

All open and accepted items remain in the task list until they are dequeued from the corresponding system. The queue server monitors items that have been accepted to maintain adherence to service levels that are defined for items posted to the agent.

Agent-to-agent chat tasks appear in a separate agent chat navigation list.

Configuring Agents for Unified Agent Desktop

This section discusses how to:

Define general settings.
Define reason codes.
Define presence codes.

Pages Used to Configure Agents for Unified Agent Desktop

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Unified Agent Desktop Agent Configuration	RB_UAD_AGENT_CFG	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Unified Agent Desktop, Agent Configuration, Unified Agent Desktop Agent Configuration	Define general settings.
Presence Codes	RB_UAD_PRESENCE_CD	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Unified Agent Desktop, Agent Configuration, Presence Codes	Define presence states for agents.

Defining General Settings

To define general settings, use the Unified Agent Desktop Agent Configuration (RB_UAD_AGENT_CFG) component.

Access the Unified Agent Desktop Agent Configuration page.

Warning and Expired

Minute and Second

Enter the time length after which incoming task durations are highlighted in the form of an alert on the Multichannel Toolbar if they remain unattended.

You can specify two levels of warning alerts; one to appear after 10 minutes have elapsed and another one after 20 minutes if the agent hasn't responded to the task.

Style and Display Image

Select the style class (determining the highlight color) and icon used for the alerts. You can view a sample alert next to the Display Image field when you save.

CTI Parameters

Extension 1 and Extension 2

Enter the agent's phone extensions if they support voice tasks.

These phone extensions are automatically populated in a pop-up window and are used when you log on to the Multichannel Toolbar. This window appears if you log on from a computer for the first time. The system then stores the extension information in a cookie for future reference.

PeopleTools support two configuration options: 2 lines with one extension and 1 line with two extension. Based on the way the system is configured, either both extension fields appear, or only the Extension 1 field appears.

Number of Recently Dialed Numbers to Remember

Specify the number of last dialed phone numbers that Multichannel Toolbar stores for the agent to retrieve quickly when making calls. By default, it stores the 10 most recently dialed numbers.

Default Agent Queue

Default Agent Queue

Select the default multichannel queue to which the agent should be logged after a multichannel session is established successfully.

By default, this is the logical queue with auto-login enabled in the multichannel queue configuration for this agent.

Defining Reason Codes

Access the Reason Code page in PeopleTools CTI configuration (the CTI link) to define codes that are used to specify reasons for an agent's unavailability.

See Enterprise PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

Defining Presence Codes

Access the Presence Codes page.

Presence codes for voice and multichannel channels can be defined in three places, the Agent Default grid, the System Defined Entries grid, and on the Status Codes page. Each of these definitions takes precedence over the others.

For example, if no agent-specific codes are defined, the system-specific codes are used. If system defaults are unavailable, then status codes on the Status Codes page are used in the Queue Status window on the Multichannel Toolbar. The latter two sets of codes, when defined, apply to all agents in the system.

Note. Each channel and presence state combination can only be defined once in these grids. Error messages appear if the system detects duplicate rows.

The system asks for a reason code when you select the Not Ready presence state for voice.

Voice channel has these four presence states: Ready, Not Ready, Work Ready, and Work Not Ready. Three presence states are available for multichannel channel: Available, Unavailable, and Assumed Unavailable.

System Defined Entries

Site administrators use this group box to specify presence codes to be used by all agents.

Agent Default

Use this group box to specify presence texts for the available (ready for voice channel) and unavailable (not ready for voice channel) states to be used by the selected agent on the Queue Status window. If these states are not specified here, the system uses the system defined entries.

Additional statuses detailing the cause of unavailability, such as busy, at lunch, on break, do not disturb, and so on, are defined on the Status Codes page and shared with all agents.

Agents can only modify their own presence states and texts.

Defining Multichannel Toolbar Settings

To define multichannel toolbar settings, use the Console Definition (RB_UAD_CODE_DEFN) component.

This section discusses how to:

Specify action buttons.
Define category codes.
Define status codes.

Pages Used to Define Multichannel Toolbar Settings

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Unified Agent Desktop Action Button Definition	RB_UAD_BTN_DEFN	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Unified Agent Desktop, Console Configuration, Unified Agent Desktop Action Button Definition	Specify button icons and labels that are used for voice tasks.
Category Codes	RB_UAD_CATEGORY	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Unified Agent Desktop, Console Configuration, Category Codes	Define categories that are used to group tasks when they are closed.
Status Codes	RB_UAD_CHANL_STAT	Set Up CRM, Product Related, Multichannel Definitions, Unified Agent Desktop, Console Configuration, Status Codes	Define sets of statuses for voice and multichannel queue tasks.

Specifying Action Buttons

Access the Unified Agent Desktop Action Button Definition page.

Display Option

Select the form to display call action buttons. Options are text and image.

Call Action

Select the JavaScript event to be executed when the corresponding button is clicked on the Multichannel Toolbar.

Disabled

Select to remove the button from the Multichannel Toolbar.

Label

Enter a short name for the button. The system uses it as the button name if the display option is text. The maximum length of the name is three characters.

Enabled Button Image

Select the icons that are used when the corresponding call actions are available.

Disabled Button Image

Select the icons that are used when the corresponding call actions are unavailable.

Only the Dial Out button has a disabled version button. For other actions that cannot be preformed at any given state, their buttons do not appear.

Defining Category Codes

Access the Category Codes page.

Define entries in the Category Codes group box to be used to categorize call, email, and customer to agent chat tasks. They appear in the Category drop-down list box of the Multichannel Toolbar in the order specified here. Generic tasks are not categorized.

Defining Status Codes

Access the Status Codes page.

Use this page to define status codes that are used to represent agent states in the Queue Status window for voice and multichannel queues.

Order	Enter the sequence in which the status appears in the corresponding status pop-up window.
Status Label and Event	Enter the name of the status to appear in the status pop-up window and the JavaScript event that executes when this status is selected.
Image Name	Select the image used to represent the status. By default, each event is associated with an icon. You can preview the selected icon to the right of this field.
Reason Code	Enter the reason code for unavailability statuses.

Display Option	Select the form to display call action buttons. Options are text and image.
Call Action	Select the JavaScript event to be executed when the corresponding button is clicked on the Multichannel Toolbar.
Disabled	Select to remove the button from the Multichannel Toolbar.
Label	Enter a short name for the button. The system uses it as the button name if the display option is text. The maximum length of the name is three characters.
Enabled Button Image	Select the icons that are used when the corresponding call actions are available.
Disabled Button Image	Select the icons that are used when the corresponding call actions are unavailable. Only the Dial Out button has a disabled version button. For other actions that cannot be preformed at any given state, their buttons do not appear.