Managing Tasks and Using Chat in PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework

This chapter discusses how to:

Click to jump to parent topicManaging Tasks with the MultiChannel Console

Use the MultiChannel Console to accept, respond to, transfer, and complete tasks and to initiate or join chat sessions.

This section discusses how to use the MultiChannel Console to work with tasks.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUsing the MultiChannel Console to Work with Tasks

If your user ID includes security permissions for PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework, the MultiChannel Console navigation tool appears in the universal navigation header. To access the console, click the tool.

You cannot launch two MultiChannel Consoles on the same workstation.

You can launch consoles on different workstations using the same user ID, but you cannot log on to physical queues served by the same MCF cluster.

When the MultiChannel Console is launched, it attempts to connect to the real-time event notification (REN) server associated with the last physical queue listed in the My Queue drop-down list box. If that REN server is not running, the agent receives an error message. If one or more of the agent's physical queues are associated with a running REN server, the agent can log on by selecting another queue.

Newly assigned tasks appear as a link above the Tasks drop-down list box, and display a flashing icon. Click the link to accept the task. Accepted tasks appear in the Tasks drop-down list box.

Collaborative chat requests (agent-to-agent chats) may appear as a link above the Agent Chats drop-down list box, but all collaborative chat requests (accepted or not) appear in the Agent Chats drop-down list box.

Configure the size and initial location of the MultiChannel Console on the agents Window Config (window configuration) page.

Note. If you use web content zones in Microsoft Internet Explorer security options, your PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture web server address and your REN server address must be in the same security zone.

If you use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security, you may receive a security warning message when your console first opens. You can accept the warning message without compromising SSL security.

Tasks

After you accept an assigned task, the task appears here.

Activate a task to work on by selecting it. Activating a task brings the window associated with that task to the foreground. If the associated task window is not running, it is launched by the console.

A task is removed from the task list when you mark the task as done using one of the following methods:

  • For email and generic tasks, the application page of the task may include a Done button; refer to the application's documentation.

  • For chat, the task is complete when the chat dialog ends.

Agent Chats

Displays a list of your collaborative chats, both accepted and requested, including a label indicating if the chat is inbound or outbound. Select a chat to activate it.

If you are invited to join in a chat session (conference), the conference chat is added to the list. After you accept the conference, the conference is added to the Tasks drop-down list box and removed from the Agent Chats drop-down list box. The chat is removed from the list when the chat dialog ends.

Buddies

Includes agents that are identified as buddies in your agent configuration. Add buddies on the Buddy List page of the Agent component.

To initiate a collaborative chat, select an agent. A chat dialog box displays.

Note. You can only initiate a collaborative chat with an agent who appears on your buddy list. However, if you appear on another agent's buddy list, that agent can initiate a collaborative chat with you, even if that agent is not one of your buddies.

My Queue

Select a queue to log on to that queue.

The drop-down list box includes the physical queues that you can access.

To change queues, select a new queue. You are logged off from the old queue and logged on to the selected queue.

Add or delete queues on the Queues page of the Agents component.

Presence

Displays your current presence and enables selection of a new presence. Select from:

  • Active

  • Inactive

Customize presence labels to more closely track agent activity. Edit your presence options on the Presence page of the Agent component.

If you select an inactive presence, an icon appears in the upper-left corner of the MultiChannel Console. Changes in agent presence are logged and include the customized presence description.

Presence status persists for eight hours from the time of its last change.

You can use hot key combinations, described in the following table, to navigate between MultiChannel Console fields:

Hot Key Combination

Opens

ALT + A

Agent chats

ALT + B

Buddies

ALT + P

Presence

ALT + Q

My Queues

ALT + T

Tasks

Click to jump to parent topicCommunicating with Customers and Agents Using Chat

This section discusses how to:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUsing the Agent Chat Window

When you accept a chat task, a chat window opens.

The format of the agent chat window and the contents of its right pane are delivered as part of PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework. The content of the left pane is determined by application developers, and is passed as a parameter to the InitChat() built-in function.

The following example shows an agent chat window:

Configure the size and initial location of the agent chat window on the agent's Window Config (window configuration) page.

Conversation History

Lists progress of the chat, line by line.

If chat logging is enabled, the conversation is recorded in the database chat log by the MCF log server. View the chat log on the Chat Log page.

If accessibility features are not turned off in the My Personalizations component, an additional text box appears below the conversation history. The most recent customer input appears in the secondary text box, which can be read by screen reading software.

Template Messages

Send the customer a standard message by selecting one from the list.

The message text appears in the Input Text text box. Click Send to send the message.

Edit template messages for each queue on the queue Chat Responses page.

Input Text

To respond to the customer, enter text, and then click Send or press Enter.

The maximum size of the text that can be sent at one time is 4096 bytes (4 kilobytes).

Send

Click to send the contents of the Input Text text box.

Exit Dialog

Click to end the chat.

The chat window remains open, enabling you to return to the page for follow-up work after the customer exits the dialog.

Static URL and Push

To send a static URL to the customer, select a URL name, then click Push.

When a URL is pushed to a customer, a browser window for that URL is launched on the customer's workstation.

URL

Displays static and grabbed URLs.

Select

Click to launch an application page, from which a URL can be returned to populate the URL field.

The format of the URL wizard page that appears when you click Grab is defined by application developers. PeopleSoft supplies a sample URL wizard page.

See Using the URL Wizard.

Forward to Queue

To forward the current chat to another queue, select the queue.

You can only forward to another physical queue, and that physical queue must be served by the same MCF cluster as the physical queue that assigned the chat.

Invite Buddy

To request that another agent join the chat, select the agent and click Go.

The buddy must be logged on to a physical queue that is served by the same MCF cluster as the physical queue that sent you this chat. Chat conferencing is only supported on customer-initiated chat sessions.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUsing the Customer Chat Window

When a customer initiates a chat, a chat window appears:

The format and content of the customer chat window is delivered as part of PeopleSoft MultiChannel Framework. The customer chat window includes a conversation history text box, input text box, and Send and Exit Dialog buttons.

If accessibility features are not turned off in the My Personalizations component, an additional text box appears below the conversation history. The most recent agent input appears in the secondary text box, which can be read by screen reading software.

Input Text

The customer enters text here.

The maximum size of the text that can be sent at one time is 4096 bytes (4 kilobytes).

Send

Click to send the input text to the agent.

Exit Dialog

Click to end the chat and close the chat window.

Note. The agent collaborative chat window is substantially the same as the customer chat window.