Best practice for handling callback appointment schedules

Before you start any configuration, you should read the following tips, guiding you through best way of handling the callback appointment schedule function.

Start by doing this in ACE Admin

1. Unique IVR Menu choices
   • Decide which IVR menu will lead to a callback appointment.
   • Configure one menu exit for each department or group handling their own specific clients/patients/customers.
   • See Basics about Menu choices and The Entrances, menu choices and task types window.
2. Unique callback appointment schedules
   • Create one unique callback appointment schedule per department or group handling their own specific clients/patients/customers.
   • If the organisation area specific system parameter callbackDuplicatePolicy is set to Avoid duplicates within the same task type, a phone number can only be used once per task type, i.e. you avoid having one person/number book multiple appointments with the same task type. The default task type configured per appointment schedule in ACE Admin is a fall-back used if a task type has not already been assigned to the appointment in the IVR. It is also set for manual bookings performed by an agent in ACE Interact.
   • Adjust the amount of calls to be handled to each group's experienced needs. How many minutes are usually required per appointment and how many agents will be available to handle concurrent appointments?
   • See Basics about Callback appointment schedule and The Callback appointment schedule window.
3. Menu objects in dialogue flow
   • Connect each callback appointment schedule to its own unique menu exit in the dialogue flows. Set the key Appointment schedule to the name of the appointment schedule as configured in the Callback appointment schedule window. The Task type key can optionally be configured to the desired value, as described under Unique callback appointment schedules.
   • Use a menu template with switches on the menu exit. For the menu exit, set the switch to use a schedule with the times the caller will be offered to start booking an appointment. This schedule must close no later than the closing time of the callback appointment schedule. The closed exit of the switch object should have a phrase which describes the opening times for making appointments. For example, the opening times for the menu could be 8-10 and the bookable interval 9-15. This means that the customer may call to book appointments between 8 and 10 and the appointments to book takes place between 9 and 15. The open exit of the switch object must continue to a goto object. This goto object shall be connected to the callback appointment dialogue flow.
   • To get statistics of callers who wants to book an appointment, but calls outside of the opening times of the menu exit, call the subroutine StartClosed on the closed branch of the menu exit. StartClosed is a local subroutine in the callback appointment dialog flow.
   • See Basics about Menu objects and Schedules for IVRs included in cloud service.
4. One separate waiting list per schedule
   • Create a callback waiting list for each appointment schedule.
   • See The Add queue or waiting list window.
5. Treatment after feedback
   • Adjust the treatment of the callback records in the specific waiting list, taking the routines within the handling group into consideration. If there is no answer, after how many minutes shall a new attempt be made, and how many call attempts are reasonable before closing the callback record completely?
   • See Treatments for callback.
6. What to see in the waiting list
   • Configure a waiting list exception for your callback appointments list to display at least the following contact data:

     Contact data key	What is seen in the agent's waiting list
     colourTime	Colour by service level.
     dateTimeStart	Start time for the dial up interval, i.e. the time to call the callback record.
     outgoingAddress	Number to dial.
     comment	Any comment written into the callback record.

   • See Waiting lists in ACE Agent.
7. Routing
   • Do not escalate contacts from your callback appointments' waiting lists!

     In The Routing of contacts window, the Callback tab, create a routing rule based on contact data key appointmentScheduleName, without any escalation from the destination waiting list.

   • Also, add the appointmentScheduleName key to the Callback tab in the Routing search order window.
8. Users
• Make sure that the agents to handle the appointments have:
  1. the right skills in relation to the waiting list's skills constraint,
  2. a role including Execute deny outgoing call record the access function, as this provides the ability to write a comment on a callback record without making the actual call (by selecting the record in the waiting list followed by the feedback Refuse call and then writing a comment in the feedback support function before pressing OK).
• See Basics about skill based routing and Show access roles.

Daily routine in ACE Admin

This is what you need to look into in the daily work with appointment schedules:

• Are there overdue callback records, not yet handled by any agent? Are these records to be left to the next day, or closed by you?
• Are the time slots for the current bookable day suited to the amount of available agents at each moment? You can increase or decrease the number of concurrent appointments for time slots that have not yet passed, in order to match the actual staff capacity for the day.

See The Callback appointment schedule window and Edit callback record.

Working in ACE Agent

This is what the agent needs to know, and do:

• An agent should normally only serve one waiting list for callback appointments, and at that time be logged out from any other queue or waiting list.
• The waiting list for callback appointments is easiest to work with when sorted by the dateTimeStart column, in descending order, so that the record to be called first is seen at the bottom of the list.

Releasing scheduled appointments for re-use

You can release a time slot in an appointment schedule reserved for a callback record, and enable it for a different booking.

• A time slot will always be released if the agent is closing the record with the Feedback Close - Wrong number. This can be done without actually calling the callback by selecting the callback in the waiting list and then selecting the Refuse call button followed by End contact - Wrong number as feedback. To refuse an outgoing call is you need the access function Execute deny outgoing call record.
• For the administrator in ACE Admin, a callback appointment that has not yet been called by an agent can be closed by as any other callback record; see Treatments for callback. Closing an uncalled record will always release the schedule time slot previously reserved.
• A callback appointment schedule can be configured to release time slots where the booking is handled in advance, i.e. the booking is called and handled before the booked time has passed. This behaviour is configured in The Callback appointment schedule window. Note that in this case, all types of feedback leading to the callback record to be closed will release the time slot (including the two cases mentioned above).