Ask the Expert: Finesse for UCCX, next generation agent desktop and transitioning from CAD

[ciscomoderator]

This topic is a chance to discuss more about the new agent desktop from Cisco - ‘Finesse’. The discussion will be more about generic capabilities of Finesse and how it fits into the UCCX environment. This is a chance to discuss more about the new features introduced into Finesse UCCX to provide a 100% parity with the features of CAD. We can also discuss about the transition from CAD to Finesse – best practices, support for migration, limitations and things to look out for.

Ask your Questions from March 13 through March 27, 2015

Abhiram Kramadhati is a Technical Solutions Manager with the Contact Centre business unit. He has been working with Cisco Contact Centre since he joined Cisco. During four years at Cisco, he has built his expertise around Cisco UCCX telephony applications, Java Telephony API (JTAPI) integration, Cisco UCCX system behavior, LDAP components, and Cisco UCCX as IP interactive voice response in Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE) environments. He also works on other technologies, including Unified Communications Manager and UCCE. He has been involved in many technical escalations in the Asia Pacific region. Abhiram also holds a CCIE in voice (40065).

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[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi Alex,

I confirmed this with the product team that it is not possible in the current implementations and they have added it as a requirement in the future releases, though not sure on the exact timelines.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi Alex,

There has been an enhancement defect opened up for this: CSCut55671 and it has been added to the roadmap officially. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[alex_hannah]

Hello,

Does Cisco or the BU have a CAD vs Finesse comparision feature matrix that is up to date?  ie I would like a document of all features that are supported in CAD vs Finesse in 10.5/10.6 and proposed in 11.x?

That would be most helpful for pretty much any integrator/var and others on these threads.

Do you have a roadmap of feature enhancements expected for Finesse v 11.x?

Thanks!

Alex

CCIE Collab #25803

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi Alex,

I just had a quick call with the product team and they will provide a brief overview of the new features in 11.0 by next week, I will share the same with you. In case I don't get the document before this event ends, I will make sure I send you an email with the information.

For the comparison of CAD and Finesse, this document should help you. Please let me know if you need any clarifications.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[alex_hannah]

Does Cisco have any documentation on creating an publishing a custom Cisco Finesse gadget?  ie I am looking for a step by step guide for creating a gadget to be included inside Finesse with all options specific to Finesse... I am NOT looking for any documentation on 3rd party systems, such as ERP, etc... just the basic steps to get a gadget up and working. 

I looked out on the developer.cisco.com site, but it's pretty limited...

Also, do you know anyone who has experience with NovelVox?  They have a 3rd party Finesse gadget designer application, do you know anyone who has used this?  Is it any good?  Worth the $$$?

Thanks!

Alex

CCIE Collab #25853

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi Alex,

Good question. Usually, I redirect partners to this page where you can download these host of sample gadgets. The gadgets themselves have readme's with detailed descriptions of how to upload the gadget files, how they were created etc. This is usually the best place to start. 

One suggestion I would like to make is not to modify the layout for all your agents when testing gadgets. Create a test team and check the 'Override system default layout' and modify the layouts for that team only. This will ensure that only a subset of agents are affected by the changes in layouts/gadgets initially and you can roll it out to the rest of the contact center in phases. 

I would not be really able to comment on 3rd party gadgets, but I know there are a number of qualified vendors who are listed on the 'Market Place Solutions Catalog' - link.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[ewindgat]

Cisco offers two resources. Sample gadgets, and a Finesse developer guide.

Sample gadgets:

https://developer.cisco.com/site/finesse/downloads/sample-gadgets/

Developer guide:

https://developer.cisco.com/fileMedia/download/90f66367-13f0-41a9-aadd-84df32057afe

[Mark C]

Hi,

Quick question do customers have to buy a new license for finesse to be able to migrate to Finesse or the existing CAD license will transfer to a Finesse license? I understand that unlike CAD, finesse doesn't have different flavours e.g. standard, enhanced and premium. Does it matter if a customer has Standard vs. Enhanced or Premium for the purpose of migration to Finesse?

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi Mark,

Yes, the existing licenses will still be valid, so you can upgrade to a finesse supported version with the licenses you have. However, please note that Finesse service in itself is available for Enhanced and Premium licenses. 

While you could upgrade to a finesse-supported version on standard, you will not be able to activate finesse unless you move to enhanced of premium. This tables describes the same:

It can be found in the guide here.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[Mark C]

In this instance, we are specifically looking to go to Packaged CCE from UCCE  for the sake of simplified administration. We currently use Cisco Agent Desktop (CAD) Stanadrd Edition on UCCE however Packaged CCE doesnt support CAD and we must use finesse or CTI OS. IF we want to use finesse we must first upgrade to CAD Premium on UCCE and then migrate to finesse OR buy net new Finessee licenses. So in this instance, can we simply use a custom CTIOS without having to upgrade the CAD to premium? We are essentially trying to save the cost of upgrading standard to enhanced and then premium.

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi Mark,

I just want to take a step back on my previous answer. That answers is relevant to UCCX only where we activate Cisco Finesse as a service from the CLI. In that respect, the license package is relevant. 

Now, moving from UCCE and PCCE is not that straight forward. How large is your current deployment? Could you please provide some details on the agent distribution etc.? Regarding licensing - it has more to do with your PCCE configuration and initialisation as mentioned in the guide. There is no specific license you would be uploading for Finesse but the number of agents are limited by the sizing. 

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[James Hawkins · Accepted solution]

Hello,

My first UCCX Finesse deployment has just gone live and one issue that has been raised is about phonebooks.

Using CAD agents were able to add/delete entries to UCCX phonebooks and also use them to place outbound calls.

Under Finesse the only way that I can see to manage phonebooks is under Finesse Administration and the phone book is only available when transferring a call. Am I missing something?

If not I would like Cisco to provide a gadget that would allow users to access UCCX phone books and use them for outbound calls. Is this something that you could raise with the product team?

Thanks

James

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi James,

The phonebooks are available whenever the phone gadget is invoked. For example, the agent can click on 'Make a New Call' and select a number from the phone book. Here is a screenshot:

Is this what you are looking for? This is a regular outbound call the agent is trying to initiate from the Finesse desktop. You can configure the phone books from the Finesse Administration and assign the phone books to either all users or teams only, and then go to the 'Team Resources' page and assign the phone book to the team. Currently there is support for 10 global phone books and 50 team phone books.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065

[James Hawkins]

Hi Abhiram,

Thank you for your answer. I have configured the phone books and the allocated one appears when transferring a call using Finesse.

My issue is with making an outgoing call using Finesse as I did not seem to be seeing the "Make a New Call" button on the agent workspace. Should this just appear on the Home tab or is it in the Manage Call tab?

I am not at the site today but will check again later. I did change the default Finesse layout so that the queues and agents gadgets are displayed side by side rather than stacked and I am still having CTI issues with the 7841 phones used by agents so I guess these could be the cause of the issue.

I will do some testing in a day or so to see if I can fix it. Thanks for your response as I know now that the phonebooks are available for outbound calls.

I am really enjoying this Ask the Expert session - it is running during my first Finesse deployment which is a fortunate coincidence!

[Abhiram Kramadhati]

Hi James,

The phonebooks appear when you click on the 'Make a New Call' button, which is available in the default home page. 

I think the confusion arises for the agents because this option is seen only if the state is NOT-READY. The screenshots are shown below:

So that might be the reason the agents are seeing the phone books only during transferring the call. 

Glad the session is helpful, James. Even post the event, please feel free to reach out to me for any clarifications.

Cheers,

Abhiram Kramadhati, CCIE Voice # 40065