Prioritizing calls on CSQ1 over CSQ2

[floatingpurr]

I have two CSQs: CSQ1 and CSQ2. Both are skill-based: SKILL1 and SKILL2. I have a pool of agents with both SKILL1 and SKILL2 with different weights. I'm wondering if there is a way to prioritize calls coming from CSQ1 over the calls from CSQ2. AFAIU, playing with the weights of the skills just changes how the CCX picks the agent for next incoming call, but it doesn't prioritize the calls. The only way seems logging more agents on CSQ1. Am I right?

Bonus question: how does the CCX select if the next processed call comes from CSQ1 or CSQ2? Do calls belong to a unique FIFO buffer (i.e., the oldest call is the next one, regardless of its CSQ)?

[david.macias]

CSQ do not have priority, but calls do. Increase the priority of the calls that enter CSQ1. Calls are selected based on oldest AND highest priority.

david

[floatingpurr]

Hi @david.macias, I had also reasoned about something like that. However, in my case, calls in CSQ1 are really much more than calls in CSQ2. If I set a higher priority for calls in CSQ1, calls in CSQ2 risk to be never connected to any agent. 

[Elliot Dierksen]

That sounds like there aren't enough agents to handle the call volume. There is no way to script around that. You could try to keep it from being as bad if you have something in the queued branch for calls to CSQ2 to increment the priority after a certainly amount of hold time. This assumes that you only increment the priority of calls to CSQ1 by 1. Once the priority of calls is the same, the call waiting longer in CSQ2 should get answered.

[floatingpurr]

Hi @Elliot Dierksen, yep: rising the priority after a certain amount of time can be a solution. I have 10 agents. What about giving them all the SKILL1 (high priority), and giving SKILL2 (low priority) just to 4 of them? This configuration should give an implicit priority to calls in CSQ1.

Side question: Can supervisors modify agent skills?

> Yes, see here

[Elliot Dierksen · Accepted solution]

There are multiple ways to approach the problem, but a lot of it varies based on your call volume and staffing levels. This is something I would draw out on a whiteboard or maybe flow chart it in something like visio. As you have discovered, you can inadvertently create situations where you starve out a CSQ/class of calls. When you lay it all out, hopefully you can see those traps. I will go back to the earlier statement about staffing levels and say that if all your agents are on the phone taking calls when they should be and you can't answer all the calls, you don't have enough agents. You can play with priorities, skills, etc but all you do then is shift around who loses out. You can't make more calls get answered in a script.

[floatingpurr]

I got your point. In my case, given a fixed amount of resources, I need to process somehow more calls coming from CSQ1 than from CSQ2. To summarize what arose in this thread:

• you can push calls ahead with priority (pay attention to starving calls!)
• you can try to set skills to have more agents logged on CSQ1 than on CSQ2

I understand that this is a staffing problem in the long term. I'm looking for a "hacky" solution to mange this situation in the very short term.

[Elliot Dierksen · Accepted solution]

I think you are on the right track. All you can do is look at the reports, particularly the abandoned calls by CSQ. If you can live with where those numbers are, then you are good. If not, then you can play around with the mix.

[david.macias]

LIke it's been stated create windows of time where you move calls up priority. CSQ1 move them up earlier than CSQ2. For example, CSQ1 goes up in priority immediately, then CSQ2 goes up after 3 minutes of hold time. Now where this breaks down is that if you have a lot of CSQ2 calls then CSQ1 will have to wait its turn unless you then move CSQ1 calls up again after 5 minutes, but then the reverse happens. If you have too many CSQ1 calls they wills starve CSQ2. Ultimately, the only way to really fix this is with staffing and every "hack" will have a scenario where one group could starve another.

david

[floatingpurr]

Hi @david.macias, a way to prevent the call starvation can be the following:

• CSQ1: priority for calls = 2
• CSQ2: priority for calls = 1, then set priority = 2 after, say, 60 seconds

Working this way you are implicitly setting a pre-queue of 60 seconds for calls in CSQ2, but after that while, such calls enter the main flow with priority 2. AFAIU, this should avoid starving calls.

[david.macias]

Yes and no. If your handle time is greater than 60 seconds then you'll need a larger window. If your CSQ2 volume is significant larger than CSQ1 then priority will not really apply as the majority of calls will always end up at a 2 then defeating your point of giving priority to specific calls.

david

[frantzgoncalvesson812]

You're correct in your understanding. Adjusting skill weights mainly influences agent selection, not call prioritization between CSQs. To prioritize CSQ1 over CSQ2, logging more agents into CSQ1 is indeed the way to go.

Regarding your bonus question, in Cisco Contact Center Express (CCX), calls are typically placed in separate FIFO (First In, First Out) queues for each CSQ. So, the oldest call in each CSQ is processed next, Winsol review regardless of which CSQ it belongs to. Keep in mind that specific configurations can affect this behavior, so consulting Cisco's documentation or support might offer further insights.