Workaround for Max Number of Calls?

[rickcrum]

Good Afternoon,

I did some searches on this but the only results I found were that Maximum Number of calls should be set to 2 and Busy Trigger set to 1.

We have a scenario where an agent occasionally has to place simultaneous calls to Tier 2 support as well as Foreign Translation Services, which makes 3 concurrent calls on the one line, exceeding the supported configuration.

Does anybody have a workaround for this?

I tried placing the maximum number of calls to 3 but that has caused issues with functionality/reporting

My only other idea would be to place a second DN on the phone, the only issue there that I can see is it sends the agent into work mode once the call is conferenced in on the second line-- not an end of the world but technically they aren't in work mode yet so they would have to change their state which I could also see some reporting issues resulting from it.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

[Marek (gaman-gt.com)]

Hey Rick,

I think that there is no easy way to workaround your requirement. Below you will find an idea of solution that might work for you, but it will require some development effort. I didn’t test this solution and I don’t guarantee it will work but, in my opinion, from high level it looks ok. In general, it should allow you to multiplex more than 2 expert calls having primary call on hold. I’m not sure how this will affect the reports, but the stats can look better compared to multiline implementation or not supported value of Max Calls. So, here is the idea:

Requirements

1. Custom Finesse Gadget that will allow to manage the internal calls to expert teams including start, retrieve, end call features
2. Session server – web server that would be used to pass the data between Finesse gadget and the UCCX queueing script
3. UCCX queueing script – basic UCCX script with hold and transfer features. The logic of the script can be bind into the following points:
   1. The call arrives at the queue script
   2. The hold music is played for the duration of n seconds
   3. Script communicates with session server and pulls the status/instruction what to do with the call. The possibilities are:
      1. Wait in queue, go to point b
      2. End call and terminate script
      3. Transfer to agent and terminate script

How it will work

1. The customer calls the agent and agent answers the call (Call 1)
2. Agent decides that the treatment requires support from first expert team. Agent goes to gadget and hits the button to make a call to Expert Team 1.
3. At this point Gadget communicates with session server and requests new session ID. Then the call is initiated (Call 2). Call 1 is put on hold.
4. The gadget updates the 2 call variables:
   1. one of the CV gets the session ID
   2. puts the agent extension to second CV
5. The call is answered by expert team, conversation takes place
6. At some point, agent decides that the he needs other opinion from Expert Team 2. Agent goes to Gadget and hits button dedicated for this team.
7. The gadget does the following logic
   1. Transfers the Call 2 to the queue script. The call disappears from Finesse
   2. Gadget communicates with session server and requests new session ID for the Call 3
   3. Gadget initiates a new call
   4. Once the call is initiated updates the 2 call variables (one for the session ID second one for agent extension)
8. Agent decides to retrieve the Call 2, so it goes back to Gadget and hits the retrieve Call 2 button.
9. Gadget:
   1. Transfers the Call 3 to the queue script. The call disappears from Finesse
   2. Communicates with session server and tells the session server that the call needs to be passed back to agent
10. The script during check call status (from session server) receives the instruction to transfer the call back to agent. Because the agent has already a call, this operation must be done via transfer to extension node.
11. The call arrives at Finesse, and agent answers the call.
12. If the agent decides to switch again the calls, then go back to point 6
13. If the agent decides to end the expert call, then he can use Gadget End call feature
14. If the Call 1 ends all active Expert calls (Call 1, Call2) should be terminated by Gadget.

To avoid any issues, all Expert calls that are active and use a session server need to have a heartbeat mechanism implemented on the gadget side.

[rickcrum]

Thanks Marek,

I will keep this in mind and maybe work on this in my spare time as a mini project. If I get it working I will post my results here.

[Chris Deren]

+5 for Marek for proposed solution.  But to keep things simple as you suggested simply add another personal line appearance on the phone for agents to use to make these outbound calls.

[rickcrum]

Thanks Chris,

I will most likely be implementing this for at least more logical reporting.

Just kind of a follow-up question: Is there a particular reason why the phone will hang up Line 1 when conferencing it into Line 2? I would think this is by design since Line 1's extension would essentially be inactive, I was just hoping to know why. I that in Finesse, the call from the desk phone shows 'XXXX.YYYY where XXXX' is line 1's extension and YYYY is line 2.

Any insight would be helpful, I would think this maybe due to the phone only capable of one RTP stream whereas kepping both lines active on the same call would create two separate streams. And then my other thought was that it would create hairpinning within the phone.

[Chris Deren]

Right, you cannot conference 2 lines from the same phone with each other because only one stream can be active at a time. Why would you ever want to do this?