SOFTEL knows it happens – sometimes. The worldly-wise Agent who has found various ways to “beat the system”. This blog post is a collection of scenarios which SOFTEL have witnessed over time – and it also gives some potential solutions and ways to monitor those bad habits;
FIFO Avoidance Tactics: If your contact center uses a version of FIFO for Call/Vector Routing (First In – First Out), it’s possible you might find a version of FIFO Avoidance by Agents. This means that the Agent Logging In “last” is generally routed to last, from the Inbound Queue. An Agent constantly Logging Out and immediately back in will place themselves in the “last” position on a frequent basis, affecting their availability/workload. Monitoring: Create a (BI) Report of the number of “Log In”/”Log Out” per Agent, per hour. If possible, get the timings for them, too. You would see a trend if there are too many or too frequent instances per Agent.
Ready/Not Ready/Ready: An Agent see’s Calls Queueing (on a Wallboard or similar) and times a “Not Ready”/”Ready” to coincide with the call’s arrival, effectively passing it off to another Agent, affecting their availability/workload. Monitoring: Create a (BI) Report of the number of “Ready”/”Not Ready” States per Agent, per hour. If possible, get the timings for them, too. Again, you would see a trend if there are too many or too frequent instances per Agent, if there is no legitimate reason for them doing so.
Short Call/No Call: An Agent is answering inbound calls – and immediately hanging up. Externally, you may begin to get complaints that your “system” is “down” when callers are correctly routed, only to be cut off by the Agent. Monitoring: Create a (BI) Report of the Average Talk Time per Agent, per hour. If possible, get the individual Total Talk Time per Agent, with the Total Number of Calls. The overall talk time for an Agent who hangs up on answer will indicate this trend.
Answer/Blind Transfer: An Agent is answering calls and transferring them immediately to an internal Queue. Monitoring: Create a (BI) Report of the Total Internal Transfers per Agent, per hour. If possible, include Total Number of Calls Answered and Total Number of Calls Transferred. Trends may emerge that indicate extended periods or instances of Transfers or Call Forwarding.
Answer/Mute Calls: An Agent is answering calls – on mute. After a short delay, they hang up the call and move onto the next. Monitoring: Create a (BI) Report of Average and Total Talk Time per Agent, per hour. If possible, include Total and Average Time on Mute. Trends may emerge that indicate extended periods or instances of Mute/Unmute.
These are just a few examples of “Agent Misbehaving” – the devil really is in the detail when it comes to monitoring and investigating. Also – don’t forget that, with any of these scenarios, an Agent may have a perfectly plausible and legitimate reason for their behavior!
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