On an CS-50, if i have all calls answered by ID1 then if they press 1 for sales it routes them to a ACD dept....if only one person is logged in but nobody wants to pick up the call for a few minutes......how do i program so every call gets holds indefinatley untill somebody wants to pick up........

Why would no one want to pick up?

Sounds counter-productive.

what im asking is ...........if say you have 4 sales people all logged into ACD and all 4 of those people leave their desks to do what ever for a few minutes.....is there a way i can keep a caller on hold until they want to pick up?

Avalon, I'll write up a way for you to do this by the end of the day. While we are at it we should go ahead and program how much cream to put in each users coffee for them too.

Just kidding, I know the situation you are in. Making the dern things ring isn't enough anymore, god forbid someone should actually have to answer the friggin thing.

I'll be back! :toast:

Leave one logged in and try putting that one in DND and see what happens or connect them to another extension and make it look busy.

If that doesn't log you out then all other calls should sit in que until they get tired of waiting for the sales people to finish their cigarette break and hang up.

Give it a try - just shooting from the hip.

use the wrap key , and set the wrap timer to the amount of time they need.

The wrap key may be a solution for this customer......
I think from memory DND automatically logs you out.

I wish the ESI had some kind of queing flow box.....so after a caller presses 1 for sales....they are put on hold with music & "please wait for an agent" then an extention could see 3 customers queing in dept 280 for example on the display and pick them up at their leisure........

alot of people ask for things like this......the problem as I see it with the ACD dept is that if your logged on and don't pick up the call when its your turn you get logged off....

I understand your thought process Avalon but there is a flaw in the logic. The ACD is just electronic equipment that needs viable input. When any of the members of the ACD dept. log in they are telling the system "I am here & ready to take calls!" So in essence when they all wander off together without logging out they are lying to the system and it can't do it's job properly under false circumstances.

I know this isn't your fault but you gotta realize is you are trying to please some pretty ignorant customers. What they need is what ESI hasn't perfected yet and that is a butt switch. When their butt is in the chair then the system recognizes their presence and delivers calls, if all 4 butts are gone at once then an alarm message is sent to the business owner and the terminations begin, problem solves itself.

Since you don't have that option here is plan B. Change the dept to an "all call" and create an info box for it to go to when no one answers. Record a line of BS in the info box and have it go to the same dept again. This creates an endless loop of 6 rings then some BS, 6 rings and some BS yada yada yada..........

Whatcha think?

John this new product could be called ESI-Weight Management........ a sensor on each office chair detects if the person is sat in their chair.....kinda of like the airbag sensor in the passenger seat of your car.......

ESI Weight Management will take up one digital port........Beta testing will start soon.....

It doesn't solve the probem of not havig someone logged in, but you can monitor the queue. Make a user a supervisor and they can see the queue in the desplay just like another agent. If it gets backed up have them or someone else login.

Wht you're asking for defeats the purpose of the ACD group, it's supposed to be a call center type environment where ALL calls get answered in order AND when an agent is available, not to queue a bunch of calls while everyoe does god knows what other than answering a frigging phone! :bang:

Yes but correct spelling would be ESI Wait-Management :rofl:

What was I saying about ESI-ACD...getting logged off....oh, nevermind :shrug:

Brian - I think you were saying it works as designed - it's just that some employess don't work as designed.......or something close to that

Update... This customer did not want their clients calling in and leaving vmails, so I did this.

all lines route to ID1 "welcome to xxxxx please press 1 to speak to an agent"

routes to Dept 280 ACD with every phone able to log in & timer set to zero so as long as someone is logged in and on a call, calls will stay in Dept 280 forever.

if nobody is logged in to 280 then calls flow to Dept 281 a ring all dept.....if nobody picks up on 281 then 281 routes to info mailbox with some more BS then routes back to ACD 280.............


This is the classic case of a small to mid size business expecting new technology to cover the fact that they don't have enough staff to answer all the service calls they get each day.

most people in small business will not take the log in log out function of an ACD dept seriously......unlike a "real agent" that works in an actual call center.

having said that I wish ESI could do the "please stay on the line estimated wait time 5minutes" like the IP office can do.

The endless loop of BS! A proven policy of business operations world wide. :thumb:

Put the estimated wait time in the info mailbox recording. IP Office has not cornered the market on lying ya know.

This is very common and very true in my experience. It took me a while to realize it but it's important to know.

That said , does anyone know a way to get them to take it seriously?

If the staff are not equipped or willing to answer the call, and if the system were telling the ACTUAL wait time, wouldn't it just make the caller want to run off to the competitor? :shrug:

Justin

Good point Justin :thumb: If the system was feeding info to the caller based on the average time calls are being taken then it would be telling them 1 hour & 10 minutes. I don't think the boss would be pleased to call in and hear that.

Good point on the estimated wait time, I think I will get them to say 3 or 4 minutes in the Info MB if the caller gets that far.

The biggest challenge I have found with this game is managing customer expectation......It doesn't matter what make of system you put in.............

If you sell someone a hammer, and if the customer can hit a nail into a bit of wood then their expectations have been met & they are happy.

If you sell someone a black box of electronics with thousands of features & settings......then there always seem to be some gap between what they thought they were getting & what they got...........

Just pull the power cord from the cabinet. You save energy and destroy a business all in one shot!

Better yet, use the ID to Info box then forward to a Q&A and ask a bunch of useless questions, then send the call to a Pick up department with only one member, overflow that to a all ring that forwards to an outdial so the call is diverted to a competitors call center where people actually answer calls! Ok maybe a bit much!

seriously, from what I can tell this company has a thriving business selling their parts across the US, I can only imagine a customer calling in to check on something and being held up forever because they don't have enough staff would make them go to a competitor next time around.