Agents

Owned by Valerio Ciotta
Last updated: Jan 24, 2023 by XCALLY Knowledge (Unlicensed)
15 min read



Who are the Agents?    


Agents are skilled Contact Center representatives that are able to manage customer interactions through the multi-channel environment.



On this page:

The Agents Section

You can find the Agents section under the Staff menu. 


You must have admin role or user role with agents permission to be able to manage Agents in XCALLY Motion. Note that a user can only operate on agents that are added to the queues to which he/she is enabled.


Create a new Agent

To create an Agent click the New Agent button  (you'll find it at the bottom right of the page):




Enter the Agent's details:

  • Full Name of the Agent (only the following characters are allowed: [ A-Z a-z 0-9 \ _ - ] if you enable filters in general settings)
    If wrong characters are entered, an error message will be displayed:
  • By default, an Internal number (Extension) is automatically generated. You can manually specify the internal number you want to assign to the agent by editing his/her profile.Username, which is used to login (only letters, numbers or special characters like ._ are allowed)
  • Alias: an alternative name for the Agent, which can be used to hide the real agent login name (e.g. in canned answer, email template, chat and so on)
  • Email: the Agent email address. This field is used to receive a link to reset the password anytime the agent forgets it 

  • Password: insert here the password. According XCALLY Motion Security rules, if the Security Suite is enabled, it must contain at least 8 characters and have at least 1 lowercase character, one uppercase character, one numeric character and one of the following special characters ~!@#$%^&-_=+[{]}.

  • Typology (choose the setting among: Phonebar, External, WebRTC. The default proposed value is Phonebar). To find out more about the typology, see the info box below.
  • Description (not mandatory)

Optionally, you can enable Voicemail to automatically create a voicemail box for the agent.


Remember to enable the Remote Control in order to enable the Phonebar API web service (you can change this editing the Agent Motion Phonebar Setting).


The Agent can now login to the XCALLY GUI and Phonebar using the configured Username and Password (remember to enable the agent to the service queues through which he / she can receive calls!)

About Typology

If the agent Typology is:

  • External or WebRTC the agent will be able to login, logout, pause/unpause from the Web Interface
  • Phonebar any action should start on the Phonebar and the Web Interface reflects the changes


The Typology field must be on line with the Agent's client configuration: the Agents with WebRTC use a different transport protocol from the Agents with the Phonebar (see the Voice Section).

A wrong agent configuration will not make possible the communication with the server, as shown in the Agent Status on the Phonebar:


If the Typology is External the Administrator can set an Hot Desk feature (available from XCALLY Motion Version 2.0.77) for the specific Agent:

If this option is set to on, at login time the Agent will be able to select which one of the available registered Telephones he wants to be associated with (click on the down arrow to see the complete list. Telephones must already be configured):


After the Agent has been created, you can view him/her in the Agents List.


You can view, edit and modify Agent details and add Agent to Queues.



Edit/Modify an Agent

Find the agent from the agents list (you can use the search box on the top-right of the page to filter)


and Click on the three-dots button menu  and then select Edit Agent:



In the Agent Configuration form you'll find the following tabs:





In the Header of the panel you find the buttons:

  • add Agent to a Queue
  • change password 
  • add Agent to a Team  


See later how to use them

Account

Personal Info

In the Account Section, in the Personal Info tab you can edit Full Name, Email or other description fields.  


In addition to these, you can enable the following:

  • Login in Pause (default: Disabled): if enabled, the agent will be by default on pause for all the queues he/she belongs to when he/she logs in, until the status is changed.


Security Suite

In the Security Suite Section you have:

  • the last Agent's password reset time and date. This value is shown only if the Security Suite feature is enabled in the global Admin Settings
  • Deactivated: switch on this toggle to to disable the User Account (this action can be reverted, switching the toggle off)
  • Locked:  if the Agent's account has been automatically locked out after a number of failed login attempts, switch this toggle off to manually unlock it (this only happens if this automation has been configured by the administrator for all users and agents of the system in the General Settings).
  • Mask Sensitive Data: select this option if you want the Agent not to see the personal data of the Contacts, such as the telephone number, the Name and the Email address:

Remember to specify the number of characters / digits to mask in the Settings - General (Security section):

The Mask Sensitive Data feature is available from version 2.5.23





Change Avatar

If you want to change the Agent's picture click upload and select the image file (Only PNG and JPG formats - max 8MB).


Voice






In the Voice Section, you can change parameters related to an agent's SIP client settings:

  • Transport: this value can be TCP, UDP, WSS or WS. Use:
    • TCP/UDP if the Agent uses the Windows Phonebar
    • TCP/UDP/WS/WSS (according to the external phone used) if the used Phone is External
    • WSS if the Agent uses the WebRTC Bar (defaulted value)
  • Host: insert Host IP (for fixed IP access only) or dynamic (for dynamic access) for SIP registration
  • Nat: this variable changes the behaviour of asterisk for Agent's access behind a firewall. Choose a value among the following: yes, no, force_rport, comedia, never, route
  • Type: this field defines the relationship between agent and outbound provider. Insert a value among Friend, User and Peer
  • Allowed Codecs: Audio Codecs to be used during the call. Choose a value from the list: ulaw, alaw, gsm, g722, g729, opus

Please note that codec g729 is not compatible with the Phonebar and WebRTC Agent.  

  • Caller ID: the default caller id shown to call recipients
  • Context: this value defines the Agent context (default and recommended value=from-sip)
  • Call Group: defines the Agent's call group 
  • Pickup Group: defines the Agent's pickup group
  • Chanspy if enabled administrator can monitor agent’s phone calls (for more information see ChanSpy)

  • Record calls to user extension (default=Inactive; other choices: waw, waw49, gsm) to allow the Agent who gets a call to be recorded automatically


About Record calls to user extension




When this field is not Inactive, the Agent will be notified the call is being recorded by the record button becoming red on the Phonebar.

Clicking on this button the Agent can pause the recording







and start it again







or start a new recording clicking on (only two recording files maximum per call).





Other Channels





In the Other Channels Section, you can set the Channel Capacity (the maximum number of concurrent channel interactions per agent).

When the maximum number of interactions is reached, the Agent cannot receive any further interaction on the same channel: all the interactions he has already managed before (e.g.chat/mail/SMS interactions follow up) will be passed to the agent anyway (if available, otherwise they will follow the action flow).

You can change channel capacity for Chat, Email, SMS, Open Channel, Fax or WhatsApp (where the default value is 0=unlimited).


From Auto answer section, you can enable the auto answer for the Agent selected. 

The interaction is assigned to the Agent without him accepting the notification. 

You can enable this feature for each channel (Chat, Email, SMS, Open Channel, Fax and Whatsapp)

You can also set the answer delay in seconds. 


DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE WHEN USING BEEPALL QUEUE STRATEGY

Motion Phonebar Settings 

This Menu is available only if Agent's Setting for Typology is Phonebar. If the Agent's Setting is WebRTC, go to the next paragraph.













In the Motion PhoneBar Settings tab you can enable/disable the following parameters:

  • Enable Settings: Enable an agent to see and modify the settings on the phonebar 
  • Auto Answer: If enabled, any call to the agent will be automatically answered (default delay time in seconds is asked)
  • Ring in Use: Enables or disables ringing when the agent is already engaged in a conversation
  • Enable Recording: Enable an agent to manual recording the incoming calls
  • Enable DTMF tones: When enabled, the Agent hears dtmf tones when he dials a number
  • Do not disturb during pause: When enabled the agent cannot receive direct or internal calls when in pause on the phonebar (default=enabled)
  • Show unanswered call badge: when enabled, it allows showing the number of unanswered calls on the Agent Phonebar Call History icon 
  • Enable Jaws Integration allows the Agent to use the screen reader Jaws integrated with the Phonebar (for blind agents)


The following two options are mutually exclusive and require the use of the Phonebar ver. 5.1.31.0 (and following) and the Screen Recording License activation


  • Enable Screen Recording by Agent allows the Agent using the Phonebar to record video sequences of what happens on his/her desktop clicking a specific button that will be displayed 

About Screen Recording by Agent

When this flag is selected, the Agent will find a REC button on the Phonebar to start recording a video sequence. In order to display that the recording has been activated and is going on, the REC button becomes red  and blinks: to stop recording the Agent can just click on the same icon (which turns grey again and stops blinking). 


  • Enable Automatic Screen Recording means that the system starts recording a video sequence every time a voice call is received or placed by the Agent using the Phonebar (it stops automatically when the call ends) 

About Automatic Screen Recording

When this flag is selected, the Agent has nothing to do to start  or stop the video recording: the REC button will become red and blink in order to display that the desktop activities are being recorded. The Video recording cannot be stopped or started manually by the Agent.

The files generated using one of the Screen Recording functions mentioned above will be available on the Agent PC. By default they will be saved in: Video/AgentId_AgentName/<year>/<month>/<day>/

A different path (e.g. on a network drive) can be specified in the Settings/General section (it will be used for all Agents). 





  • Remote Control: switch on to enable Phonebar API Web Service


Phonebar API activation

Remote Control

This setting enables/disables the Phonebar API web service for the Agent Profile (enable this setting for using features like click-to-dial).

You need to specify:

  • Remote Control Port (default 9888).
  • SIP Expires: Configures the registration expires (in seconds) of the SIP server. The default value is 3600s.
  • SIP Port: Configures the port of the SIP server. The default value is 5060. 

It this way the Motion Phonebar remote control is active in localhost.

After the Remote control is enabled, the Agent at the first login should accept the following popup (admin pwd is required):



Enabling the Windows firewall on the port 9888 (or on the Remote Control Port you set), it is possible to call the API also through the private IP



  • SIP Expires: Time in seconds between consecutive SIP registration
  • SIP Port: SIP signalling Port



  • Call Forwarding=Unconditional: set this flag if you want your agent can set this feature on the phonebar and insert the chosen forwarding phone number (it can be changed by the agent on the phonebar)



Motion WebRTC Settings

This Menu is available only if Agent's Setting for Typology is WebRTC. 




WebRTC Settings include the following parameters:

  • TLS certificate and TLS certificate's private key:  In order to use a WebRTC function, you need to have valid SSL certificates (self-signed certificates cannot e used).


• To verify these settings, please check the following configuration:

- ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key parameters in /etc/nginx/conf.d/motion.conf are properly set:

-tlscertfile and tlsprivatekey parameters in /etc/asterisk/http.conf   are properly set:

(Please do not change the extension of .key and .crt files)


• Whenever a change is applied, remember to run the following commands:

-service nginx restart

-service asterisk restart


  • WSS Port: Show the port being used by the Bar for WebRTC signaling.
  • Enable Settings: Enable an agent to see and modify the settings on the phonebar
  • Auto Answer: If enabled, any call to the agent will be automatically answered (default delay time in seconds is asked)
  • Enable Recording: Enable an agent to manual recording the incoming calls
  • Enable DTMF tones: When enabled, the Agent hears dtmf tones when he dials a number
  • Do not disturb during pause: if you enable this feature, the Agent will not be disturbed when on pause
  • Ignore agent break status for preview calls: if you enable this feature, the Agent, even if in Pause status, will be able to make a call with the preview mode. The Agent could dial the contact from the Motion Preview button. 
  • Sip Expires: Time intervals in seconds for client SIP registrations


Permissions






In this section, the admin can give permission to a specific Agent to: 

  • General
    • Enable Internal Messenger: Allow/disable the use of the internal messenger on the Agent's Desktop 
    • Prefix Required: Compel the Agent to choose a service label "prefix" when placing a call 
    • Select Recall Me Campaign: If enabled, the Agent can choose the Motion Bull- Queue Campaign to which the Recall me option will be associated.
  • Download Permissions
    • Attachments: Download interactions' Attachments (Chat, email, openchannel)
    • Omnichannel Interactions: Download interactions carried out for each channel (Chat, email, SMS, openchannel, fax, WhatsApp)
    • Voice Recordigs:Download recordings of the calls
  • Permissions: Enable/Disable Agents to use features and applications.
    • When you create a new Agent, all Modules Permissions are enabled by default.
    • If you disable one or more applications, they will not be shown on the Agent Omni Channel Desktop sidebar.

    • From time to time we release new sections but they will not be automatically applied to previously created Agents: if you want the new modules to be displayed in the menu, check the permissions and for each Agent and enable the section!

      Voice Permissions

      If you disable Voice permissions, the Agent will still receive and place calls (if the Agent belongs to an active Voice Queue). However, the sections Calls List and Abandoned Calls List will not be available when the voice function is disabled.


Clicking on the Enable/Disable switch will cause immediate changes in the Agent Settings.





Client Logs



From the Client Logs section of the single Agent, you can enable client- side logging for debug and issue troubleshooting. This feature is available for Onmi Desktop Interface activities only.

  • Click on the toggle button to enable all Client scopes
  • Select the minimum logging level:

There are 4 levels available. Below, the basic information in this regard:

DEBUG_LEVEL

DEBUG

LOGS

ERROR

The ERROR level designates error events that might still allow the application to continue running

error log

WARNING

The WARNING level designates potentially harmful situations

error log, warn log

INFO

The INFO level designates informational messages that highlight the progress of the application at coarse-grained level.

error log, warn log, info log

DEBUG

The DEBUG Level designates fine-grained informational events that are most useful to debug an application.

error log, warn log, info log, debug log


  • As logs are enabled, the Agent receives a corresponding notification, as in the following example:

  • This feature allows the logs file output on the server (i.e. client/role-username folder), for the Agent/User logs have been enabled.

THIS FEATURE GENERATES HIGH DATA TRAFFIC. SO, IT’S RECOMMENDED TO DISABLE IT WHEN NOT NEEDED.


Change agent password

Administrators can change agent password.

In order to change the password, find the agent from the list (you can use the search box on the top-right of the page to filter), click on the  and then on Edit Agent, after that click on the red Change Password Button :


According XCALLY Motion Security rules, if the Security Suite is enabled, the password must contain least 8 characters and have at least 1 lowercase character, one uppercase character, one numeric character and one special character like ~!@#$%^&-_=+[{]}.


How can an agent recover a forgotten password?

  • click on 

  • Enter the e-mail address associated to the login name

 

Now you will receive a link via email. Click on this link and change the password (This link expires in one hour: if you cannot use it you should start a new reset procedure).


NOTE: This function works only if SMTP service is set properly.


According XCALLY Motion Security rules, if the Security Suite is enabled, the new password must comply to the following security rules: it must contain least 8 characters and have at least 1 lowercase character, one uppercase character, one numeric character and one of the following special characters ~!@#$%^&-_=+[{]}.



Add an Agent to a Team

Administrators can add agents to teams. In order to do so, find the agent from the agents' list and click on  and then on Add Agent to Team.

You can also add an agent to a Team by clicking the the orange button  in the Edit Agent panel.


Add an agent to a queue

Administrator must add an agent to a queue to enable him/her handle calls headed to the queue. 

In order to add an agent to a queue, find the agent from the list (you can use the search box on the top-right of the page to filter), click on  and then on Edit Agent.


Now click on  and you will see the list of the available Queue Channels (the list may vary according to your system modules): 


When you click on the icon referred to the chosen Channel (Voice, Chat, Email, SMS, Other Channels) the pop-up screen will show you the list of available queues for each of them. 






In order to add the agent to one queue you just need to click on the queue name.

You can add more than one queue.


Click on  to add ALL the queues to the agent.


All changes you make are automatically saved and operational!

Add Agents

Remember to add the selected Agents to any Website/Account you create! If you don't do this, the Agents will not be able to see the interactions exchanged through them. You can do this in the specific account configuration and setting.


Delete Agents

To delete a single agent, find the agent in the agents list and Delete:


To delete multiple agents you can select the list of agents to delete by marking the checkbox on the left side and then click on Delete button (ok to confirm).


Export list of agents

To export list of agents in CSV, select the list of agents to export by marking the checkbox on the left side and click on the Export button: