Workforce Optimization Suite: Nortel - CSI For Symposium Interface Guide
Workforce Optimization Suite: Nortel - CSI For Symposium Interface Guide
Workforce Optimization Suite: Nortel - CSI For Symposium Interface Guide
Release 7.6
October 2005
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Nortel – CSI for Symposium Interface Guide
Table of Contents
Preface
Master the Complexities of Forecasting and Scheduling 5
Select Functionality that Meets Your Needs 6
Receive Guidance from World-Class Consultants 10
About This Guide 10
In This Section 11
Comments? 11
If You Need Help 13
Technical Support 13
Before You Contact Technical Support 13
Contacting Technical Support 14
Related Documents 15
Conventions 15
16
3
4
Preface
5
Scheduling
In today's contact center, customer call volumes are moving
targets. And when you factor in multiple sites, expanded media
options, agent proficiencies and preferences, and customer
expectations, the task of forecasting and scheduling becomes
difficult to manage without sophisticated analysis.
That's why Witness Systems offers Workforce Management, a
proven, easy-to-use set of software and services that simplifies the
complex task of forecasting and scheduling while enabling contact
centers to capitalize on the unique skills and proficiencies of every
agent. With Witness Systems’ Workforce Management, you can
reduce costs by staffing appropriately to meet your workload, drive
business growth, and improve employee effectiveness and
turnover.
Workforce Management is part of a portfolio of solutions from
Witness Systems. Long recognized for our browser-based,
multimedia quality monitoring, customer interaction recording
and compliance functionality, Witness Systems now includes the
proven Workforce Management solutions of Blue Pumpkin, a
Witness Systems Company. Thousands of users around the world
rely on our solutions each day to help them optimize their
performance and capture customer intelligence.
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resolution, up-selling, cross-selling, and contact center customer
satisfaction. Although the specific features of the Operational and
Advanced packages differ, they include some or all of the following:
Forecasting and Scheduling—Accurate forecasting is the
critical first step in managing your workforce. Witness Systems’
Workforce Management integrates with your ACD and uploads
historical data directly from your ACD's database. Since call
volumes vary depending on marketing campaigns, seasons,
holidays, and other events, Operational Workforce Management
allows you to select, combine, and alter historical data to predict
future call volume and handle time. You can also set up profiles
to model call volume behavior for different events and
circumstances.
Unlike other forecasting and scheduling applications, Workforce
Management's patented skills-based engine incorporates the
unique skills and proficiency levels of each agent. It produces
optimal schedules down to the quarter hour by balancing the
defined shift rules, work patterns, breaks, off-phone times,
agent preferences, agent skills, and targeted service level goals.
By matching the right agents with the right customers,
productivity increases–and so do agent and customer
satisfaction. And when your staffing levels precisely match your
contact volumes, costs go down. For example, you can:
– Schedule single, multiple, or virtual contact centers across all
time zones
– Accommodate a dedicated, blended, or task-switching work
environment
– Schedule meetings or training without impacting service levels
– Automate compliance with government and union regulations
through a comprehensive set of work rules
– Create schedules based on skill priorities that align with your
call routing strategy
– Evaluate different “what if” scenarios, such as full-time versus
part-time, to ensure that you have the right resources to meet
the expected demand
– Create and schedule teams as a unit to support training and
accommodate employee concerns, such as carpooling or
childcare arrangements
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Adherence—To help you manage and fine-tune your service
levels throughout the day, Operational Workforce Management
monitors adherence to schedule and shows you who's on the
phone and who's not, so you can take corrective action right
away. The intraday “Pulse” feature provides a real-time,
graphical view of forecasted, actual, and predicted call volume,
handle time, service level statistics, and other critical
information. You can configure alerts to notify users of
deviations from plan and use trends to reforecast, reschedule,
and proactively take appropriate staffing corrective actions.
Advanced Workforce Management goes a step further by
providing a complete view of adherence that shows all agent
activities, including front- and back-office tasks such as fax and
paper mail. Your supervisors receive instant alerts for out-of-
adherence states, enabling them to correct problems right away
while receiving a true picture of shrinkage in your contact
center.
Contact Center Monitoring and Management—No matter
how carefully you plan, change is a constant in the contact
center. To help you continuously fine-tune your operations,
Witness Systems Workforce Management’s intraday “Pulse”
feature provides a graphical view of contact volume, handle
times, service level statistics, agent adherence levels, and other
critical information. With Pulse, you can:
– Monitor key metrics that get updated with each fresh batch of
data from the ACD
– Track and compare actual, forecasted, and required statistics
by individual queue or combined queue
– View deviations of key contact center metrics in percentages or
absolute numbers
– View intraday trends and historical data
Our Advanced Workforce Management solutions provide a
complete view of all agent activities, including front- and back-
office tasks, such as handling faxes and traditional mail. Your
supervisors receive instant alerts for out-of-adherence states,
enabling them to correct problems right away while receiving a
true picture of shrinkage in your contact center. Better still,
8
intraday management capabilities display trends, enabling you
to reforecast and reschedule for the remainder of the day.
Witness Systems’ Workforce Management includes role-
appropriate scorecards that display actual employee
performance metrics. Our advanced solutions include an
extensive set of predefined key performance indicators (KPIs),
enabling your contact center staff to see how they're performing
against their goals. This visibility into performance can motivate
your staff to improve while enabling managers to identify trends
and take the appropriate action.
Web-based Agent Self-Service—Witness Systems
Workforce Management lets agents easily manage and
contribute to their own schedules without impacting service
levels. By bringing Workforce Management to the agent
desktop, you can build agent morale and retention while
enabling your managers to focus on more critical areas, such as
coaching and performance-related tasks.
Using any Web browser, agents can securely:
– Request vacations and other types of time off, even down to
portions of a day. (This applies to centers that use seniority or
rank as part of their scheduling practices.)
– Set preferences for days off and start times. Agents indicate
their first, second, and third choices for start times for each
day of the week. The scheduling algorithm balances these
preferences and then develops a schedule that optimizes
center and agent requirements.
– Swap shifts. Agents can post, negotiate, and request shift
swaps via an online Swap Board. Swap requests are screened
by Workforce Management's conflict checker and forwarded
to managers for quick and easy processing.
– View schedule and time-off information. With just a glance,
agents can get a summary of their schedules for the week and
the status of their shift swap, time off, and vacation requests.
Actionable Learning—To help your agents develop their
skills and career paths, Witness Systems Workforce
Management enables you to produce your own library of best
practices from recorded customer interactions. By leveraging
your finest examples of customer service, you can help your
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agents learn valuable skills and procedures. A browser-based
interface allows agents to take training right at their desktops, in
a classroom, or remotely.
Supervisors select the appropriate training sessions from a
library of courseware, assign the training to agents, monitor
completion, and track the effectiveness of the training over time.
A flexible system of access rights enables supervisors to browse
through course completion reports and subsequent agent
performance records for individual students, teams, or contact
centers. This enables you to determine areas for individual or
group improvement and take action. It's an efficient, consistent
way to handle training across your entire enterprise.
http://www.witness.com/support
10
This guide is not intended to teach the basics of computer or
software operation or use, and does not contain tutorial
information. It is assumed that you are experienced in working
with contact center equipment and software applications as well as
PC workstation hardware and software.
Please note that this document is intended primarily for
viewing on-line. However, the format of the document is based
on that of a printed manual, to support customers who print all or
portions of the document. For similar reasons, entries in the Table
of Contents and cross references refer to page numbers. Those
same entries function as hyperlinks for ease of use when the
document is viewed electronically.
Colors may not print legibly on black and white printers. If you are using
a non-color printer, select the option to print colors as black.
In This Section
This section contains the following information:
How to send Witness Systems comments about this document.
See page 11.
How to get help. See page 13.
How to contact Witness Systems Technical Support. See page
14.
Related Documents. See page 15.
Conventions used in this manual. See page 15.
Comments?
Witness Systems, Inc. believes that the documentation for a
product is an integral part of the product itself. We know that the
quality of this document can affect the overall quality and usability
11
of the Witness Systems product which it documents. Therefore, we
are continuously looking for ways to improve our product
documentation. Your comments are valuable and will be carefully
considered before publishing the next release of this document. If
you find any errors, or have suggestions for improvements to this
document, please contact Witness Systems at:
http://www.witness.com/support
Information accessible?
Information complete?
Illustrations adequate?
Other comments. Please include page numbers and section titles where
appropriate.
12
If You Need Help
Witness Systems is a strong believer in customer satisfaction. Our
products are designed to provide you with the best performance for
your money and we want to make sure you get what you paid for.
One way of doing this is to provide you with the best support,
including the following resources:
Witness Systems, Inc.’s World-Wide-Web site: This facility
allows users world wide fast access to product information,
marketing and sales information, information about the company,
technical documentation, support case management, and support
solutions information.
Direct Internet FTP: This facility greatly speeds up transfer of
new and upgraded software to all Witness Systems customers.
Technical Support
Help from Technical Support is as near as your keyboard or your
telephone. However, before you contact us, please read the
following section. We can provide faster and better service if you
have certain information available when you contact us.
13
– Server and client operating systems and service pack version
numbers
– Supporting files and screenshots (if available)
– ACD type and reporting package (for ACD related issues)
– The wording of any error messages from the product and/or
operating system.
– Has this problem occurred previously? If it is new, did you
change your system configuration recently?
3 Log on to the Technical Support eSupport web page at
http//www.witness.com/support.
Europe/Middle East/
Americas
Africa/Asia Pacific
http//www.witness.com/support
(If you are reading this manual on-line, click on the URL above to
activate your web browser and go to the eSupport page.
14
Related Documents
For further information about the Witness Workforce
Optimization Suite, see the following Witness Systems document:
Witness Workforce Optimization Suite Administration Guide
Conventions
The following table shows the conventions that are used in this
manual.
Convention How Used
blue Notes in this document are in blue and are indicated by the
following symbol:
user entry Bold text in an example shows text or commands that you
should enter. It also distinguishes software function terms and
commands, library names, file names, and directory path
names.
Example: Type a:\install.
15
Convention How Used
user variable Italic and bold screen text shows a variable that you are to
replace with an actual value, such as a number or name.
Example: enter C:\<directory name>
16
Nortel – CSI for Symposium Interface
Related Documents
The following documents contain information that may be helpful
when installing and/or using this interface.
Witness Workforce Optimization Suite Administration Guide
Witness Workforce Optimization Suite Scheduler Guide
17
Prerequisites
This section contains information you should know before using
the Nortel – CSI for Symposium interface.
System Requirements
Ensure that the following software is already installed on its own
server.
Witness Forecasting and Scheduling, Version 7.6
You must also ensure that the following software is already
installed :
Witness Integration Server, Version 7.6
In addition, the Symposium Call Center Server, Version 1.5, 3.0,
4.0, 4.2, or 5.0, must be installed on a machine that is accessible
to the interface (whether through the network or on the same
machine).
The Nortel – CSI for Symposium interface installs a Sybase Open Client
Runtime application (see page 19). The Nortel – CSI for Symposium
interface uses the Sybase Open Client API to connect to the Symposium
database and retrieve contact statistics, either per Application or per
Agent Skills.
Please ensure that the Nortel SCCS client is NOT installed on the same
machine as the Nortel – CSI for Symposium interface and Witness
Integration Server , otherwise the shared drivers (.DLLs) will conflict
and no reports will be generated.
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Installing the Runtime Sybase Open Client
The setup file for the Sybase Open Client Runtime application is
located on Suite CD 2, in \BPFX-ThirdParty\Sybase. To install the
runtime client:
1 Using Explorer, navigate to the \BPFX-ThirdParty\Sybase
folder.
2 Double-click the setup.exe file.
This screen appears while the Sybase installation initializes.
19
This is the only available Sybase Open Client Runtime option as
part of the interface installation.
5 When the Select Sybase Installation Directory screen appears,
either accept the default installation directory or browse for
another directory, then click Next.
The next screen (not shown) displays the progress of the Sybase
installation.
20
Under some conditions, when the system variable Path contains too
many values, the Sybase installation may crash. To work around this
issue, copy the current settings of the Path variable to a text document,
edit the settings so there are no more than two or three paths, rerun
the installation process, and then restore the values of your Path
variable from the text file you created.
Configuration
You need to configure both the Sybase Open Client Runtime
application and the Nortel – CSI for Symposium interface. You will
configure the Sybase Open Client Runtime application and the
Nortel – CSI for Symposium interface for each instance of the
interface you have installed (up to the maximum of five).
21
There are three parts in the process of configuring the runtime
application:
1 Use the Sybase Open Client/Open Server (OC OS) Configuration
application to configure the runtime client.
2 Use the Sybase Dsedit application to define the server object (or
objects).
3 Test the configuration by pinging the server.
A separate procedure is provided for each part of this configuration
process.
To configure the runtime client:
1 From the Programs menu, open the Sybase program folder
and click OC OS Config Utility to open the Sybase Open Client/
Open Server Configuration dialog box.
2 Verify that the path in the SYBASE field is the one you selected
during installation.
3 On the Net-Library tab, select TCP as the Protocol then select
NLWNSCK from the list of drivers.
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4 Click OK to close this application.
To define the server object:
1 From the Programs menu, open the Sybase program folder and
click Dsedit to open the Select Directory Services dialog box.
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3 On the Server Object menu, click Add to open the Input Server
Name dialog box.
4 Enter the Data Source Name (DNS) for the server name, for
example, SCCS1, then click OK to return to the Dsedit window,
which displays the attributes for the server object.
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5 With the SCCS Server selected in the left pane, double-click the
Server Address field to display the Network Address Attribute
dialog box.
25
To test the configuration:
1 In the Dsedit window, right-click the Server Address field then
click Ping Server on the shortcut menu to display the Ping
dialog box.
2 Select the protocol and server address you entered earlier and
click Ping.
If this action is successful, you receive a message similar to the
following:
Open connection to server at (10.10.10.15,5000) succeeds. Close
connection succeeds.
Loaded the dynamic link library NLWNSCK.DLL
(d:\sybase\DLL\NLWNSCK.DLL).
If you receive a message that the connection fails, verify that you
correctly entered the IP address, including the port. If the
address is correct, verify that your SCCS is online and
functioning correctly.
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3 Click OK to dismiss the message, click Done to close the Ping
dialog box, then close the Dsedit application.
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– Under Report Level, select the level that corresponds with
your contact center setup.
3 To set the timer to trigger the report at a regular interval,
configure the Timer component as the Witness Workforce
Optimization Suite Administration Guide describes.
You can have a single Witness Integration Server connect to
additional Symposium databases by repeating the above process,
configuring additional DSNs in the Sybase Client, and adding
Nortel – CSI for Symposium packages.
28
select iApplicationStat.Application, iApplicationStat.CallsAnswered,
iApplicationStat.CallsAnsweredAftThreshold,
iApplicationStat.CallsAbandoned,
iApplicationStat.CallsAbandonedAftThreshold,
iApplicationStat.CallsAnsweredDelay,
iAgentByApplicationStat.TalkTime, iApplicationStat.Site,
iAgentByApplicationStat.PostCallProcessingTime from iApplicationStat,
iAgentByApplicationStat where iApplicationStat.Timestamp = %s and
iApplicationStat.Timestamp *= iAgentByApplicationStat.Timestamp and
iApplicationStat.Application *= iAgentByApplicationStat.Application
order by iApplicationStat.Application ASC
2 Select the report type, then enter or select the date and time that
you want to include in the report.
– Single Report— this option produces one report, for the
15-minute interval that starts at the time set in the dialog box.
– Series of Reports—this option produces a separate report for
every 15-minute interval that occurs within the date and time
range you select. The first 15-minute interval starts at the exact
time you click Execute Report. Note that you can start a report
only on an even quarter hour.
3 Click Execute Report to create a report determined by the
selection above.
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The reports that are created are determined by the specific time it
is when you click Import Now. Witness Integration Server uses the
following algorithm:
The counter notes the current time and advances to the nearest
quarter-hour. Using that time as a marker, it then goes back 1/2
hour and sets the new time as the END time of the report.
Example 1: You click Import Now at 4:31 P.M. (16:31)
– The counter goes forward to the next quarter hour = 4:45.
– Then it goes back 1/2 hour from 4:45 to 4:15 and sets this as
the END time of the report.
– Since the report is 15 minutes long, subtract another 15
minutes = 4:00. This is the START time of the report.
– The report, therefore, will include data from 4:00to 4:15.
Example 2: You click Import Now at 4:15 P.M. (16:15)
– The counter is exactly at a quarter hour so it does not advance
= 4:15.
– Then it subtracts 1/2 hour = 3:45. This is the END time of the
report.
– Since the report is 15 minutes long, subtract another 15
minutes = 3:30. This is the START time of the report.
– The report, therefore, will include data from 3:30 to 3:45.
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