How to create and use Attendant Groups using Gradwell One

Getting started

The Attendant console allows you to view active calls throughout your entire business. It also allows you to distribute calls between users who are logged in to the attendant group. You can allow the system to automatically route calls, or tailor the distribution more specifically based on your needs. This guide will show you how to set an attendant group up, configure it if necessary, and how to use it as an end user.

In order to use the Attendant functionality you need to ensure that you have purchased Attendant licences on your account. You can do this from your Gradwell account screen at http://www.gradwell.com/myaccount. You will need to purchase one licence for each user that you would like to use the Attendant console.

Basic configuration

To setup and configure the console, log in to your Gradwell One control panel at http://uc.gradwell.com, navigate to the Function numbers menu and select Attendant group numbers.

To create a new attendant group, click New attendant group.

To complete the basic setup of the group, select an available external number to use on the group. Enter a name for the attendant group, and if you wish you can choose the exclude the number from contact searches. This means that users will be unable to search the corporate directory to find the group.

The Meta-data for this group field will all you to add a custom message. This will be shown to the caller when they receive a call.

If you wish to send SMS messages from the number, add a name to be displayed to the recipient in the Display name to use when sending SMS from this number. If this is left blank then this feature will be disabled. You will also need to choose a SMS number to display.

These are the basic configuration settings. We will explore the advanced customisation settings below.

How to log in and out of the attendant group

In order to allow users to use the attendant number, you need to select which groups can log in and then start to receive calls. To select which groups can do this, use the checkboxes in the Which user groups can login and take calls for this attendant group section. You can also choose which users can act as supervisors using Which groups can supervise section. Supervisors have the ability to log other agents in and out, change nightmode status and view call statistics.

To allow users to use feature codes to log in and out of the group, enter a number into the What code identifies the group when logging in via a feature code. This is useful for users that will be using a VoIP phone, as they will be able to log in and out of the group using a feature code.

To discover the feature code to use, navigate to the Services menu and click on the Feature codes link. The user will have to use the prefix, provide them with the ACD group login prefix. For example, if you entered the code 99 to log in and out of the attendant group, and the ACD group login prefix was *28*, the full feature code to dial to log in to the group would be *28*99. To log out, you would enter #28#99.

It is also possible to log in and out of the group by logging into the user control panel at https://uc.gradwell.com and using the Group login box on the home page (please note that if you are also an administrator you will have to navigate to the user view first).

To log in and out of the group using the softphone, start the softphone application and click View, then select Attendant view.

The window will change shape as you enter the attendant console. To log in to an attendant group, click the grey button with the desired attendant group name at the top of the softphone window. The button will turn blue to show that you are successfully logged in.

To log out, simply click the button again. It is possible to be a member of several attendant groups, and also possible to be logged into more than one group at a time.

Please note that if an administrator creates a new attendant group, or edits an attendant group to grant access permissions to a user group, it is necessary to log in and out of the softphone to make the attendant group visible.

Managing attendant calls

When a call is received it is distributed automatically to one of the logged in attendants. The system selects an attendant based on several criteria, such as skill level and how long it has been since they last received a call. You can manage the distribution settings and how to do this is explained below.

If a user is using the softphone, they can see various statistics from the log in and log out button, including the number of calls waiting, the number of agents logged in and the number of agents available to receive calls. If there are incoming calls, it will also show the waiting time for the first call in the queue.

When a call is received, simply answer the call as normal.

Advanced Configuration

Attendant groups are highly customisable, and in this section we will explore the settings in detail.

The call queue section allows you to manage the settings that affect callers whilst they are held in a queue and waiting for the next available attendant to answer their call.

• How many calls can be queued at the same time: this is the maximum number of callers that you would like to be in the queue at anyone time. You can control what happens to a call if the queue is full below. We recommend that you have no more than 20 people in the queue at any one time, as otherwise you could encounter errors in your phone system
• Maximum queue wait time: this is the maximum hold time that you want your caller to experience. You can control what happens to a call if this time is met below
• What happens when a call is received, and queue is full or maximum wait time is exceeded: this setting will direct the call if either of the conditions in the two settings above are met
• If forward is selected, to what number should call be forwarded: if you choose for a call to be forwarded, you can select a number on the system here
• If no attendants are logged in and in the Available state, where should calls be forwarded: if, when a caller is in the queue no attendants are logged in or available, you can choose a forwarding number here
  

The voice prompts section allows you tailor what the custom here whilst in the queue, such as messages that a caller will hear at various points of the call, and how often progress messages should be played.

The distribution of calls section allows you to configure how calls flow through the attendant group.

• Which phones can an attendant use to receive calls: if you would prefer users to only use certain devices, ensure that the ones that you wish them not to be able to use is not selected here
• After how many seconds of ringing should the call go to next attendant: this figure sets how long a device will ring before trying another attendant
• Should attendant's presence state affect the distribution of calls: this check box should always be selected if calls should be forwarded to a fallback number if the presence state has changed
• Honor nightmode when distributing calls: if this box is checked the system will monitor organisational nightmode settings and not distribute calls to attendants when nightmode is in force. You can choose the associated Forward number on nightmode below to choose a number to forward the call if nightmode is in force
• When redirection number cannot be shown (e.g. on mobile), prefer to show group number as calling party: sometimes the full redirection details cannot be shown to a user, for example those on a mobile phone. In this case you can chose to display the attendant group number instead of the original caller’s number. This will allow the attendant know the nature of the call before answering
• Use longest idle distribution? (otherwise, distribute randomly): If this box is selected, the system will direct a call to the attendant who has been idle for the longest. If it is unchecked all distribution will be random
  

The attendant settings section will also affect how calls are distributed throughout the group.

• How many seconds minimal resting time does an attendant get between calls: you can set how much rest time you wish to give a user after a call. During the call, and for this set period after, the attendant will not be part of the group and will not receive calls
• After how many missed calls should an attendant be logged out (0=never): the default setting is that a user controls their own membership of the group. However, if the user forgets to log out this setting can be useful to prevent the caller having to wait unnecessarily if a user is not at their desk
• At what number can an attendant get help: this setting will allow a caller to ask for help using the softphone, and the call will automatically route to a number of your choice. This can be useful if you have a supervisor that can assist attendants
  

Once you have saved the group, an extra setting called User skills will appear at the foot of the page. This allows you to add users and apply a skill level between 1 and 5 to them (one is the highest, five is the lowest). When a call is received, the system will route calls to attendants with the highest skill. If all attendants with the highest skill level are busy, it will redirect to the next skill level.

If multiple attendants are logged in with the same skill level, the call will either be routed to them based on the longest idle time or randomly, depending on the setting chosen under the Use longest idle distribution? section.

Camp-on

Camp-on is a facility that allows attendants to transfer calls onto a a busy extension. This call is then queued for that user to answer. This is useful for call management.

In order for this feature to work properly, the attendant must be authorised to monitor calls for the members in the attendant group (i.e. they are able to see whether a user is currently on the phone or not). To change call monitoring settings, navigate to Services in the online administrator control panel and then Call Monitoring.

Camp-on is only possible on calls that have been received via the attendant group number.

If you choose to enable camp-on, there are two settings to customise.

• After how many seconds of camp-on should the attendant receive visual notification: if an attendant queues a call to another user, you can choose after how many seconds they receive a notification if the call is not answered
• After how many seconds of camp-on should all attendants in the attendant group receive visual notification: this setting is similar, although all logged in attendants receive a notification that a call has not been answered