How to Interpret Your Current State
Your agent state indicates your current availability to handle interactions. This information is used by the system to decide whether a new interaction can be delivered to you. The information about the time you spend in each state also appears in reports about your performance.
The Agent Desktop application uses icons to represent agent states. Your current state is shown in the upper left-hand corner of Agent Desktop. The following sections describe each agent state and its corresponding icon.
Note on Concurrent Interactions
The information in the main text of this section is valid if your system is configured to let you handle one customer interaction at a time. This configuration is most typical when you handle calls only.
If you process interactions of other types (e.g. chats or emails), then, depending on your contact center practices, you may be expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously. The differences in interpretation of your states in this case are briefly explained in the notes following a state description. For a more detailed explanation, see Cases and Email Overview.
Agent States
Ready
You are available to handle an interaction. In most cases, you make yourself Ready manually. See How to Make Yourself Ready for more information.
Depending on your contact center practices, the Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:
- Upon login
- As soon as you finish a previous interaction
- When the time allocated for after-call work associated with the previous call expires
- When the rest time associated with the previous call expires
You may also be forced into the Ready state by your supervisor.
Note: If you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, the Ready state will only be applied when you do not have any active interactions on your desktop. However, in this case you may receive new interactions in states other than Ready.
Ringing
You are unavailable to handle new interactions because a call is being delivered to you. The ringing icon is briefly displayed while your phone is ringing.
Busy
You are unavailable to handle new interactions because you are already handling one. This state is displayed from the moment the call is connected and until it is released. For outbound calls, it also includes the call dialing phase. When your interaction is released, depending on your contact center practices and the services that you provide, you will be switched automatically to either the After Call Work state, the Not Ready state, or the Ready state.
Note: Even if you are expected to handle multiple interactions simultaneously, your state will be displayed as Busy as long as you have at least one active interaction of any media type. However, your actual availability will depend on the number of interactions you are currently handling versus the maximum number of interactions you are expected to be able to handle simultaneously. Therefore, you may receive new interactions when you are in the Busy state.
After Call Work
After Call Work (ACW) is a state for completing follow-up tasks associated with an interaction, such as updating customer data, applying a disposition to the interaction, or taking notes. Whether this state is used depends on your contact center configuration and the services that you provide. If your service uses ACW:
- ACW begins as soon as an interaction ends, such as when you hang up the phone, or the customer ends a chat.
- Your administrator may configure a timer for the ACW state. If a timer is set, the state ends automatically when the time limit is reached.
- If no timer is set, you remain in the ACW state until you manually change your state to Ready or Not Ready.
- If you handle interactions in a sequence, you will not receive new interactions until completing ACW and returning to the Ready state.
- If you handle multiple interactions simultaneously, you may continue to receive new interactions when you are still in the ACW state. In this case, you can switch focus between the active interaction and the follow-up for the completed one.
Not Ready
You are unavailable to handle interactions because you are temporarily away from your desktop or busy doing some work that is not directly related to interaction handling. Under normal circumstances, you make yourself Not Ready manually. See How to Make Yourself Not Ready for more information. Your system may be configured to let you select a reason for being Not Ready; these reasons are specific to your contact center. You will receive detailed instructions about the meaning and usage of such reasons from your administrator.
Depending on your contact center practices, the Not Ready state may also be applied automatically under some of the following conditions:
- Upon login
- As a short rest time after finishing processing an interaction
- Upon rejection of an interaction
- If you do not accept an interaction that has been routed to you within a reasonable time
- When your Agent Desktop loses connection to the system
You may also be forced into the Not Ready state by your supervisor.
Note: You will not receive any interactions while you are in this state regardless of how many interactions you are expected to handle simultaneously.