Engage Voice | Configuring agent states on your account
You can configure your agent states by navigating to Settings > Accounts, selecting the account you wish to edit, and clicking the Agent States tab in your account’s configuration panel.
Agent states are simply status notifiers that allow users to see what an agent is doing. There are two different types of agent states: system-triggered and agent-triggered agent states.
Agent-triggered agent states allows agents to manage their day and indicate what they’re doing while logged in. For example, an agent can be Available (that is, ready to take or make another call or chat), or they can be Engaged (on an active call or chat), Working (completing post-call work), At Lunch, On Break, or even just Away.
System-triggered agent states, on the other hand, indicate agent activity when agents are unable to make changes to their agent state, like when they’re offline, on a call, or in a chat. For example, an agent can be Offline (if they’re logged out of the agent interface), or they can be Monitoring (if they’re a supervisor and monitoring an agent’s call).
System-triggered agent states
As discussed above, there are agent states that can be triggered by the system when an agent is unable to change their agent state. Below you’ll find a list of all system-triggered agent states.
- Offline: A state that indicates an agent has gone offline (i.e. if they log out, close out of a browser, etc.).
- Transition: A state that indicates a call has been routed (for inbound calls) or dialed (for outbound calls) but has not been picked up.
- RNA State: A Ring-No-Answer state that indicates an agent who is not in an offhook session with ‘auto-answer’ disabled has failed to answer (or accept) an inbound call. The system will not send another call to the agent until they indicate they are ready to start taking calls again.
- Monitoring: A state that indicates a supervisor has begun monitoring an agent’s call. While a supervisor is in this state, they will not receive any calls.
- Monitoring Chat: A state that indicates a supervisor has begun to monitor an agent’s chat(s).
- Chat Engaged: A state that indicates an agent has received and accepted an incoming chat.
- Chat RNA: A Ring-No-Answer state that indicates an agent has failed to accept an incoming chat within the configured time frame. The system will not send another call or chat to the agent until they indicate they are ready to start taking calls and chats again.
- Chat Presented: A state that indicates a new chat has been presented to an agent but has not been accepted yet.
- Chat Available: A state that indicates an agent has logged into a chat queue and is ready to accept an incoming chat.
- Suspect: A state that indicates an agent has been disconnected from the agent interface. An agent will only receive this state if they were on a call and set to Engaged at the moment of the disconnect. The system will not send another call to the agent until they indicate they are ready to start taking calls again.
- Null: A state that indicates that there was an error in the system and the system was unable to set an agent state.
Agent-triggered agent states
Agent-triggered states are completely configurable, which means you have the ability to change the name of an agent state and specify its meaning (what action is occurring or not occurring while the agent is in that state), and you can specify whether your agents can have the ability to select each state on their own. You can even create custom agent states using predefined auxiliary base states, but more on that in a moment.
Typically, the system will place an agent into an Engaged state once a call or chat comes in, but you can give agents the option to place themselves into certain states, like At Lunch or On Break.
Configuring your agent states settings
To add a new agent state, follow the steps below.
- Navigate to Settings > Accounts via the left nav bar.
- Select an account.
- Select the Agent States tab from your account’s configuration panel.
- Click the Add New State button at bottom right of the Configure States table.
- In the window that appears, choose a name for the agent state and enter it in the State Name field.
- Next, choose a Base State from the dropdown menu below.
- Check the Agent Selectable box if you wish to allow agents to select this state.
- Check the State Enabled box if you wish the state to be active immediately.
- Click the Ok button to save your changes and return to the main configuration screen.
- Don’t forget to click Save at the bottom of your screen.
Now that we’ve gone over the agent state setup process, let’s review each of the settings you’ll find in the Edit Agent State modal window.
- State Name: The name you’d like to give the agent state. This is the name that your agents will see in the agent interface (this is a required field).
- Base State: This is the actual state the agent is in, as defined by the system. The base states are provided by the system and are not editable. The base state options include the following:
- Available: A state that indicates an agent is ready to take or make another call or chat.
- On Break: A state that indicates an agent is on break and unavailable to take or make a call or chat.
- Away: A state that indicates an agent is away and unavailable to take or make a call or chat.
- Lunch: A state that indicates an agent is on lunch and unavailable to take or make a call or chat.
- Training: A busy state that indicates an agent is in training and unavailable to take or make a call or chat.
- Working: A busy state that indicates an agent is completing post-call work and unavailable to take a call or chat.
- Aux - Not Available - Allow Offhook: Any state in which the agent is unavailable to take or make a call or chat but the line remains open/active.
- Aux - Not Available - Disconnect Offhook: Any state in which the agent is unavailable to take or make a call or chat and the line is inactive.
- Agent Selectable: Check this box to allow your agents to select this agent state.
- State Enabled: Check this box if you wish to activate this agent state.
Managing agent states
In the Agent States configuration page, you’ll find a table that lists all available agent state names (State Name), and the base state (Base State) associated with each. The table also indicates whether or not the state is currently enabled (State Enabled). If a state is enabled, then it’s in an active (‘true’) state. If a state is not enabled, then it is in an inactive (‘false’) state.
Next is the Agent Selectable column, which indicates whether the state is selectable by your agents, and an Edit and Delete column. To the right of the table is an agent state preview box (labeled AgentUI Available State Preview) that lists all available states for quick reference.
If you wish to adjust the order in which your agent states appear in the system, click on any state and drag and drop it into your preferred order. You can also choose to hide states that aren’t enabled by clicking the Hide Disabled button underneath the table.
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