Set Up Email

Setting up an email channel for your organization entails several required steps and smaller customization options. This page describes the larger steps as part of the ACD setup and provides links to the user/team customization options.

Create a Campaign

Required permissions: Campaigns Create

If you've already created a campaign A grouping of skills used to run reports. that you plan to use, you can skip this step. For example, you may have a campaign that you intend to use across several channels.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.
2. Go to Contact Settings > Campaigns.
3. Click Create New.
4. Enter a value in the Campaign Name field.
5. Click Create Campaign.

Create an Inbound Email Skill

Required permissions: Skills Create and Skills Edit

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

3. Click Create New > Single Skill.

4. Set the Media Type to Email and select a direction type for Inbound/Outbound.
5. Enter a Skill Name.
6. Select the Campaign you want the skill to be part of.
7. Enter the Email From-Address, then select a domain from the drop-down.

8. Configure the remaining optional fields in the Skill Information section as needed.

   Learn more about fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Email Bcc-Address	Allows you to enter an email address to which you want a blind carbon copy of the email sent, or a copy of the email to a second address that the contact does not know about.
   Custom Script	A Studio script that runs when agents place a call with this ACD skill. Your Studio script can control things like agent script sessions, dispositions, and custom screen pops.
   Re-Skill Hours of Operation Profile	The hours of operation profile that controls when agents can transfer a contact to this ACD skill. For example, if the Sales at the Longbourn contact center closes at 4:00 in the afternoon, and an agent in Support tries to transfer a contact to Sales at 4:30, the agent receives a warning message that says the ACD skill is closed. If the agent selects Proceed, the contact either hangs in the queue until an agent with that ACD skill becomes available or hears a message that you configure for the ACD skill when it's closed. Note: if you add an existing inbound skill to an hours of operation profile, that profile automatically appears in this field.
   Interruptible	Lets an inbound voice contact with a higher priority Skill-based designation of the importance of contacts that determines delivery order. interrupt emails received through this ACD skill. Email is the only interruptible media type. This field is only available in a single-channel handling environment.
   Minimum Working Time	Specifies the minimum number of seconds an agent must be able to attend to an email before a phone call can interrupt it. For example, if this value is set to 30, a higher priority call received at 20 seconds would not interrupt the email, but a call at 35 seconds would. This field is disabled if the Interruptible checkbox is not selected.
   Email Parking	When selected, allows agents to park an email to handle another contact, to consult with an expert, or wait for information from another source. This setting must also be enabled if you plan to use auto-parking for the skill.
   Workforce Intelligence Minimum Agents	The minimum number of agents that must belong to this ACD skill. This setting prevents automatic actions associated with Workforce Intelligence rules from removing too many agents from the ACD skill. When the number of agents reaches this number or lower, all skill removal actions, even automatic ones, require approval. This setting doesn't affect agentless ACD skills.
   Workforce Intelligence Minimum Available Agents	The minimum number of available agents that must be maintained for this ACD skill. This setting prevents automatic actions associated with Workforce Intelligence rules from removing too many agents from the ACD skill. When the number of available agents reaches this number or lower, all ACD skill removal actions, even automatic ones, require approval. This setting doesn't affect agentless ACD skills.

9. If you want to use screen pops A configurable pop-up window with information about the contact. It appears on an agent's screen after a certain event, usually when the agent connects to a contact. for this skill, select the Use Screen Pops checkbox. Modify the optional settings in the Screen Pops section if you want to customize your screen pops. This capability is only supported for CXone Agent suite. You can also do this later.
   Learn more about fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Use Custom Screen Pops	Select this checkbox if you are using a separate application or website to run the screen pops.
   Application or Webpage	Select either Application or Webpage. If you chose Application, enter either the entire path to the executable. if you chose Webpage, enter the full URL. You can customize the title of the tab that pops up in the MAX interface by appending the icAgentPanelTitle= parameter to the URL.

10. If you want to change the default prioritization settings for this skill, modify the settings in the Priority Management While in Queue section. You can also do this later.

    If your email skill has Email Parking enabled, the priority of an email interaction accelerates +1 each time an agent unparks it, even if Acceleration and Maximum Priority are each set to 0.

    View image

    
    Learn more about fields in this step

    Field	Details
    Initial Priority	Enter a numeric value you want to set as the base level priority Skill-based designation of the importance of contacts that determines delivery order. for all contacts in an inbound skill or for fresh records and retries in an outbound skill (callbacks Holds a customer's place in queue and automatically calls the customer when they move to the front of the queue. always take priority and are not affected by this setting). The default value is 0.
    Acceleration	Enter a numeric value to determine how quickly the priority of the skill increases. For every minute a contact stays in queue, the priority increases by the value you configure for Acceleration. The default value is 1. The minimum value is 0 and the maximum priority is the value configured in the Maximum Priority field. For example, if the Initial Priority is 4, and you set Acceleration to 1, then with each passing minute that the contact is not handled, the priority increases by one. In this example, if the contact has been in queue for three minutes, then the priority will be raised to 7. Priority increments in seconds. For example, when Acceleration is 1, a contact's priority increases by 0.5 after 30 seconds in queue. For Personal Connection skills, set this value to 0 because there is no queue of contacts. You can set Initial Priority for one skill lower than another skill, but if you set Acceleration for that skill higher, it can jump spots in the queue. For example, you set Initial Priority for Skill A to 1 and Acceleration to 5. You set Initial Priority for Skill B to 3 and Acceleration to 1. Initially, a contact for Skill B will be first in queue because it has a priority of 4, but after one minute, Skill A will take its place at the top because its priority will be 6. CXone combines the acceleration value with the time the contact has been in queue and the initial priority using the formula Overall Priority = (Time * Acceleration) + Initial Priority.
    Maximum Priority	Enter a numeric value to determine the maximum priority a contact can have. If you choose not to use Acceleration, this value should match the Initial Priority. The default value is 1000.

11. If you want to change the default service level settings for this ACD skill, modify the fields in the Service Level section.

    Learn more about fields in this step

    Field	Details
    Service Level Threshold	The number of seconds agents have to respond to meet an SLA Commitment between a service provider and a customer with a defined service level threshold, including quality, availability, and responsibilities. For example, if your SLA for this skill is to respond to 80% of contacts within 20 seconds, enter a value of 20.
    Service Level Goal	The percentage of contacts agents must respond to by the Service Level Threshold to meet the SLA. For example, if the SLA for this ACD skill is to respond to 80% of contacts within 20 seconds, enter a value of 80

12. If you want to test how contacts in this skill change in priority over time compared to other skills, use the Priority Comparison tool. You can also do this later.
    View image

    

    1. In the Skills to Compare section, click +.

    2. Add Available skills until all skills you want to compare are in the Selected list. You don't need to add the skill you are currently editing; it appears in the graph automatically.

    3. Click Done.

    4. Use the Elapsed Time and Time Interval fields to define the period of time you want the graph to cover and the time interval A period between points, limits, or events, such as dates or times you want to mark a new point on the graph.

    5. Click Compare.

13. Click Create.

Create an Outbound Email Skill

Required permissions: Skills Create and Skills Edit

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

3. Click Create New > Single Skill.

4. Set the Media Type to Email and Inbound/Outbound to Outbound, and Outbound Strategy to Manual.
5. Enter a Skill Name.
6. Select the Campaign you want the skill to be part of.
7. Enter the Email From-Address, then select a domain from the drop-down.

8. Configure the remaining optional fields in the Skill Information section as needed.

   Learn more about fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Is Address Editable	When selected, gives agents the ability to change the Email From-Address as they write emails to contacts.
   Email Bcc-Address	Allows you to enter an email address to which you want a blind carbon copy of the email sent, or a copy of the email to a second address that the contact does not know about.
   Custom Script	A Studio script that runs when agents place a call with this ACD skill. Your Studio script can control things like agent script sessions, dispositions, and custom screen pops.
   Interruptible	Lets an inbound voice contact with a higher priority Skill-based designation of the importance of contacts that determines delivery order. interrupt emails received through this ACD skill. Email is the only interruptible media type. This field is only available in a single-channel handling environment.
   Minimum Working Time	Specifies the minimum number of seconds an agent must be able to attend to an email before a phone call can interrupt it. For example, if this value is set to 30, a higher priority call received at 20 seconds would not interrupt the email, but a call at 35 seconds would. This field is disabled if the Interruptible checkbox is not selected.
   Workforce Intelligence Minimum Agents	The minimum number of agents that must belong to this ACD skill. This setting prevents automatic actions associated with Workforce Intelligence rules from removing too many agents from the ACD skill. When the number of agents reaches this number or lower, all skill removal actions, even automatic ones, require approval. This setting doesn't affect agentless ACD skills.
   Workforce Intelligence Minimum Available Agents	The minimum number of available agents that must be maintained for this ACD skill. This setting prevents automatic actions associated with Workforce Intelligence rules from removing too many agents from the ACD skill. When the number of available agents reaches this number or lower, all ACD skill removal actions, even automatic ones, require approval. This setting doesn't affect agentless ACD skills.

9. If you want to use screen pops A configurable pop-up window with information about the contact. It appears on an agent's screen after a certain event, usually when the agent connects to a contact. for this skill, select the Use Screen Pops checkbox. Modify the optional settings in the Screen Pops section if you want to customize your screen pops. This capability is only supported for CXone Agent suite. You can also do this later.
   Learn more about fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Use Custom Screen Pops	Select this checkbox if you are using a separate application or website to run the screen pops.
   Application or Webpage	Select either Application or Webpage. If you chose Application, enter either the entire path to the executable. if you chose Webpage, enter the full URL. You can customize the title of the tab that pops up in the MAX interface by appending the icAgentPanelTitle= parameter to the URL.

10. Click Create.

Add Users to a Skill

Required permissions: Skills Edit, Skills User Assignment

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

3. Click the skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge you want to edit.

4. Click the Users tab.

5. Select the checkbox for each user you want to assign to the skill. Click Add Users.

6. Set the Proficiency for each user in this ACD skill to a number between 1 (highest) and 20 (lowest). Click Save Proficiencies.

   If you don't click Save Proficiencies before leaving the page, all users you added to the skill profile will be removed.

Create an Email Script

Required permissions: Scripts Create

1. In Studio, click File > New.
2. In the Create New Script window, select the Email icon. Verify that the Business Unit is correct and click OK.

3. Add BEGIN and REQAGENT actions to the canvas and connect them. Emails automatically route to the skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge specified in the point of contact associated with this script. If you want to route to a different skill, change the value in the Skill property of the action.

4. If you configured screen pops A configurable pop-up window with information about the contact. It appears on an agent's screen after a certain event, usually when the agent connects to a contact. in the skill, configure the screen pop content. You may need to contact your CXone Account Representative for guidance.

5. You can customize the script with additional actions you want to occur during email events, such as when the email is received or is sent.

6. Click File > Save.
7. In the Save Script As... window, enter a name for the script, and click Save.

Create an Email Point of Contact

Required permissions: Points of Contact Create

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > Point of Contact.

3. Click Create New and select Single Point of Contact.
4. For the Media Type, select Email.
5. Enter a Name for the point of contact.
6. From the Point of Contact drop-down, select the DNIS you configured earlier with NICE CXone that you want to reach this ACD skill.
7. Select the ACD Skill you created earlier.
8. Select the Script you created in Studio.
9. If you want calls to this number to track IVR press paths for reporting, select IVR Reporting Enabled.
10. Click Create Point of Contact.

Verify an Email Domain in Amazon SES

Required permissions: Skills Edit

To use your organization’s email domain with CXone hosted email, you must verify it by adding a TXT record to your Domain Name Server (DNS) settings. If you have multiple email domains, you must do this for all domains that you use with CXone. Emails from non-verified domains will continue to be sent with the legacy infrastructure. To avoid future disruptions with your email delivery, promptly review your email domains and begin the verification process. NICE CXone will provide future notification of the official migration to the new Amazon SES infrastructure to ensure any disruption.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > Email Domains.

   View image

   

   Learn more about columns on this page

   Field	Details
   From Email Domain	The domain your outbound emails are sent from. This is the part of the email that displays after the @.
   Verification Key	Displays the key needed to verify the domain. If empty, click Initiate in the Verify column to populate it.
   Domain Verification Status	The Domain verification status column then displays one of three status options: Pending. Success. Failed. If your verification failed, check your TXT record and verify that the correct file is in your DNS entry, then re-initiate the verification process.
   Email Domain Status	Displays Inactive or Active depending on whether there is a currently an email skill set up using that domain.
   Verify	Allows you to initiate the verification process. Click Initiate to populate the Verification Key column.
   DKIM Status	This column is not used for this task.
   Action	This column is not used for this task.

3. Locate the domain you want to verify. If the Verification Key column is empty, click Initiate in the Verify column to populate it.

4. Copy and paste the verification key into a word processing file.
5. Save the file as a TXT format with the following naming convention: _amazonses.<email domain>. An example of a TXT name would be _amazonses.ragnarok.com. Because some DNS providers automatically append the domain name to the end of DNS records, add a "." to the end of the domain name to indicate that it is fully qualified. Additionally, if your DNS provider prohibits underscores in TXT records, remove the _amazonses. from the domain name. You can also add amazonses: before the verification key to improve maintainability.
6. Log in to your domain name server administrator application and navigate to the TXT records page.
7. Add the TXT record.

8. Save your changes. It can take up to 48 hours for your updates to apply.

You can find additional details about the Amazon SES verification process by going to the Amazon AWS documentation and searching for "Amazon SES Domain Verification TXT Records".

Generate and Verify DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Keys

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication technique that ensures an email is authorized by using a digital signature. CNAME keys are used to map one domain to another.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > Email Domains.

   View image

   

   Learn more about columns on this page

   Field	Details
   From Email Domain	The domain your outbound emails are sent from. This is the part of the email that displays after the @.
   Verification Key	Displays the key needed to verify the domain. If empty, click Initiate in the Verify column to populate it.
   Domain Verification Status	This column is not used for this task.
   Email Domain Status	This column is not used for this task.
   Verify	This column is not used for this task.
   DKIM Status	Displays the status of your DKIM key. If the DKIM status column is Failed, check your CNAME keys and verify that the correct keys are in your DNS entry, then re-initiate the verification process.
   Action	Allows you to initiate the process of generating a DKIM key. Click Initiate to open a window to download the necessary CSV file.

3. Locate the domain you want DKIM keys for. In the Action column, click Initiate.

4. In the Dkim Tokens (CNAME) window, click Download.

5. Open the CSV file you just downloaded and copy the keys to the DNS.

6. Save your changes. It can take up to 48 hours for your updates to apply.

Additional Tasks

Customization options include:

• Set up quick replies.
• Configure email post-contact work.
• Set the email inbox limit.