Set Up CXone SMS Messaging for ACD

There are a number of steps you need to take to set up a CXone SMS Messaging channel for your organization.

Complete each of these tasks in the order given.

Configure SMS Registrations

Required permissions: SMS Registrations Create

Click the app selector and select ACD.
Go to Contact Settings > SMS Registrations.
Click Create New.
For Provider, select Nexmo from the drop-down.

Complete the additional required fields and any optional fields based on your needs.

Field	Details
SMS Transport Code	Enter the code you're registering for CXone SMS Messaging.
Code Type	Define the type of transport code from the drop-down: Long, Short, Vanity, or Toll Free Long.
Verified SMS Enabled	This setting is not used.
Brand	Select a verified SMS brand. Each transport code can support one brand.
Localization	Select the verified SMS localization that you want this transport code to support.
Delivery Rate	Enter the appropriate rate for the code type. In North America, enter 1 for a long code, 20 for a short code, and 20 for a toll free code.
Host URL	This field is populated for you based on your Provider choice.
Select Do Not Call Group	Select from the drop-down of DNC groups in your system.
Routing Keyword	This field is for use by CXone personnel only.
International Capable	When selected, indicates that the registered number is capable of sending text messages to contacts outside of the United States. This field is populated for you based on your provider choice.

Click Create.

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.

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

Create an Inbound SMS Skill

Required permissions: Skills Create and Skills Edit

Click the app selector and select ACD.
Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.
Click Create New > Single Skill.
Set the Media Type to SMS and Inbound/Outbound to Inbound.
Enter a Skill Name.
Select the Campaign you want the skill to be part of.

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

Learn more about fields in this step

Field	Details
Transferred to Script	Specifies the script that runs when an agent transfers a contact from another skill to this skill. The transferred contact switches to this script rather than running scripts from the original ACD skill. You could use this field for overflow or supervisor escalation scripts, which often include multiple queue scripts with varying logic that differ from normal inbound logic.
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.

Field

Details

Transferred to Script

Specifies the script that runs when an agent transfers a contact from another skill to this skill. The transferred contact switches to this script rather than running scripts from the original ACD skill. You could use this field for overflow or supervisor escalation scripts, which often include multiple queue scripts with varying logic that differ from normal inbound logic.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.
Click Create.

Create an Outbound SMS Skill

Required permissions: Skills Create and Skills Edit

Click the app selector and select ACD.
Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.
Click Create New > Single Skill.
Set the Media Type to SMS, Inbound/Outbound to Outbound, and Outbound Strategy to Manual.
Enter a Skill Name.
Select the Campaign you want the skill to be part of.
Select an SMS Transport Code from the drop-down.

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

Learn more about fields in this step

Field	Details
DNC Group
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.

Field

Details

DNC Group

Workforce Intelligence Minimum Agents

This setting doesn't affect agentless ACD skills.

Workforce Intelligence Minimum Available Agents

This setting doesn't affect agentless ACD skills.

If you want to use screen pops

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Click Create.

Create an SMS Script

Required permissions: Scripts Create

In Studio, click File > New.
In the Create New Script window, select the SMS icon. Verify that the Business Unit is correct and click OK.
Add BEGIN and REQAGENT actions to the canvas and connect them. Inbound SMS messages 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.
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.
You can customize the script with additional actions you want to occur during messaging events, such as when the interaction begins, is transferred, or ends.
Click File > Save.
In the Save Script As... window, enter a name for the script, and click Save.

Create a Point of Contact

Required permissions: Points of Contact Create

Click the app selector and select ACD.
Go to Contact Settings > Point of Contact.
Click Create New and select Single Point of Contact.
For the Media Type, select SMS.
Enter a Name for the point of contact.
From the Point of Contact drop-down, select the DNIS you configured earlier with NICE CXone that you want to reach this ACD skill.
Select the ACD Skill you created earlier.
Select the Script you created in Studio.
If you want calls to this number to track IVR press paths for reporting, select IVR Reporting Enabled.
Click Create Point of Contact.

Customize Your Messaging Channel

Depending on how your organization uses CXone SMS Messaging, you might also want to:

Set up dispositions.
Set up tagging.
Set the maximum number of SMS and chat sessions per team, user, or both.
Set the refusal timeout value for SMS interactions by editing the user. This is the number of seconds the agent can have a request in the personal queue without responding. When the time limit has been reached, the interaction transfers to another agent.