Customize ACD Skills

Many options are available for customizing your ACD skills Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge..

Configure Screen Pops

Required permissions: Skills Edit

When you create a skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge. in the platform, the Screen Pops section appears as part of the setup wizard. Screen pops are triggered by specific actions or events, and you can use them to give information to the agent, open a separate application, and so forth. Note that screen pops are only supported in Agent.

These steps explain how to configure screen pops in the platform. You must also build them into your contact routing scripts using specific Studio actions.

To have custom variables appear in the screen pop, the variable must be configured to do so in your custom Studio script.

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 view.

4. On the Details tab, click Edit.

5. Select the check box for Use Screen Pops.
6. If you want to use default screen pops, skip the remaining steps in this task.
7. If you want to create your own custom screen pop experience by linking to an application or webpage, select the Custom Screen Pops check box. Do the following:
   1. Select Application or Webpage.
   2. In the text field, enter either the entire path to the executable if you chose Application or the full URL if you chose Webpage.
   3. You can customize the title of the tab that pops up in the MAX interface by appending the icAgentPanelTitle= parameter to the URL.

8. Click Done to save your changes.

Set Priority Management While in Queue

Required permissions: Skills Edit

You can specify the base priority Skill-based designation of the importance of contacts that determines delivery order. of a new contact in your ACD skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge. and control how that priority changes over time in the queue.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

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

4. Click Edit.

5. Set the Initial Priority, Acceleration, and Maximum Priority. If you're creating a Personal Connection skill with priority blending enabled, set the Initial Priority, Priority Initial Priority, and Reschedule Priority instead.

   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. For existing digital skills, Initial Priority is set to the same priority value for its associated routing queue filter.
   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. NiCE 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. The maximum priority for digital contacts is 1000.

   If you're creating an email skill with 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.

6. To test the priority of the skill relative to others, Compare Skill Priority.
   

7. Click Done.

Set Up Priority-Based Blending

Required permissions: External Business Unit Edit and Skills Edit

Priority-based blending Agents can receive interactions from all eligible ACD, Personal Connection dialer, and Digital Experience (DX) skills assigned to them, based on relative skill priority. Personal Connection skills work as they normally would, no matter the dialing ratio. enables agents to receive calls from all eligible ACD and Personal Connection (PC) dialer skills Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge. assigned to them, based on the relative skill priority Skill-based designation of the importance of contacts that determines delivery order.. For PC skills configured in a predictive dialing mode, agents can be assigned to more than one call, just as they would with a non-blended predictive dialing skill.

You must set up priority-based blending for each skill you want to blend together for your agents. Agents cannot log in to PC ACD skills with priority-based blending enabled they same way they would log in to the non-blended PC ACD skill. Instead, NiCE CXone delivers calls as the ACD skill priorities dictate. NiCE CXone prompts the agent to manually log in to those non-blended skills. Otherwise, it assigns the agent outbound calls when they are the next highest priority work. If an agent logs in to a non-blended ACD skill, the agent cannot use priority-based blending.

When the agent application switches between inbound and outbound calls, agents receive a visual cue. The two modes have differences in color and the agent can see queue levels for inbound ACD skills while handling outbound calls.

1. To enable priority-based blending for Personal Connection skills, do the following:

   1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

   2. Go to ACD Configuration > Business Units.

   3. Click the business unit to open it.

   4. In the Details tab, click Edit.

   5. In the Outbound Strategy section, select the Enable Priority-Based Blending of Outbound Skills with Inbound Queues checkbox.

   6. Click Done.

2. Configure priority settings for the ACD skills you want to include in blending. These do not include Personal Connection skills. You'll configure those in later steps.

   1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

   2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

   3. Locate the skill you want to include in priority-based blending. Click to open it.

   4. Click Edit.

   5. Set the Initial Priority, Acceleration rate, and Maximum Priority fields as needed. Not every field will be available for every skill type.

      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. For existing digital skills, Initial Priority is set to the same priority value for its associated routing queue filter.
      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. NiCE 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.

   6. Use the Priority Comparison tool at the bottom of the skill's Details tab as needed.

   7. Click Done.

   8. Return to the ACD Skills page and repeat these steps for all other ACD skills you want to include in priority-based blending.

3. Configure priority settings for the Personal Connection skills you want to include in blending.

   1. If the PC skill you want to enable for blending is currently running, stop the skill.

      1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

      2. Go to Outbound > Skill Control.

      3. Click the ACD skill. Click Stop.

   2. Still in the ACD application, go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

   3. Locate the PC skill you want to include in priority-based blending. Click to open it.

   4. Click Edit.

   5. Select Priority-Based Blending. Click Done.

   6. Click Edit again.

   7. Set the Initial Priority, Priority Initial Priority, and Reschedule Priority fields as needed.

      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. For existing digital skills, Initial Priority is set to the same priority value for its associated routing queue filter.

   8. Use the Priority Comparison tool at the bottom of the skill's Details tab as needed.

   9. Click Done.

   10. Return to the ACD Skills page and repeat these steps for all other PC skills you want to include in priority-based blending.

Compare Skill Priority

Required permissions: Skills Edit

Use the priority comparison tool to quickly determine how contacts in certain skills compare in priority over time.

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 compare with other skills.

4. On the Details tab, click Edit.

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

6. Locate a skill you want to compare with the skill you have open. Select the skill and click >.

7. Continue adding 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.

8. Click Done.

9. If you want to remove any of the skills you selected, click the X icon.

10. 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.

11. Click Compare.

12. As you analyze the line graph, modify your Comparison Options and the priority Skill-based designation of the importance of contacts that determines delivery order. options for the skill you have open, or compare the skill against different skills and regenerate the graph as needed.

13. When you're finished making changes, click Done.

Set Up Tagging

Required permissions: Skills Edit, Tags Create

If you want to enable agents to apply labels to interactions to make them a certain way for reporting, create tags and assign them to the skill.

1. If you haven't already done so, create tags.

   1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

   2. Go to Contact Settings > Tags.

   3. Click Create New.
   4. Enter a Name for the tag.
   5. Click Create Tag.

2. Click the app selector and select ACD.

3. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

4. Open the skill you want to modify.
5. Click the Tags tab.
6. Select the check boxes next to the tags you want to add.
7. Click Add Tags.
8. Click Done to save your changes.

Set Up Post-Contact Work

Required permissions: Skills Edit, Tags Create

If you want to configure dispositions Result assigned by the agent or system at the end of a voice (disposition) or digital (status) interaction. for agents to apply to interactions or if you want to set aside a period of time for agents to take notes before moving on to the next contact, configure post-contact work State that allows an agent to complete work requirements after finishing an interaction. for the skill Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge.. You can set up different post-contact workflows for inbound and outbound calls, but be aware that the experience agents have after a conference call is affected:

• When the agent ends the conference portion of the interaction, the inbound post-contact workflow is triggered.
• When the inbound portion of the interaction is ended by either the agent or the contact, the outbound post-contact workflow is triggered.
• When the outbound portion of the interaction is ended by either the agent or the contact, the inbound post-contact workflow is triggered.

1. If you haven't already done so, create an unavailable code for post-contact work.

2. If you're using dispositions for your post-contact work and you haven't already done so, create the dispositions you want agents to be able to apply to the interaction.

3. Click the app selector and select ACD.

4. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

5. Click a skill to open it.

6. Click the Post Contact tab.

7. Select the post-contact type you would like to apply to the skill from Automatic Wrap-up, Disposition, or None. All three options may not be available for each skill type.

   Learn more about the fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Automatic Wrap-up	Places the agent in an after-contact work (ACW) state for a certain amount of time after finishing an interaction. You can have time for agents to have a short break between calls, to write notes about the contact, or do other things.
   Disposition	Places the agent in an after-contact work state after finishing an interaction to apply a disposition and input any required information based on the disposition, such as a callback Holds a customer's place in queue and automatically calls the customer when they move to the front of the queue. time or a commitment amount.
   None	No after-contact work occurs. The agent immediately becomes available to take more contacts.

8. If you choose Automatic Wrap-up, select an unavailable code from the State drop-down and specify a Max Time Limit in seconds.

   Learn more about the fields in this step

   Field	Details
   State	The unavailable state applied to the agent during after-contact work.
   Max Time Limit	The maximum number of seconds the agent can spend in the after-contact work state before the contact is automatically dispositioned to No Disposition and the record finalized.

9. If you choose Disposition, select an unavailable code from the State drop-down and specify a Max Time Limit in seconds. If you want to require the dispositions instead of setting a Max Time Limit, select the Required check box. Select the check box next to each disposition you want to add from the Select dispositions to use with this skill table. Click Add.

   Learn more about the fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Required	Agents are under no time restrictions to select a disposition after handling a contact. Selecting Required disables Timeout State and Max Time Limit. If a disposition is required, the agent automatically returns to an available state The availability status of an agent. when they assign a disposition.
   State	The unavailable state applied to the agent during after-contact work.
   Timeout State	The unavailable state applied to agents when they exceed the Max Time Limit. This field is only available for Personal Connection skills.
   Max Time Limit	The maximum number of seconds the agent can spend in the after-contact work state before the contact is automatically dispositioned to No Disposition and the record finalized. When the Max Time Limit is reached, the agent automatically returns to an available state. If an agent wants to change their state before the timeout ends, they must do so manually. You can configure additional ACW time for individual users in their ACD User settings. You can configure this extra time for one user at a time or multiple users at once.
   Select dispositions to use with this skill	A table of dispositions that you can make available for agents to apply after handling a contact in this skill.
   Dispositions assigned to this skill	A table of dispositions already available for agents to apply after handling a contact in this skill.

10. If you want chat contacts to see a thank-you page after a chat interaction, you can configure a thank-you page for your chat skill post-contact work.
11. Click Save.

Configure SLA and Abandon Settings

You can modify the default SLA Commitment between service provider and customer with defined service level thresholds including quality, availability, and responsibilities. settings for ACD skills Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge.. This includes settings for abandons. Abandons happen when contacts reach out to your organization but don't continue or complete the interaction. You can manage how abandons are tracked and reported by configuring specific settings within your ACD skills.

By aligning these settings at the skill level, you ensure consistent data across your dashboards and reporting tools.

You can configure the following SLA settings for a skill: 

• Service level threshold and goal: You can configure the number of seconds agents have to respond to interactions in this skill in order to meet an SLA. You can also set a goal for this service level, responding to 80% of contacts in the amount of time defined as the service level threshold. These options are available for chat, email, voicemail, work item, and inbound phone, and SMS skills.
• Short abandons: Short abandons are contacts that enter the queue but disconnect before a configured amount of time is reached. This is an option for inbound chat, and phone skills.

1. Click the app selector and select ACD.

2. Go to Contact Settings > ACD Skills.

3. Open the inbound skill you want to modify and click Edit.

4. In the Service Level section, configure the Service Level Threshold and Service Level Goal for this skill.

   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 service provider and customer with defined service level thresholds 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 skill is to respond to 80% of contacts within 20 seconds, enter a value of 80.

5. For a chat or inbound voice skill, configure settings for short abandons.

   Learn more about fields in this step

   Field	Details
   Enable Short Abandon Threshold	Allows you to trackabandoned Call that enters the contact center system, but the caller ends the call before reaching an agent. contacts that fall within the Short Abandon Threshold for this skill.
   Short Abandon Threshold	The number of seconds that must pass for an abandoned interaction to be considered a short abandon. For example, if the value is set to 10 and an interaction drops from the queue after seven seconds without being delivered to an agent, it is reported as a short abandon. The default value is 15 seconds.
   Short Abandons	Counts short abandons, as defined by the Short Abandon Threshold, against the service level for reporting purposes.

   Scenario	Setting	SLA Value
   Short abandon, NOT counted	Short Abandons set to No	-1
   Short abandon, counted	Short Abandons set to Yes	1
   Abandoned after threshold	Any	1
   Answered after SLA	Any	1
   Not answered at all	Any	1

6. Click Done to save your changes.