ACD 2000 Planning

Planning the implementation of the ACD 2000 feature ensures maximum performance for your application. You should consider the following information:

Staffing Levels

To ensure optimum use of personnel and system resources, use historical calling patterns to determine staffing levels for the agents. Most ACD installations set staffing at levels that ensure the average number of callers equals or exceeds the number of agents. During peak periods when all agents are busy, callers are placed in a queue to wait for the first available agent.

Call Information

Since the most critical element of an ACD system is the timely handling of incoming calls, the communications manager must first consider the level of traffic that the system will be receiving and determine the types of calls and any trunking details that could influence the importance of the call. For example, long distance charges can be kept to a minimum by assigning these calls to high priority paths. The following questions serve as examples of those areas to be addressed when categorizing the ACD callers:

Are service departments involved?
What traffic is anticipated for each department?
What priority is given to service calls?
Do any service departments require a customer complaint area?
Is there local service only or service to out-of-town clients?
Will there be revenue generating calls? Unless the company holds a monopoly on service, these callers should be highlighted for priority paths. Are there general information calls?
Will agents receive long distance calls collect?
Does the company offer INWATS, Foreign Exchange, or other specialized trunking?

ACD Resources

The resource maximums for the ACD 2000 feature are listed in the following table. Traditional ACD agents and hot desk ACD agents require an ACD license to log into an ACD session.

ACD licenses are dynamically allocated to agents. When an agent logs in, the system gives the agent an ACD Active_Agent_License from the available pool. After the agent logs out, the license is returned to the pool. A license is only required by an agent for the duration of the login session.

ACD Resource Maximums (without Extended Agent Skill Group option enabled)
ACD Licenses	Agent IDs	Paths	Agent Skill Groups	Members per Group	Generic Thresholds LCDs	Call Wait Items
5	1181	999	64	150	5	350
10	1181	999	64	150	10	350
15	1181	999	64	150	15	350
20	1181	999	64	150	20	350
25	1181	999	64	150	25	350
30	1181	999	64	150	30	350
35	1181	999	64	150	35	350
40	1181	999	64	150	40	350
45	1181	999	64	150	45	350
50	1181	999	64	150	50	350
60	1181	999	64	150	60	350
70	1181	999	64	150	70	350
80	1181	999	64	150	80	350
90	1181	999	64	150	90	350
100	1181	999	64	150	100	350

ACD Resource Maximums (with Extended Agent Skill Group option enabled)
ACD Licenses	Agent IDs	Paths	Agent Skill Groups		Members per Group	Generic Thresholds LCDs	Call Wait Items
ACD Licenses	Agent IDs	Paths	MXe Server	Other Controllers	Members per Group	Generic Thresholds LCDs	Call Wait Items
5	1181	999	256	128	500	5	350
10	1181	999	256	128	500	10	350
15	1181	999	256	128	500	15	350
20	1181	999	256	128	500	20	350
25	1181	999	256	128	500	25	350
30	1181	999	256	128	500	30	350
35	1181	999	256	128	500	35	350
40	1181	999	256	128	500	40	350
45	1181	999	256	128	500	45	350
50	1181	999	256	128	500	50	350
60	1181	999	256	128	500	60	350
70	1181	999	256	128	500	70	350
80	1181	999	256	128	500	80	350
90	1181	999	256	128	500	90	350
100	1181	999	256	128	500	100	350

Maximum Number of ACD Agents on a Standalone System

The maximum number of ACD agents supported on a single controller (paths and agents on the same controller) is listed in the following table.

ACD Agents	100-user	250-user	700-user	CX, CXi, CX II, and CXi II	MX	MXe	MXe expanded	MXe Server	AX	LX
IP Phones	30	50	100	50	50	50	100	256	50	100
DNIC Sets	50	50	100	n/a	50	50	100	n/a	n/a	100
Total	80	100	100	50	100	100	100	256	50	100

Notes:

ACD operation is usually considered separately from normal IP and TDM usage (ACD lines do not have significant interaction with normal lines). The total system traffic is the sum of both normal and ACD traffic. Up to 350 ACD users can be programmed in every system, but because of resource limitations the number of IP and DNIC ACD agents should be limited to the practical limits shown above. The maximum number shown may not be usable without additional DSP resources, because of the increased traffic on ACD lines and trunks.
The total number of Agent Skill Groups includes ACD groups for which the system is the primary element, ACD groups for which the system is the secondary element, and ACD Express groups. This effectively reduces the maximum number of ACD groups that are available. For example, an MXe Server with the Extended Agent Skill Group option can have up to 256 ACD groups; however, if the system is in a resilient configuration, this number is divided in half, as the system can support no more than 128 ACD groups in the primary role and 128 ACD groups in the secondary role.

Maximum Number of ACD Agents on a System using Clustered ACD

In a clustered environment, you can increase the number of supported IP agents by programming the paths on trunking gateways and by programming the agents on agent controllers. Calls are distributed between the controllers by Network ACD. In this type of configuration, each agent controller can support up to the following number of agents:

The maximum number of active agents within a cluster consisting of a queueing gateway and agent controllers is 350 on the agent controller. If the agent controller is an MXe expanded, then the maximum is 250 agents; if the agent controller is an MXe server, then the maximum is 350 agents.

Note that hot desk ACD agents are only supported on IP phones. See ACD Scalability for more information.

Agent Skill Grouping

Using the collected caller information, begin grouping the agents. Use the following questions and comments as a guide:

Are any agents capable of handling various types of calls? For example, will any agents be common to more than one service department?
Which type of calls will this group specialize in? List the types of calls this group could handle as an overflow point.
Which groups will require a wrap up time?

The Agent Skill Group Planner Sheet serves as an aid in planning the distribution of work load between agent skill groups. After doing the initial sizing to determine the number of agent skill groups required to handle the calls, use this planner to assign the parameters to each group. This information is used later during the programming of the system. An agent can belong to a maximum of eight different agent skill groups.

Call Routing

Use the Path Planner Sheet in conjunction with the agent skill group planner when laying out the routing for incoming ACD calls. The planner identifies all major elements that must be addressed while setting up the system.

Recorded Announcements

Recorded announcements are a valuable tool in the ACD 2000 feature. The following suggestions can help you gain the most from the recordings:

Supply a company introduction to the caller. "Thank you for calling .....", followed by reassurance that the first available agent will answer the call.
Consider the advertising potential while the caller is waiting for service. Use the recorded announcements to promote new products, specials, or services.
Refer to the list of callers as a guide when defining the RADs. As out of town callers would be frustrated by local promotions, tailor your recorded message to the caller's needs.
Is there any information the agent will require from the caller? Recordings can be used to eliminate time wasted with an agent if callers have prior notice of any information they should have ready, such as account numbers, credit cards, or postal codes.