ACD User Guide

What is ACD?
ACD stands for Automatic Call Distribution. It is a service that enables a call to be placed on hold until an employee is available to take the call.

What is an ACD pilot?
An ACD pilot is the number assigned to a department's ACD group. For example, the Computer Help Desk's ACD pilot is x7777.

What is an agent?
An agent is an employee who is logged on to the ACD group and answering calls.

What is the queue?
The queue, which translates "line" from French, is just that. It is a line of calls that are on hold, waiting to be transferred to the next available agent. The ACD program keeps track of which call came in first and transfers that call before the others.

How does the ACD work?
Most ACD pilots are on a timer; that is, they automatically turn on and off at specified times during the day. Some have to be manually turned on and off - instructions on how to do this should be available to you if you are required to do this. The ACD pilot is then ready to accept calls.

• An agent logs on (or signs on) to the ACD and the ACD program recognizes that the agent is ready to receive calls on that phone.
• The ACD group receives an incoming call and checks to see if any agents that are logged on are free to take the call.
  • If an agent is free, the ACD program transfers the call to that agent.
  • If there are no free agents logged on, the ACD program plays a recorded message specific to that ACD pilot such as "You have reached the Computer Help Desk. All agents are assisting other callers. Please stay on the line and the next available agent will assist you."
  • The call is then placed in what is called the "queue." A queue is simply a group of calls that are waiting to be answered. The ACD program remembers which call came first and when an agent becomes available to answer a call, the ACD program transfers the first call to that agent.

How do I sign on and off as an agent?
To sign on:

• By either picking up your handset or pressing the speaker button, get a dial tone on the ACD extension. Press the OFF button. You will hear a two-beep confirmation tone. There will be NO dot next to the OFF button.

To sign off:

• By either picking up your handset or pressing the speaker button, get a dial tone on the ACD extension. Press the OFF button. You will hear a two-beep confirmation tone. There WILL be a dot next to the OFF button.
• See the Telephone Services ACD Quick Reference guide for more information.

What happens if no agents are signed on but the ACD pilot is on?
When a call comes in, the ACD program will check for available agents. When it finds that there are no available agents, it will transfer the call into the queue until an agent is available. This could mean that the caller is waiting in queue for a very long time, so be sure that your ACD pilot is switched to night service after-hours.

• What happens to calls in queue when the ACD pilot goes into night service?
  If your ACD automatically turns off and on, it will turn off the pilot number at a certain time and not accept calls until a certain time. When the pilot number turns off, any calls that are still left in the queue are still sent to available agents; however new calls are not accepted. All the agents need to do is answer the remaining calls before signing off.
• If your ACD must be manually turned off and on, you may want to check how many callers are in queue 15 minutes before closing. If there are still several calls in the queue and there are few agents answering calls, you may want to turn the pilot number off early. This will prevent new calls from going to the queue, but you can still answer the callers already in queue. This is helpful if you find yourself staying half an hour past closing time in order to finish answering calls.

How do I check to see how many callers are in the queue?
Every ACD phone should have a QUEU button. Press the QUEU button. It will show you the number of agents signed on (AOL) and calls in queue (CALLS). Maximum queue size is usually 20 calls.

This is also helpful if you think another agent is needed to answer calls. Even if your ACD phone is not signed on, you can press the QUEU button to see how many calls are in queue and how many agents are signed on. If there are only 2 agents and 10 calls in queue, you may want to have another agent sign on.

Why is my QUEU button flashing?
The QUEU button is set to flash whenever there are a pre-set number of callers in the queue. The rate of the flash will increase as the number of calls reaches that pre-set number. Many QUEU buttons are set to flash whenever there are any calls in the queue. This is just a reminder that there are other callers waiting to be answered. It will stop flashing when the number of callers in queue is below the pre-set number.

Can my supervisor listen in on the ACD calls that I answer?
There is a feature called monitor that allows agents designated as supervisors to listen in on ACD calls and even to join the conversation as necessary. Your supervisor should inform you if they will be using this feature.

My supervisor gets ACD reports. What do these reports say?
ACD reports print out either daily or weekly. The pilot report tells the supervisor how many calls came into the pilot, how many were abandoned, how many were answered, how many were sent to the queue, the average wait time of callers sent to the queue, and the longest period of time that a caller waited in the queue.

The agent report tells the supervisor how long an agent was signed on during the report period (either one day or one week), how many ACD calls they answered, the average time they spent on each call, and it also shows the number of outgoing and incoming (callers that dialed the agent directly rather than going through the ACD pilot number) calls.

Reports allow supervisors to assess how their ACD is working and if more agents need to be hired to accommodate the number of calls received.

What do I do if my ACD phone doesn't work?

• Speak to your supervisor first. See if he/she can help you out.
• If you are still having problems, call Bob Zepeda at x3434 or Cathy Arthur at x2492.
• If you are unable to reach either Bob or Cathy, you may call the campus operators at x2011. Tell them you are having problems with your ACD phone and need to speak with a Telephone Services staff member.

Is there anything I should remember as an agent?

• Remember to sign off anytime that you will be away from the phone longer than a minute. If you are signed on, the ACD will send calls to your phone even if you're not there. Callers who get sent to your phone will have to wait through the 12 second ring cycle (about 3-4 rings) and then will get sent on to another agent or back into the queue. It is very frustrating when you call an ACD and several agents are signed on but away from their desk. Callers end up listening to 10-15 rings and get the impression that your department does not care about customer service.
• Be patient with your callers. Many people do not like ACDs or call controller trees (where you press 1 for this information, 2 for this information, etc). They want to speak to a live person. Callers may also have spent a long time waiting in the queue if it is a busy time for your department. Keep this in mind when you answer the phone. It softens people to hear a smiling voice.

How the ACD Works