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Agent Activity Configuration

Use this page to configure an agent activity. An agent activity is an activity that a specific agent completes during the agent's shift.

An agent activity is different than a shift activity. A shift activity is a reoccurring activity for all agents in the shift.

The settings for agent activities either compliment or override the settings for shift activities.

Activity Type

Select an activity type from the list. Activity types are mapped to agent status in Activity Types.

Length

Set the duration of the activity. Use the format HH:MM. The default length is 1 hour. The minimum length is 5 minutes.

Start Time Configuration

Use the section to specify the start time settings for this activity for this agent. Select the hour or minute position to change the time.

Use Relative Times

Select this check box to use times relative to start times. If selected, Earliest Start Time From Shift Start and Latest Start Time From Shift Start appear below. If this check box is not selected, absolute times are used. Absolute times are represented by A.M. and P.M. By default, this check box is not selected.

If the agent is assigned different shifts, then use relative time so that the settings are valid for all of the agent's shifts. For example, select 2:00 hours from shift start rather than 10:00 A.M.

Earliest Start Time (From Shift Start)

Select the hour or minute position, and then use the up and down arrows to set the earliest time this activity can start. The default value for this field is 8:00 A.M.

Latest Start Time (From Shift Start)

Select the hour or minute position, and then use the up and down arrows to set the latest time this activity can start. The default value for this field is 9:00 A.M.

Start Time Increment

Select the hour or minute position, and then use the up and down arrows to set the increment in minutes that this activity can start. The default value for this field is 15 minutes. The system uses this increment during schedule generation. To avoid excessive work or time for schedule generation, the number of possible start times can not exceed 50.

For example, if the earliest activity start time is 9:00 A.M., the latest start time is 10:15 A.M., the start time increment is 15 minutes, and the length is 15 minutes, then the scheduling process would first try scheduling this activity at 9:00, then at 9:15, then at 9:30 and so on every 15 minutes until 10:15.

Counts Toward Paid Time

Select this check box if this activity counts toward paid time. For example, lunch is normally not considered paid time. By default, this check box is not selected (enabled).

Counts Toward Contiguous Work Time

Select this check box if this activity counts toward contiguous work time. For example, if an agent needs to attend a meeting from 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M., then start a shift at 8:00 A.M., then this meeting is considered contiguous work time. By default, this check box is not selected.

Schedule generation uses this setting when it assigns activities to an agent. It factors in the minimum and maximum contiguous work time constraints settings in Daily Shift Constraints.

Replaces Shift Activity of the Same Type

Select this check box if this activity should replace another activity of the same type. For example, if this is a lunch activity type, and an agent needs to take lunch exactly at 12:00 P.M., but the weekly shift definition specifies lunch anytime between 11:30 and 1:30, then the schedule generation will force the lunch activity in the 12:00 to 1:00 time slot.

If this check box is not selected and this activity type exists in the Activities section of the Daily Shift Constraints, then the agent will have this activity scheduled in addition to existing activities. By default, this check box is not selected.

Attendance Requirement Type

Select any of the following values:

Unspecified: This is the default selection. This option does the following things:
- It discards schedules that have agent activities that have been skipped (all remaining activities to be scheduled do not have a start time greater than or equal to the current time).
- It suppresses schedules that end in agent activities that are both non-paid and non-contiguous.
- It suppresses schedules that have unscheduled agent activities that are both paid and contiguous.
Do Not Schedule: This option causes the scheduling engine to ignore this agent activity.
Optional: This option causes the scheduling engine to keep schedules that meet minimum constraints and that have optional, unscheduled agent activities.
Include: This option causes the scheduling engine to discard potential schedules that do not contain the scheduled agent activity.

Note: If required Include activities occur during a paid time-off request, then the required activities are ignored. Instead, a schedule containing the time-off request is created.

Description

Enter a description of the activity. You can enter up to 2000 characters.

The description appears in a tooltip when a user moves their cursor over an activity in a schedule in Interaction Desktop. It also appears if you double-click an activity to edit it.