Contents

Agents

Use this page to add agent schedule exceptions (constraints) to weekly shift definitions. The scheduling engine uses these settings when it generates schedules for agents.

Examples

Daily agent constraint example

John Smith is one of many agents who are assigned to a weekly shift definition. However on Tuesdays, John must leave an hour early (4:00 P.M.) to attend physical therapy sessions. You can add this exception as a Daily Agent Constraint by setting the Latest Shift Stop Time value to 4:00 P.M.

Weekly agent constraint example

Sally Jones is normally paid for 40 hours a week. She is one of many agents assigned to a weekly shift definition. However every day of the week for several weeks, Sally will be attending a "Lunch and Learn" session during her lunch break. These sessions are considered paid time. You can add this exception as a Weekly Agent Constraint by setting the Minimum Paid Time value to 45 hours.

Agent Configurations

The User Name box contains the names of the agents for whom agent schedule exceptions have been configured. Click Add to select agents and then configure the schedule exceptions. Click Remove to remove an agent and the schedule exceptions.

Agent Configuration Settings

Select Daily Agent Constraints or Weekly Agent Constraints. Then complete the corresponding details.

Daily Agent Constraints

Do one of the following things:

To add a constraint, click Add. Complete the Daily Agent Availability Constraints dialog box.
To edit a constraint, select the constraint and then click Edit.
To remove a constraint, select the constraint and then click Remove.

Weekly Agent Constraints

Specify the requirements for paid time, shift time, and shift days for the selected weekly shift definition.

Note: There are default values for each of the configurable items, however the defaults are not enabled unless you select the corresponding check boxes. By default the scheduling engine uses the maximums of the maximums and minimums of the minimums to generate schedules for agents.

Minimum Paid Time

Select this check box to set the agent's desired minimum number of paid hours per week. In the box, type any value between 0 and 168. The default value is 20 hours.

Desired Maximum Paid Time

Select this check box to set the agent's desired maximum number of paid hours per week. In the box, type any value between 0 and 168. The default value is 40 hours. For example, an agent might want to work 50 paid hours a week to earn extra income.

Note: If the desired service level cannot be met, the scheduling process schedules agents above their maximum number of desired paid time hours. See Absolute Maximum Paid Time.

Absolute Maximum Paid Time

Select this check box to specify the agent's absolute maximum paid time in hours per week. In the box, type any value between 0 and 168. The default value is 50 hours. For example, a company may not allow any agent to work more than 40 paid hours a week.

Note: The scheduling process observes the absolute maximum paid time hours regardless if the agents can meet the desired service level. See the Desired Maximum Paid Time.

Minimum Time Between Shifts

Select this check box to set the minimum number of hours between shifts for the agent. In the box, type any value between 0 and 168. The default value is 12 hours. For example, a company might allow agents to work a 3:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. shift on Monday, and then another shift at 7:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. on Tuesday. In this case, set the minimum time between shifts to 8 hours.

Maximum days

Select this check box to set the maximum number of days that the agent can work. In the box, type any value between 1 and 7. The default value is 7 days.