Queues
Pega Customer Service uses omni-channel queue-based routing to direct new chat or messaging conversation requests to Customer Service Representatives (CSRs). A queue is a temporary container that holds and processes the incoming chat and messaging requests. There are several ways of mapping a specific request to a queue. For chats, the system can auto-select a queue based on the URL with from which the customer initiated the chat. You must configure at least one queue for requests to be collected and then routed. If you have several queues, you can prompt customers with a list of questions or options that map to different queues.
Ensure that you have configured the provisioned chat server in your Pega Customer Service application. See Chat and messaging configuration.
Configuring chat and messaging queues
To add a new chat queue and configure it to a chat server, perform the following steps:
- In the navigation pane of App Studio, click .
- In the list of chat and messaging settings, click Queues.
- In the Queues section, do one of the following:
- To edit an existing queue, click the Edit this queue icon, and then follow the instructions below for adding a new queue.
- To add a new queue, click Add queue, and then follow the instructions below for adding a new queue.
- On the General tab, perform the following steps:
- In the Queue name field, enter a name for the queue without
spaces or special characters.
- To define the maximum number of active conversations that a CSR can handle simultaneously in this queue, enter a value in the Max concurrent conversations (from this queue) field.
- To display the duration that a new chat alert stays on the CSR’s screen, enter a value in the Screen pop duration before timeout field.
- To make the queue visible to the customer while they are interacting with the chatbot, in the Is this queue visible to the user field, select Yes.
- To display choices from which the customer can choose the most appropriate queue,
enter the relevant text in the Queue selection text for
customers field. This field is visible only if you select Yes in the Is this queue visible to the user field. When the chatbot shows the list of available queues to the customer, the queue displays with the text you enter here, instead of its original name.
- To select a set of predefined, queue-specific questions to present to the customer,
select an appropriate item from the Queue questionnaire
list.This questionnaire provides additional context to the CSR about the customer’s issue.
- For chat conversations only, to map a unified resource locator (URL) to the queue,
click Add URL, and then enter the complete URL. You can enter multiple values separated by the
or
operator, or the*
wildcard character. For example, yoursite.com/*-sales or yoursite.com/newcustomer. The URL pattern of the organization determines which chat queue to select for a request.
- In the Queue name field, enter a name for the queue without
spaces or special characters.
- On the Availability tab, complete the following steps:
- To configure the availability of the queue, select a value in the Hours
of operation field. Select a calendar that reflects the hours of operation of the queue. Pega Customer Service provides the following default calendar values: Always Open, Default Calendar, Holiday, and Default US Calendar.
- To configure a message that you want to display to customers who request a chat during the off-hours of the queue, for example, Agents are not available during off-hours, enter the message text in the Off-hours behavior field.
- In the Wait time section, complete the following fields:
- In the Maximum wait time (Secs) field, enter the maximum wait time in seconds for the calculated wait time on the server.
- In the Default wait time (Secs) field, enter the default wait time in seconds for the queue.
- To configure a message that you want to display to the customer when no CSRs are available in the queue, or when the computed wait time is more than the configured Maximum wait time of the queue, enter the message text in the Agents not available field.
- To configure the availability of the queue, select a value in the Hours
of operation field.
- To enter the skills that are required for the CSR to work on the queue, click the
Members tab, and then select a skill from the
Skills list.You can select an existing skill or create a new one. The system routes chat and messaging requests in the queue to CSRs who have all of the specified skills.
- Optional: To create additional skills as needed to meet the needs of the queue, repeat Step
6.New skills must match the operator skills that are defined in the operators skill section.
- Click Submit.
- Click Save again.
Pre-chat questions to determine queue routing
You can assign a series of questions to a queue that customers can answer when they select the queue during escalation. Collecting information in advance of the Customer Service Representative (CSR) accepting and starting work on an interaction saves time for both the customer and the CSR. Customers answer questions one at a time. When the customer answers all the questions, the interaction becomes ready to route. CSRs can see the answers provided by the customers in the Here's what we know summary section displayed above the interaction transcript.
Creating a queue flow
To add the series of questions that will be presented to the customer on escalating a conversation, create a flow for the queue.
- Billing questionnaire list
- General questionnaire list
- Technical questionnaire list
To create a workflow for the queue, complete the following steps.
- In the Dev Studio Explorer panel, click App.
- In the search field, enter PegaCA-Work
- Click ChatWithAgent > PreChatQuestions > Process > Flow.
- Click Create and build your new flow and questions on
that flow. The sample queue flows listed above give you direction on how to do this.
- In the Label field, enter a name, and then click
Create and open.For more information about flows, see Flows.
Creating a question rule to add questions
To define the questions that are displayed to the customer in the flow that assign for a queue, create a question rule.
- In the Dev Studio Explorer panel, click App.
- In the search field, enter PegaCA-Work
- Open the PegaCA-Work-ChatWithAgent-PreChatQuestions class.
- Click Survey > Simple Question, and then click Create.
- In the Label field, enter the name of a question rule, and then click Create and open.
- Click the Question tab and add questions. For more information about how to create questions see Adding a question to a question page and Populating a question template.
- Click Save.
Adding the question rule to the flow
To display the relevant questions for the work queue, add the question rule to the queue flow. This helps the customer to view and respond to the questions during the conversation with bot.
- Open the PegaCA-Work-ChatWithAgent-PreChatQuestions class.
- Click Flow, and then open the queue flow for which you want to add the question rule.
- Add a question shape in the flow.
- Double-click the question shape.
- Replace the default text with your notes or comments.
- To add the relevant question rule into the flow, enter a value in the Question rule field.
- Click Submit.
- Drag the question shape to a different position on the canvas, based on the functionality that you are documenting.
- Click Save.
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