Set up agents as clientless voice queue members (VQM)

This information is primarily for administrators and/or people who manage Zylinc solutions

To get as many features as possible, agents normally install one of the Zylinc desktop clients (or use Mobile) to work with calls from voice queues.

Sometimes, however, agents want to work with calls from voice queues without using client software. In that case, you can set up agents as clientless voice queue members.

This is useful, for example, if an agent leaves their office and only have a mobile phone at hand, or if they can’t—or don’t want to—use a computer, a web browser, or a smartphone-based client.

  • As an agent, you don’t need a computer or smartphone to work with calls or callbacks from voice queues. All you need is a telephone with a DTMF keypad.

  • You can also log in as a clientless voice queue member as a supplement to the follow me function in ZyDesk.

  • The system uses IVR menus and text messages to provide selected voice queue features to agents. For example:

    • To log in to, or out of, your queues, you can call the special agent IVR login number, from a phone that belongs to an agent, and press 1 to log in, or press 2 to log out.

    • You can use a mobile phone (or any other phone) to handle callbacks from voice queues. The system will call the agent’s phone, and the agent will hear an IVR menu as described in Callback features for clientless voice queue members in the following.

  • When you're logged in, your phone will simply ring, and you can answer calls from voice queues like any other phone call.

    You can use your phone's keypad to do the following:

    • Unattended transfer: Press # + phone number + #

      Example: To do an unattended transfer to 12345678, press #12345678#

    • Attended transfer: Press ** + phone number + #

      Example: To do an attended transfer to 12345678, press **12345678#

    • Stop attended transfer attempt: Press *0

    • Toggle calls: Press *1

    • Bridge calls: Press *2 or hang up

    • Conference with both parties: Press *3

  • If supported by the agent’s phone, and by the Zylinc solution in your organization, you’ll get text messages that tell you which voice queues you're logged in to, or when you log out.

  • Users who have the dynamic role Log Agents in and out (under Supervisor), can log other agents out. To do that, use a Zylinc client that supports the supervisor feature, for example, Service Center.

When the Zylinc solution offers a callback from a voice queue to a clientless voice queue member, it'll call the agent’s phone and present an IVR menu to the agent:

  • First, the agent is informed that they have a callback

  • If there's a recorded message attached to the callback, the agent can choose to listen to the recorded message before they make the callback

  • The agent can then choose to:

    • Call the user

    • Postpone the callback

    • Resolve the callback

  1. In the Administration Portal menu, select SYSTEM > Switch Settings.
  2. In the Agent IVR Login section, you’ll see an IVR Number field for each language that's installed on your Zylinc solution's Media Server.
  3. Enter a unique phone number for each of the languages that you want to use.

VQM agents can be configured to always be logged in and available to receive calls from the queues that they're members of.

You can configure the Always On VQM feature on a per-agent basis in the Agent configuration page in the Administration Portal. When you enable this feature, the VQM agents in question don't need to call the VQM IVR number to log in on the queues.

In case of a restart, the Zylinc solution will make sure that all VQM agents, who have the Always On feature enabled, are logged in immediately.

If you want clientless voice queue members to be able to receive callbacks, set up the following:

  1. In the Administration Portal menu, select SYSTEM > Client Configuration
  2. In the Client Features section, select IVR-Callback.
  3. In Hang-up action you can select what you want to happen to a callback if the agent hangs up without selecting either resolve or postpone in the IVR menu.
  4. In Postpone, you can enter how many minutes the call should be postponed if the agent selects postpone in the IVR menu, or if Hang-up action is set to Postpone, and the agent hangs up the call without selecting either resolve or postpone in the IVR menu.

  1. Call the IVR number from a phone that isn’t registered with an agent.

  2. You should hear a message saying: You do not have access to this service.

    If you can’t call that phone number, you can Set up SIP logging on Zylinc Media Server, and inspect the Asterisk FULL log file, to identify if the call reached the Media Server. If the call didn’t reach the Media Server, you’ll need to work on your PBX configuration, for example, SIP trunks, number plans, or routing patterns. If the call reached the Media Server, you can compare FromNumber in the log file, to the IVR number. You may need to add or remove country code or prefix from the IVR number that you've entered.

  3. Call the IVR number form a phone whose number is registered to belong to an agent, and make sure that the agent can receive calls from at least one voice queue.

  4. You should hear a message: To log in, press 1. To log out, press 2. If you hear another message that says that you don’t have access, you can Set up SIP logging on Zylinc Media Server and inspect the Asterisk FULL log file. Compare FromNumber in the FULL log file to the number that you've entered for the agent’s phone in Active Directory or in your user import CSV file. You may need to add or remove country code or prefix from the number that you've entered in your directory.

  5. On the agent phone keypad, press 1.

  6. From another phone, make a call to a voice queue that the agent is a member of. The agent’s phone should ring, and you should be able to answer the call.

  7. From the agent’s phone, call IVR number, and press 2 to log out.