Introduced Agent whisper for phone queues

In this release, 8x8 Contact Center agents can hear an audio message (whisper) about the context of the call they have dialed or received via a queue. Agent whisper is an audio file that can be uploaded and assigned by the tenant administrator to an inbound or outbound queue. Agent whisper informs the agent, upon connection, about the connected call. Let’s say John serves support calls as well as sales calls. Upon receiving calls, the system plays a brief message stating if it is a sales or a support call. Agent whisper can be implemented for both inbound and outbound calls such as campaign calls. Agent whisper is only played for the agent. The agent and customer can talk to and hear each other while the whisper is playing.

Features

  • Assign to both inbound and outbound queues.
  • Alert agents when a call is being connected.
  • Notify the agent on the call, and not the customer.
  • Play an uninterrupted prompt for the agents. The whisper can be talked over by both parties.
  • Agent whisper is not suppressed when the agent or customer talks.
  • Agent whisper can be set up for all queued calls. It is not available for numbers dialed by the agent, direct agent calls (DAA/DAR), or agent-to-agent calls.

Known limitations

  • In Auto Answer mode and in the process of validating a Persistent connection, at the very moment a call is offered, an agent will only hear the bleep and not the whisper for this interaction.
  • In Persistent Connection Mode alone, if the call terminates before the whisper has finished playing, the agent will still hear the remainder of the whisper. In On Demand Connection Mode the above scenario does not apply.
  • Supervisors hear the full whisper when they join an active call to monitor an agent and customer.
  • With inbound and outbound calls, the whisper is played to the agent upon connection, however, when working in the preview mode, the whisper is played to the agent just before the call is connected.

Set up Agent whisper

To set up Agent whisper, you must upload the Agent whisper file first and then assign the file to a queue:

Admins must add an audio file to a global folder under Home > Audio Files > User-Agent whisper. Any audio files added to that folder can be selected at queue level. Any file added to the standard User folder, is not part of the drop-down for Agent whisper in Queue settings.

To upload a new audio file for Agent whisper:

  1. Log in to the 8x8 Configuration Manager.
  2. Open Home > Audio Files > User-Agent whisper.
  3. With User-Agent whisper highlighted, click to add + Audio Files.
  4. In the Add window, click Choose Files.
  5. Find and add a file to upload. There is no limitation for the size of the Agent whisper file, however we recommend you to keep the message short. The file format must be .wav or .au.
  6. Enter a Name and Description for the file.
  7. Click to Save your changes. The new file is saved under the User-Agent whisper folder. You can click to play the audio file.

After uploading an audio file for Agent whisper, you must assign the audio file to a phone queue.

To assign the Agent whisper file to a queue:

  1. Log in to the 8x8 Configuration Manager.
  2. Go to Queues/Skills.
  3. Open an outbound or inbound phone queue.
  4. Under Properties, select an audio from the Agent whisper audio drop-down. By default there is no audio file selected. You can click to play the audio.
  5. Click to Save your changes.

Delete Agent whisper audio files

To delete an Agent whisper audio file:

  1. Log in to the 8x8 Configuration Manager.
  2. Go to Home > Audio Files > User- Agent whisper.
  3. Open an audio file and click Edit.
  4. Click Delete.

    Note: A warning alerts you if a file is still associated with a queue. Remove the Agent whisper audio file first before you can delete it from the tenant.

Replace Agent whisper audio files for a queue

If you have uploaded other Agent whisper audio files, you can simply change the audio file for the queue:

  1. Log in to the 8x8 Configuration Manager.
  2. Go to Queues/ Skills.
  3. Open an outbound or inbound phone queue.
  4. Go to Properties > Agent whisper audio and select another audio file from the drop-down.
  5. Click Save.

Remove Agent whisper audio files from a queue

To remove an Agent whisper file from a queue:

  1. Log in to the 8x8 Configuration Manager.
  2. Go to Queues/ Skills.
  3. Open an outbound or inbound phone queue.
  4. Go to Properties > Agent whisper audio and select None from the drop-down.
  5. Click Save.

Using Agent whisper in 8x8 Agent Console

In 8x8 Agent Console calls flowing into or out of 8x8 Contact Center stay in a queue until an agent is available. When an agent changes their status to Available, the longest waiting call in the queue is offered to the agent. If the agent is a member of multiple queues, and the Agent whisper is set up for the tenant, Agent whisper informs the agent, upon connection, about the connected call. Agent whisper provides a useful prompt to the agent. For example, in Auto Answer mode, agents typically do not have time between calls. The whisper helps them identify the context of the incoming call even before the customer information pops for preview, thus allowing them to prepare for the call. Agent whisper messages can be heard on both inbound and outbound calls.