Handle calls

To receive or place calls using the 8x8 Contact Center app, you must:

  • Be a member of the call queue to which the call is routed.
  • Set your status to Available.

What happens when I am offered a call?

If the application is open and your status is Available, when a call is offered, your phone rings and a call panel displays, indicating an incoming interaction. You can preview the caller info from the call panel. Answer the call. If the call is from an existing customer, the customer record opens in a browser tab. If the CRM search yields multiple search results, click the Search tab in the 8x8 Contact Center app and select the correct customer record. Upon terminating the call, a call log displays in a new browser tab.

What is a typical inbound call flow?

  1. When a call is offered, your phone rings and a call panel displays.
  2. The app searches the external CRM for matching customer records. If the search yields a single results, the customer record opens in a browser tab. If multiple matches are found, click the Search tab and manually select the correct matching record. By default, the first matching record in the list is selected.

Note: The object type is indicated under each matching record found. Click on the object type to open it in a new browser tab.

  1. Answer the call.
  2. End the call. The post-processing time initiates. This is your time to wrap up notes for the call.

    3. Note: Your administrator sets the post-processing timer. If the post-processing countdown interval reaches zero, 8x8 Contact Center automatically sets your status to Available.

  3. Click Hang up to end the call. The post-processing time initiates.
  4. If required, select a disposition code.
  5. Click Wrap up.
  6. A call log launches in a new browser tab. The call log typically includes information such as the caller name, call direction, call duration, call initiation time, call termination time, call duration, transaction ID, notes, and more.

What is the screen pop behavior for a phone call?

During an inbound call, the 8x8 Contact Center application looks up the phone number of the caller and then searches for a matching record in the CRM. On finding a single matching record, it presents the record for you to preview and prepare for the call. This process is referred to as screen pop.

Based on your configuration settings, the screen pop can occur:

  • when a call/chat is offered (inbound)
  • when a call is connected (outbound)
  • when a call is terminated

The CRM search may return:

  • No matching records: The search yields no results and the CRM screen pops a New Contact form in a new browser tab.
  • A single matching record: The search yields a single matching record and pops the customer record in a new browser tab.

  • Multiple matching records: The search yields multiple search results but the CRM does not generate a screen pop. The number of matches displays in the Search tab. Click the Search tab and manually select the record to link the call log to. Click the object type under the customer record to open it.

    What is the call log behavior?

    Upon terminating a call, the 8x8 Contact Center app generates a call log. The call log includes information such as the caller name, call direction, call duration, call initiation time, call termination time, call duration, transaction ID, notes, and more. A call log is created for inbound and outbound interactions and automatically saved as an Activity. You can change the status of the activity to complete or any desired state.

    Depending on the number of matches, the call log can be linked to the customer record as follows:

    • No match: In the absence of a matching record, the call log indicates the lack of a matching record by displaying only the phone number in the call log details. The call is logged and can be accessed from the Activities page.
    • Single match: If there is a matching record, the call log is created and associated as an Activity to the record.
    • Multiple matches: In the event of multiple matching contacts, there will be no screen pop. The call log is created and associated as an Activity to the first record in the list or the record selected by the agent.

    How to place outbound calls?

    You can place outbound calls using:

    • Control Panel: Allows you to dial outbound calls from the control panel by simply entering the desired number and clicking to place the call.

    8x8 Contact Center uses a two-step process to dial an outbound call.

    To place an outbound call:

    1. Enter a customer phone number directly in the Make a call field.
      -OR-
      Click Add interaction > Call, and enter the desired phone number in the dial pad.
    2. Click .
    3. If set up by your administrator, select the reason for the call.
    4. Click Confirm and dial.

      5. Note: You are only prompted to select the dialing reason once. The Contact Center app remembers your selection. To change the dialing reason, after adding the phone number, click Change and select a different dialing reason.

    5. Your agent telephone rings first. Answer the call. The call is then directed to the destination. Your external phone number rings next.
    6. If the phone number is linked to a contact, the contact record pops in a new browser tab after the call connects.

    Contact your supervisor for your contact center's policies to place outbound calls.

    • Click-to-dial: Ability to click and dial the phone numbers from end-user records.

    If configured by your administrator, you are able to click and dial phone numbers from records in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.


    Transfer calls

    Warm and cold call transfers between agents is now supported. This new integrated functionality aims to increase efficiency in communication and improve customer experience.

    Let’s say as an agent, you receive a call from a customer with questions that are best suited for a more experienced agent. You can now transfer the call to the agent that can provide a solution to the customer. While on a call, click the transfer icon, and select:

    • Warm transfer: Implies notifying the agent you wish to transfer the call to before transferring the call. The customer is placed on hold while you are connected with the other agent. After briefing the agent, you can complete the transfer.
    • Cold transfer (blind transfer): The call is transferred without notifying the other agent. The agent receiving the call transfer will not see which agent transferred the call.

    Notes:
    - A warm/cold transfer can only be performed if the agent you are transferring the call to has the status set to Available.
    - The agent receiving the warm/cold transfer via an agent/queue/direct agent routing is presented with a screen pop with the customer information if a record of the customer already exists in the CRM. If the search does not yield a matching record, the system pops a new record entry screen.
    - The call context such as the reason for the call, the reason for the call transfer, the agent's notes, etc., is not transferred.