Estimated Wait Time

Makes educated estimates on wait time based on historical data for a contact center queue. This action helps manage contact expectations by communicating the wait time up front in the routing flow. Additionally, this action also enables you to offer other methods of contact, such as leaving a voicemail or setting up a callback, in case the contact does not want to endure a long wait time.

Supported Script Types

Properties

Properties - In

Property Details

SkillNo

SkillClosed Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge Number of the queue for which you are getting the estimate.

LookBack

Historical time frame used for determining average wait time in minutes (30Min, 15Min, 5Min).

HighConfidence

Percentage threshold of Look Back that determines the wait time has a high confidence level.

MinConfidence

Percentage threshold of Look Back that determines the wait time has a minimum confidence level.

Properties - Out

Property Details

EstimateValue (out)

Estimation of wait time for any call coming into the queue at that moment in seconds.

EstimateRange (out)

Plus/Minus value indicating the range of the estimate in seconds.

AdjustedEstimateValue (out)

Estimation time adjusted by time already spent in queue in seconds.

Properties - Out Advanced

Property Details

Average Queue (out)

Average number of callers in queue.

AverageQueueTime (out)

Average time (in seconds) callers spend in queue.

AverageArrivalRate (out)

Average incoming rate of arrival for callers.

AverageCallDuration (out)

Average length of call (in seconds).

AverageServiceRate (out)

Number of calls (per second) that are being handled.

LongestWaitTime (out)

Longest time (in seconds) in queue.

StandardDeviationForCall (out)

Standard deviation of call duration time.

AgentsOnCalls (out)

Number of agents taking calls for a selected Skill.

CurrentWait (out)

Time (in seconds) already spent in queue.

Branches

Branch Details

Default

Path taken unless the script meets a condition that requires it to take one of the other branches. It is also taken if the other branches are not defined.

OnHighConfidence

Path taken if confidence levels are above the value set in the High Confidence property field. You can enter a custom value between 1 and 100.

OnMedConfidence

Path taken if confidence levels fall below the value set in the High Confidence property field but above the value in the Low Confidence property field.

OnLowConfidence

Path taken if confidence levels fall below the value set in the Low Confidence property field. You can enter a custom value between 1 and 100.

OnInvalidEstimate

Path taken if the estimate is not valid.

OnError

Path taken when there is an unexpected problem (for example, poor connectivity, syntax errors, and so forth). The _ERR variable should be populated with a condensed explanation of the problem.

Tips & Tricks

  • Only contacts that pass through the Estimated Wait Time (EWT) action will be added to the calculations. Best practice would be to place the EWT action right after the Reqagent action.

    When using this action in a work item script, it could be used for decision logic while the contact is in queue.

  • EWT can help you make decisions on when to play certain prompts versus sending a caller to voicemail.
  • This action is a powerful tool to help you keep callers in queue.
  • EWT is creating an estimate that can be impacted by various factors, including a sudden change in the number of agents available to handle contacts, spikes in volume, or mixing long duration and short duration contacts into a single queue.
  • The estimate is providing you with statistical data that you can use to craft the appropriate experience for your contacts.
  • A best practice is to never show the actual estimated time to the contact. Instead, use general time boxing; for example, "Your wait time is less than five minutes."
  • Remember that you are operating in a skillsClosed Used to automate delivery of interactions based on agent skills, abilities, and knowledge-based routing environment, which means you may have a business workflow that determines whether one contact has a higher priority over another.

Similar Solutions

Phone Script Example Using Estimated Wait Time

The following example is a part of a much larger script. However, for the Estimated Wait Time example, what you need to know is that the confidence levels are set in the EWT action, and the snippets determine which prompt to play.

View the High Confidence Snippet Properties

View the Medium Confidence Snippet Properties

View the Low Confidence Snippet Properties

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