The Expected Wait Time (EWT) for a call can be passed to a Voice Response Unit (VRU) to inform callers about the expected time in queue. EWT is passed to the VRU with the converse-on command as wait data. The value that is outpulsed to the VRU is the expected wait time of the call in seconds. The VRU then converts the seconds to a spoken message. The expected wait is calculated after the VRU port answers the call, so queuing to a converse split does not adversely impact the EWT value that is passed to the VRU.
No zero padding is added to the wait time that is passed to the VRU. If the EWT for the call is 128 seconds, the digits 1, 2, and 8 are outpulsed. If the EWT is 5 seconds, the digit 5 is outpulsed.
The wait time passed to the VRU is the most accurate prediction possible. On an average, 50 percent of the time the actual wait time is shorter and 50 percent of the time it is longer. Configure the VRU applications to make an upward adjustment of the prediction so that the majority of callers receive a predicted wait time that is either equal to or greater than the actual wait time.
The VRU can also announce EWT at set intervals while the call is in queue, but use this strategy with caution. Circumstances such as a reduction in the number of agents or a sudden influx of higher priority calls can cause the EWT of the caller to increase from one announcement to the next.
If the call is not queued or is queued only to splits that are unstaffed, or to splits where all agents are in the AUX work mode, the end-of-string character # is the only data item that is outpulsed to the VRU.
The following vector example illustrates routing based on the predicted split wait time and passing wait data to the VRU. The caller hears the wait time only if the caller is expected to wait for more than 60 seconds in queue. Callers who have to wait more than 10 minutes are requested to call back later.
1. goto step 3 if expected-wait for split 32 pri l < 600
2. disconnect after announcement 13976
3. queue-to split 32 pri l
4. wait-time 20 secs hearing ringback
5. goto step 7 if expected-wait for call < 40
6. converse-on split 80 pri l passing wait and none
7. announcement 11000
8. wait-time 60 secs hearing music
9. goto step 7 if unconditionally
Calls that have predicted wait times greater than 10 minutes fail step 1 and are disconnected after an announcement. If the expected wait time is less than 10 minutes step 1 routes the call to step 3 where it is queued to split 32 and waits 20 seconds hearing ringback. After 20 seconds if the expected wait time for the call is less than 40 seconds, step 5 routes the call to an announcement followed by a wait with music. If the expected wait time for the call is equal to or greater than 40 seconds, step 6 informs the caller of the amount of time the caller can expect to wait before the call is answered.
