User adjustment considerations

Last Updated : Feb 01, 2013 |

User adjustments in consider split/skill steps can be set at the user discretion. In distributed multisite applications, however, pay attention to adjustments due to costs and inter-switch trunk capacity. In centralized applications, all calls are redirected so you can use adjustments of zero (0). In distributed applications, a user adjustment of zero (0) for a consider location step is neither practical nor efficient.

In distributed applications, if the adjustments are small, the load balance across the network is less, but the percentage of calls redirected between switches is high increasing the demands on inter-switch trunking. Higher adjustments reduce interflows, but at the cost of allowing greater imbalance in the load between switches. It takes time and effort to find the best combination of user adjustments in a particular network, but the table contains recommended ranges for initial user adjustments under different conditions. Adjustments can vary between different call center applications so apply the guidelines for each of your applications separately.

Recommended adjustments

Criteria

10-15

  • To balance wait times across the network.

  • Trunk facilities between Communication Manager are plentiful.

  • Each Communication Manager receives more than 1 call every 10-15 seconds, that is, more than 240-360 calls per hour, for the application.

20

  • To balance wait times across the network.

  • Adequate trunk facilities are available to support the desired balance.

  • Each Communication Manager receives more than 1 call every 20 seconds, that is, more than 180 calls per hour, for the application.

More than 30

  • Gains in agent efficiency are more important to you than balancing wait times across the network.

  • Trunk facilities are scarce.

  • Call interflow is costly.

  • Each Communication Manager receives no more than 1 call every 30 seconds, that is, less than 120 calls per hour, for the application.

In the first multisite application, you can begin with a remote adjustment of 30. You can reduce the adjustment later if inter-switch trunking is under-utilized. On the other hand, if trunk exhaustion is a common occurrence, user adjustments are probably set too low. When trunks are exhausted, no further load balancing takes place, deteriorating the overall balance.

Set high user adjustments so that calls are not interflowed to gain the equivalent of a fraction of a queue position. The following equation gives the minimum recommended user adjustment for each remote switch:

Adjustments for remote locations is probably in the range of 10–30 in most distributed applications.