See Also
Topic Last Modified: 2010-07-18
When you create an agent group, you select the agents that are assigned to the group and specify additional group settings, such as the routing method and whether an agent can sign in to and out of the group.
An agent who must sign in and out of the group, which is different from signing in or out of Communications Server, is called a formal agent. Formal agents must be signed in to the group before they can receive calls routed to the group. This can be useful for agents who answer calls from the group on a part-time basis. Formal agents sign in and out of their groups by clicking a menu item in Communicator "14" to open the Windows Internet Explorer Internet browser and display a Web page console.
An agent who does not sign in or out of the group is called an informal agent. Informal agents are automatically signed in to the group when they sign in to Communications Server, and they cannot sign out of the group.
 Important: |
|---|
| When you assign users as response group agents, inform them that, if they have Privacy mode enabled, they need to search for the "RGS Presence Watcher" contact and add it to their list of contacts. Agents who have Privacy mode enabled but who do not have "RGS Presence Watcher" in their list of contacts cannot receive calls to the response group. Agents who do not have Privacy mode enabled are not affected. |
To create an agent group
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Open Communications Server Control Panel.
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Click Response Groups, and then click the Group tab.
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On the Group page, click New.
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In the Select a Service dialog box, select the ApplicationServer service for which you want to add the group, and then click OK.
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On the New Group page, in the Name field, type a descriptive name for the group.
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In the Description field, type a description for the group.
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In the Participation policy field, select one of the following to set up the sign-in behavior for the group:
- Select Informal to specify that agents in the group do
not need to sign in and out of the group. Agents are automatically
signed in to the group when they sign in to Communications Server
2010.
- Select Formal to specify that agents in the group must
sign in and out of the group. When you select this option, agents
click a menu item in Communicator "14" to open Internet Explorer
and display a Web page console for signing in and out of the
group.
- Select Informal to specify that agents in the group do
not need to sign in and out of the group. Agents are automatically
signed in to the group when they sign in to Communications Server
2010.
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In the Alert time (seconds) field, specify the number of seconds to ring an agent before offering the call to the next available agent (the default is 20 seconds).
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In the Routing method field, select the method for routing calls to agents in the group as follows:
- To offer a new call first to the agent who has been idle the
longest (has had a presence of Available in Communications
Server the longest), click Longest idle.
- To offer a new call to all available agents at the same time,
click Parallel. The call is sent to the first agent who
accepts it.
- To offer a new call to each agent in turn, click Round
robin.
- To always offer a new call to the agents in the order in which
they are listed in the Agent list, click Serial.
- To offer a new call to all agents who are signed into
Communications Server 2010 and the Response Group application at
the same time, regardless of their current presence, click
Attendant. Communications Server 2010 Attendant users who
are configured as agents can see all the calls that are waiting and
answer waiting calls in any order. The call is sent to the first
agent who accepts it, and the other Communications Server 2010
Attendant users no longer see the call.
- To offer a new call first to the agent who has been idle the
longest (has had a presence of Available in Communications
Server the longest), click Longest idle.
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In the Agents section, specify how you want to create your agents list:
- To use a Microsoft Exchange Server distribution list, click
Use an existing e-mail distribution list, and then in the
Distribution list address field, type the e-mail address of
the distribution list (for example,
NetworkSupport@contoso.com).
Note:If you use an e-mail distribution list, you are subject to the following constraints: - You cannot select multiple distribution lists for the agent
group. Each group supports only a single distribution list.
- If the distribution list contains one or more distribution
lists, members of the nested distribution lists are not added to
the agent list.
- If serial and round robin routing are selected, the server
offers an incoming call to the appropriate agent according to the
routing method and according to the order in which agents are
listed in the distribution list.
- You cannot select multiple distribution lists for the agent
group. Each group supports only a single distribution list.
- To use a custom list of agents, click Define a custom group
of agents. Click Select, and then in the Select
Agents dialog box, select one or more users who you want to
assign as agents for this group, and then click OK.
Note:If the group is using either round robin or serial routing, arrange the agents in the order that you want them to be offered calls. To change the order of the agents in the Agent list, click an agent, and then click the up arrow or down arrow button.
- To use a Microsoft Exchange Server distribution list, click
Use an existing e-mail distribution list, and then in the
Distribution list address field, type the e-mail address of
the distribution list (for example,
NetworkSupport@contoso.com).
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Click Commit.