Departments

Departments Overview

A Department is used to distribute incoming calls to a designated group of agents, ensuring that calls are handled efficiently by the appropriate team.

Getting Started with Departments

To go to Departments in your Smartflo account, first log in using your unique User ID and Password. Once logged in, you will be directed to the main dashboard. From there, locate the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the screen and click on "Services." A set of options opens up. One of these options is the “Departments".

List of Departments

The table displays a list of all departments with the following information:

Field	Description
ID	A unique identifier for the department.
Name	The name of the department.
Description	A brief description outlining the purpose or role of the department.
Strategy	The call distribution strategy within the department determines how incoming calls are assigned to agents. Available options include Simultaneously, Order-By, Random, Round-Robin, and Longest Wait Time.
Calls Answered	The number of calls successfully answered by agents in the department.
Calls Missed	The number of calls that were missed or not answered by the department.
Action	Options to edit or delete the department.

Feature Codes

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Note: In order to transfer the call from one agent to another or to an external number, follow the given instructions:


Type of Transfer	Feature Code	Explanation
Blind Transfer	# 1	Transfer the call to another agent without prior notification or introduction (Cold Transfer).
External Blind Transfer (Queue On)	# 4	Transfers the call to an external number while the department's “Use it as Queue” is active.
Attended Transfer	*2	Allows the agent to communicate with the recipient (Agent) before transferring the call.
External Attended Transfer (Queue On)	*4	Transfers the call to an external number after the agent confirms with the recipient (Agent), while “Use it as Queue“ remains active.
Conference Call	*3	Initiates a three-way call between the original caller, the recipient, and the transferring agent to all join the same call, enabling seamless communication between all parties.
IVR Transfer, Department Transfer (Queue OFF)	# 1	Transfers the call to a specific department or IVR when the “Use it as Queue“ is inactive.
IVR Transfer, Department Transfer (Queue ON)	# 2	Transfers the call to a specific department or IVR when the “Use it as Queue“ is active.

Dial feature code (#1, _2, #4, _4) followed by the Intercom Number for that agent or external number to whom you want to transfer the call.
Conference Calls can only take place after a successful Attended Transfer by dialling *3.
Dial feature code (#1, #2) followed by the five-digit Transfer Code for the IVR to which you want to transfer the call.

Add Department

To add a department, follow the below steps:

Click on the Services tab on the side navigation.
Click on Departments.
A list of all departments is displayed along with the relevant details.
Click on Add Department.

Enter the Details as per the fields described below.

Field	Description
Name	Enter the name of the department.
Description	Provide a brief description of the department’s purpose.
Ring Strategy	Choose a call distribution strategy: Simultaneously: Call will ring to all agents at once. Order by: Rings agents in a set order. Random: Calls agents one at a time, randomly. Round Robin: Rings agents in a rotating order. Longest Wait Time: Calls the agent who has been waiting the longest.
Music on Hold	Plays music or recording when an incoming call is placed on hold. Note: To set a system recording as music on hold, go to the system recordings section, find the desired recording, click the "Select an action" dropdown next to it, and choose "Mark Music on Hold File."
Missed Call SMS	Select the SMS template to be sent as an alert for missed calls in the department. Note: The SMS template must be configured with the ( INCOMING DEPARTMENT MISSED CALL (TO ALL AGENTS) ) trigger in Template Management.
Sticky Agent	Select the Sticky Agent as Yes or No from the dropdown. If Yes, fill in the required fields that appear on the panel. The fields enable to mapping of the callers to the same agent for all future interactions. Sticky Agent Time: If you want the customer call to be routed to the same agent with whom he/she connected in the last three days, enter 3. Sticky Agent Time Format: Select the format (either days or hours) from the dropdown. In the above-quoted example, choose Days. Note: The maximum refresh period for the Sticky Agent is 10 days.
Use it as Queue	Choose Yes or No to activate the department's queue functionality. Failover Music: Plays a recording if no one (Agents) answers the call. Queue Timeout (Seconds): Specifies how long a caller can remain in the queue before the call is disconnected.
Transfer Code	A unique 5-digit code assigned to a department, enabling agents to transfer calls directly to that department. Note: Press #1 for transfer to department queue off, Press #2 for transfer to department queue on.
Simultaneous Call Patching Caps Limit	Limits the number of concurrent calls that can ring agents when using the simultaneous ring strategy. Example: If a department has 10 agents and the cap is set to 2, the system will first ring 2 agents simultaneously. After a second, it will ring 2 more agents (making it 4 agents receiving the call), then after another second, 2 more agents (totalling 6 agents), and so on, until all agents are covered. Note: Maximum Allocated Caps Calls Limit is 4
Queue Limit	Enable or disable the queue limit for the department. Queue Limit: This setting allows the account admin to define the maximum number of calls that can wait in the queue. Queue Limit Failover Destination: Specifies the destination where the caller will be routed if the queue limit is reached. For example, if the queue limit is set to 2 and a 3rd caller enters, they will be redirected to the failover destination.
Queue Welcome Announcement	Enable or disable a welcome message to be played when a caller enters the queue. Music On Queue Welcome Announcement- The recording selected by the account admin to be played to callers when they enter the queue. This recording will play each time a caller joins the queue. Note: Ensure the recording is marked as "Music on Hold" to select it for the Queue Welcome Announcement.
Queue Announce Holdtime	Provide the caller with an approximate hold time, such as "Less than 2 minutes," "Less than 5 minutes," "Less than 10 minutes," or "More than 10 minutes," to give them an idea of how long they may have to wait.
Queue Position Announcement	Announces the caller's position in the queue (e.g., "You are caller number 3") for the first 20 callers. This helps callers know their place in line and provides an idea of how many people are ahead of them.
Queue Periodic Announcement	This feature allows a recording to be played repeatedly after a specified time interval. It helps keep the caller informed or entertained while waiting in the queue. Queue Periodic Announcement Time Period: Defines the interval (in seconds) at which the recording will be played repeatedly. Music On Queue Periodic Announcement: The recording selected for the periodic announcement. Note: The recording must be marked as "Music on Hold" in order to be selected for the Queue Periodic Announcement.
Transcription	This feature converts recorded calls into text if enabled. Transcription Language: Select the language for transcription, such as English or Hindi. _ Transcription Agent Answered Time: Transcribes recordings of calls answered by the agent that exceeds the specified time interval (in seconds).
Caller ID Prefix	Optionally add a prefix to the caller’s ID. For example, prefixing with “sales” will display “sales John Doe” when John Doe calls, or prefixing with “sales” will show “sales-+919999999999” for the caller's number.
Agent Extension Caller ID Mask	This feature allows masking of the caller's number on the extension (softphone), ensuring the caller's real number is not displayed.

Agent Selection:	Agent Selection description (Agent at the top will have first priority in Order Strategy)
Agent	Choose the agents for this department. Note: Agents at the top will have the first priority in Order Strategy.
Ring Timeout	Set the duration of time (Seconds) the call will ring on the agent.

Failover Options	Failover Description
Failover Destination	Select the destination to forward the call if the agent is unable to answer. (e.g., voicemail or another department, etc…).
Failover Missed Call SMS	Choose the SMS template to be sent to the caller if the call is missed on the failover destination. Note: The SMS template must be configured with the (FAILOVER MISSED CALL (TO CALLER)) trigger in Template Management.

Click Add Entry, if you want to add more agents. Click Save.
Filters for Calls Answered

Click on the days for which you want to filter out the number of calls answered and click on Refresh to get the updated count of calls answered by the agent.