Many Contact centres announce a single number to their customers, and callers are transferred to any available Agent. In such cases, Direct Agent Routing is unnecessary.

However, some Contact Centres allow callers to dial the extension of a specific Agent or contact. If the Direct Agent extension is used for this purpose, the caller bypasses the standard call flow.

Disadvantages of Direct Agent Extensions

Without Direct Agent Routing, the following issues may arise:

• When the Agent is busy, the caller hears a busy tone instead of being placed in a queue.
• No overflow or exception handling is possible.
• Calls are not routed based on office hours (no Clock integration).
• No reporting on progress, service levels, or answering times.
• No system-generated announcements.

Using Direct Agent Routing

To maintain a simple call flow, Direct Agent Routing is enabled using Parameter1 and Parameter2 details. This method allows calls to be routed via a single Router, ensuring the correct Agent receives the call.

Features like call queuing and reporting remain functional. If the requested Agent is on the phone, the caller is queued.

For this setup:

• Each Agent is assigned a dedicated Voice Channel (the extension number).
• If four Agents populate the Contact Centre, four Voice Channels must be created.

Configuring Direct Agent Routing

1. In Explorer > Phone & Text > IVR Channels, select IVR Channel: Direct Agent.
2. Click Edit.
3. Click Next Module, opening the Edit Link window.
4. In the Module field, select Router from the pull-down menu.
5. In the Router field, select the required Router.
6. In the Parameter1 field, select Agent.
7. In the Parameter2 field, enter the Agent’s name.
   Important: The Agent name entered in Parameter2 must exactly match the Agent URI configured during the Agent's creation. Otherwise, the system will not route the call correctly.
8. Click OK to activate the changes.
9. Repeat these steps for all Voice Channels, ensuring that the correct Agent URI is entered during linking.

Additional Router Settings

This feature works only with specific Router settings:

10. In Explorer > Router, select the required Router and open its properties.
11. Under the Routing tab, check Other-agent-when-not-available if calls should be routed to another available Agent when the requested Agent is unavailable.
    If unchecked, the system will continue attempting to transfer the call to the requested Agent until the Max-Queue-Time expires.
12. The number of seconds entered in When-Available-Within defines how long the system attempts to transfer the call to another Agent before rerouting.

Final Considerations

• Calls will now be routed according to the Agent URI entered in Parameter2.
• Direct Agent Routing can be combined with standard Contact Centre routing. When a general IVR Channel is linked to the same Router, Agents can also receive calls from the general IVR Channel.
• If many Agents require this function, a large number of IVR Channels may be needed, which could introduce complexity.