Agent Desktop
This topic describes the features of the Syntelate XA Agent Desktop.
Note: Although the Syntelate XA Agent Desktop offers many features, your company may have selected only some of them for your agent desktop.
Here’s one that shows an agent on an outbound call with a customer called Emily:
A desktop is completely customizable by your company. They will decide which elements will be made available to your desktop.
Below, we talk you through some of the most common features.
Header and System Menu
The Syntelate XA header displays the logo and contains the system menu, which opens when you select the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines).
The menu options you see depend on how Syntelate XA has been configured for your company.
Here is a list of the options and a description of what they let you do:
- Go to the Syntelate XA Online Help.
- Select a theme. This controls the look of Syntelate XA. You can only change themes from the Syntelate XA login or workzone select pages.
- Change your password. (You can only change your password if you manually log in to Syntelate XA. You cannot change it if you are automatically logged in using your Windows username.)
- Clear your headset.
-
Log out of Syntelate XA or change workzone. If you are logged in to a telephony workzone, logging out of Syntelate AX also logs you out of your telephone system.
Note: Whether you see the option to log out or to change workzone depends on the type of workzone that you’re in. But in most cases, you’ll see the option to log out.
At the end of each shift, you must log out of Syntelate XA or of your workzone. However, logging out is only possible when you are Not ready. Not ready and ready are explained in the sections below.
Telephony Toolbar
For all telephony workzones, a telephony toolbar is pinned to the top of the desktop.
The toolbar has three parts; from top to bottom those are the:
- Session status bar
- Telephony buttons
- Call state banner
Below is a description of the toolbar's parts.
Session Status Bar
The Session status bar displays your Agent state, CTI state and a timer for the CTI state.
Agent States
| Agent State | Description |
|---|---|
| Ready | Syntelate XA will pass you work such as calls or chats. |
| Not Ready | You’re on your lunch break, for example. |
| Pending not ready | Your status will change to Not Ready when you complete the current interaction. |
CTI States
The CTI state is the status of your telephony (CTI stands for “computer telephony integration”). There are numerous CTI states, but the most common ones you will see are Idle, Dialing, Talking, Consult or Wrap Up.
In addition, your CTI state affects which telephony buttons are visible and active.
Telephony Buttons
The Ready and Not ready buttons are the first two buttons on the telephony toolbar.
Going Ready
At the start of your shift, or after a break, click Ready to tell Syntelate XA to start passing you work.
Going Not ready
When you want Syntelate XA to stop passing you work (for example because it’s time for your lunch break), click Not Ready and then select a not ready reason. If you’re currently on an interaction with a customer, you’ll still need to complete this.
Table of Telephony Buttons
The other buttons on the telephony toolbar help you control your telephone.
Which buttons you see on your toolbar depends on your CTI state and your company’s telephony setup. For example, there are certain buttons that only show if Syntelate XA is used in conjunction with Avaya Proactive Outreach Manager ("POM") as the dialer.
That being said, here’s a description of some of the buttons that you’re likely to see.
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Answer | Click to answer an inbound call. Depending on your company’s set-up, inbound calls may automatically be answered. |
| Dial |
Click to show the Dial window. This lets you dial the customer (for an outbound call). Depending on your company’s set-up, Syntelate XA may automatically start dialing upon passing you an outbound call. Alternatively, outbound calls may automatically dial after a set amount of time in preview. For example, you may have 30 seconds to look over the customer’s record before Syntelate XA starts dialing. Where Syntelate XA is used in conjunction with a dialer for predictive dialing, the customer’s record will only actually be presented to you once you have been connected to a customer. |
| Cancel preview |
When an outbound call is in preview (in other words, the customer has not yet been dialed), click this button to cancel the outbound call. What happens next depends on how Syntelate XA at your organization is configured. For worklist configurations, the record will either remain on your screen for you to complete, or it will automatically close and return to the worklist queue for another agent to pick up. For POM configurations, a canceled call will always go into Wrap Up. |
| Hold | Click to put the customer on hold. |
| Unhold | Click to take the customer off hold. |
| Hang up |
Click to end the call. This will disconnect the customer, but the interaction record will remain open on your desktop. You’ll need to click a completion button to close this. |
| Blind transfer |
Click to transfer the customer to another number “blind” (or “cold”). After you enter the number to which the call should be transferred, you’ll immediately be disconnected from the customer. As such, the person to whom you transfer the call will come at it “blind”, without any introduction from you. The alternative is a “warm transfer”, for which you must first start a consult. Clicking this button shows the Dial window. |
| Consult |
Click to dial another number, such as that of a supervisor. You can then consult with the other party while the customer is put on hold. Where you consult with another agent who is logged in to Syntelate XA, they will be able to see the customer’s details on their desktop. As above, clicking this button shows the Dial window. |
| Transfer | While on a consult, click to transfer the customer to the other party and end the call for you (“warm transfer”). |
| Retrieve | While on a consult, click to drop the other party from the call and take the customer off hold so that you can resume talking with them. |
| Conference | While on a consult, click to take the customer off hold and let them participate in a three-way call with you and the other party. |
Call State Banner
The call state banner indicates your agent and CTI states and provides other information about the current call, such as the external party's phone number. The banner also changes color to help you manage your calls. For example, the banner is blue when your CTI state is Ringing.
Where the customer has been disconnected, the call state banner turns red, indicating you’re in wrap-up.
When you’re on a consult or conference, the banner splits in two to show the two parties you’re speaking with. On a consult that you have initiated, click on a banner to switch between the party whom you are speaking with and the party on hold.
The Dial Window
To use the Dial window, click Dial, Blind transfer, or Consult in the telephony toolbar.
When you open it using the Dial telephony button, you see the Phonebook and Dialpad tabs.
When you open it using the Blind transfer or Consult telephony buttons, you see the Phonebook, Dialpad and Agent List tabs.
- Phonebook: Shows all numbers in your company’s phonebook and provides a button to call each contact.
- Dialpad: The keypad lets you manually enter a number to call.
- Agent List: The Agent List tab is shown for Consult and Blind transfer, but not Dial. It lists all agents currently logged in to Syntelate XA and specifies their current call state, and provides a button for you to call them.
Script
For voice calls, a script guides you through what to say to the customer.
To continue in a script, some condition must be met. This could be clicking a particular radio button, for example.
You can go back to an earlier step in a script by clicking the back arrow button that’s displayed at the bottom of the script box. You can then choose an alternative script route, or else you can return to where you were by clicking the forward arrow button.
Scrolling Scripts
The script box in Syntelate XA can be set to scroll vertically, which makes it easy to see the conversation thread.
If your script box has vertical scrolling enabled, Syntelate XA automatically loads each new script at the bottom of the script box as you progress through the script route.
When you complete a script it becomes read-only to prevent accidental changes. But you can change the script route if you need to. To do that, scroll up and click the back arrow button of each script until you find the one you're looking for. You can then choose an alternative route, or if no change is needed, click the forward arrow buttons to return to where you were.
Workload
The Workload element displays the interactions that you’re currently working on or interactions that you’ll soon have to work on. You can click interactions in the workload to move between them.
Some interactions are focused: this means that you can’t move away from the interaction until you finish it. Voice calls, for example, are focused.
You can reposition the Workload around your desktop, too.
Use the pop-out icon in the title bar to move the Workload elsewhere. When you've popped it out, the Workload element displays a pin icon in the title bar. You can use the pin to stick the Workload back into the desktop layout.
Data Entry Elements
Data entry elements let you view and enter information, such as customer details.
A data entry element can be made up of several tabs (pages) of information. It can also contain different types of control. Below we describe some of these.
Text box
The most common type of control is the text box. In the above screenshot, most of the controls are text boxes.
There are a few special types of Text box:
-
NATO phonetic alphabet: Hover over the abc icon to show the text box’s value in the NATO phonetic alphabet. You can then can read this out to the customer.
-
Date: Click the text box to show a date picker.
-
Date and time: Click the text box to show a date and time picker.
- Phone number: Click
or 
to dial the phone number stored in the text box. immediately dials the customer, whereas sends the customer’s number to the Dial window. - Phone number: Click to dial the phone number stored in the text box. immediately dials the customer, whereas sends the customer’s number to the Dial window.
Date box with intervals
A Date box with intervals is very similar to a text box with a date and time picker — but, it’s also a little different.
This control lets you book an interval for a task, such as a customer callback. Your company will choose how long each interval is — this could be 15 minutes or 1 hour, for example. They will also decide how many tasks can be booked to an interval.
When you click in the date box with intervals, you’ll see all the available intervals for the current week.
The interval picker is designed to look like a weekly calendar. In each interval box, a number indicates how many tasks can be booked. For example, ‘4’ tells you there are four available tasks or slots in that interval; ‘0’ tells you that the interval has no available slots.
Note: Your desktop might not have a date box with intervals; for example, if your campaign doesn’t involve booking callbacks. Speak to your supervisor if you are unsure.
Grid
A grid is a table that displays data in rows. It may also allow you to add, edit, or delete rows.
For example, the following read-only grid shows the customer’s interaction history. This shows all previous contact with the customer across all channels.
Other controls can be linked to a grid. For example, in the
Note: In Syntelate XA, most changes that you make in data entry elements aren’t saved until you complete the interaction. For example, say, during a phone call, you update the customer’s email address in a text box called Email. This won’t be saved back to the customer’s record until you complete the phone call.
Grids, however, are different. Changes that you make to grids are saved immediately.
Interaction Search
From your Syntelate XA Agent Desktop you can search for a past interaction. You can search on fields that may include one or all of the following:
- Interaction number
- Interaction type
- Date range
- Disposition code
- Completed interactions
The search options available to you will depend on your organization's setup of Syntelate XA.
Results are displayed in a grid. From there you can choose to open the record to view it on your desktop, or select it in the grid to view further details attached to it, such as agent notes or a transcript. Agent notes and transcripts will be displayed underneath the search results grid. Note that transcripts are only available for chat and email interactions.
You can find the Interaction Search from the Menu element, a button on your desktop, or in a tabbed data entry element.
Interruptions from New Inbound Calls
When you open the Interaction Search window, your telephony state will be Preview.
And if your Agent State is Ready while you’re browsing the Interaction Search, this means that – until you actually dial the customer – you could be interrupted by an inbound call.
If this happens, you will be able to continue where you left off after you complete the inbound call.
Customer Search
If you want to search for customers, open the Customer Search. For example, you might need to find out if a customer has been in touch with your organization before.
You can typically open the Customer Search from the Menu element, or an action button on your agent desktop, or a tabbed data entry element. The exact location depends on how your organization has designed your Syntelate XA Agent Desktop.
HTML editor
An HTML editor lets you write emails
Snippets
Snippets are chunks of ready-made content that you can insert into an email. They provide commonly used parts of an email, such as greetings, FAQs, and signatures, which saves you time and prevents errors.
See Inserting Snippets.
Rewriter
Rewriter is an AI writing assistant for email and chat. See Using Rewriter.
Note: Rewriter is an add-on feature of Syntelate XA. The Rewrite button will be displayed in your HTML Editor if your company has included it in their Syntelate XA package.
Completion button
Clicking a Completion button hangs up the call (if you’re on the phone to a customer) and also closes the interaction record.
A desktop may include several completion buttons. For example, there may be buttons for SALE and NO SALE. Clicking the right button helps your company to monitor the outcome of interactions.
Sometimes, a check box or a radio button can be used as a completion button. You will get training from your supervisor on the completion buttons provided on your agent desktop.
Expanding and Closing Columns
You can expand columns on your desktop to grant more screen space to elements that you’re working with.
You can also close elements altogether.
Iframe
An Iframe embeds another web page in your agent desktop.
Charts
Charts show information visually. For example, your company may show your average handling time on your desktop.
Chat
A chat control lets you handle chats with customers. These could be web chats, SMS chats, or social media chats.
Chats have their own section in this Help. See: Handling Chats.