Manage projects

Use the Projects page to create, edit, and delete projects. A project is an activity that prevents agents from responding to contacts. Projects are generally assigned to optimize the use of agent idle time when contact volume is low. These activities occur each work shift and can be assigned for one or more days per week.

WFM examines the coverage for every interval and schedules a project for a time when it has the least impact on coverage.

NOTE   Projects are scheduled last, after work conditions and exceptions are taken into consideration. They are not scheduled over lunches, breaks, or exceptions. Projects should not be configured to be as long as an entire shift, but rather should be configured in smaller lengths of time so that they can take into account lunches, breaks, and exceptions.

There are two types of projects: required projects and non-required projects (the default). Required projects are projects that must be performed, and so must be scheduled at the best time even if there is not an interval where the coverage would normally allow it. Non-required projects are scheduled when possible, taking into consideration coverage requirements, and are scheduled based on their assigned priority.

Projects are scheduled in this order:

NOTE   You can change a project’s status from required to non-required or non-required to required. That change does not go into effect until the schedule is rerun. It does not affect already-scheduled projects.

Field descriptions

BEST PRACTICE   Do not delete projects. If you delete a project, all the historical data associated with it is lost.

NOTE   You cannot delete a project if it is currently scheduled.

The fields on the page are described below.

Field Description
Project Name The unique name for the project.
This is a required project Select this check box if the project is required. If you do, the project will be scheduled before non-required projects in the best possible place for coverage. This might cause under-staffing.
Priority (Optional projects only) A number from zero to nine that describes the project’s priority, with zero being the highest priority. If a project is designated as a required project, this field displays a read-only “–1”.
Hyperlink URL The URL of the webpage an agent must visit to perform the project activity, if that is required. You must use the full URL (including “http”, “https”, and “www” as applicable). The URL appears in the project activity in My Schedule.
Text to Display Enter optional text that will appear as a hyperlink in the project activity instead of the URL.
This project is a paid activity Select the check box if this project is a paid activity.
Activate this project Select this check box to activate the project. A project cannot be scheduled until it is activated.
Start Date/End Date

The start and end dates of the period agents can be scheduled to work on the project.

NOTE   The scheduler treats project start and end dates as calendar dates, not shift dates.
Start Time/End Time

The start and end times of the period during which agents can be scheduled to work on the project.

NOTE   The scheduler bases project start and end times on the agent’s scheduling time zone.
Schedule Increment The schedule increment that determines the intervals in which the project can start. For example, if you choose an increment of 15 minutes and the start time is 08:00, then agents could start working on a project at 08:00, 08:15, 08:30, and so on.
Days Agents Can Work on the Project The days that indicate which days of the week agents can be scheduled to work on the project. Selected days are blue. By default, every day of the week is selected.
Minimum Duration (Optional projects only) The minimum length of time that agents can be scheduled to work on the project. This value cannot be less than the Duration Unit and must be a multiple of the Duration Unit.
Maximum Duration (Optional projects only) The maximum length of time that agents can be scheduled to work on the project. This value must be a multiple of the Duration Unit and must be at least the same as the Minimum Duration.
Duration Unit (Optional projects only) The basic block of time that agents are scheduled to work on the project. For example, if the duration unit is 30 minutes and an agent is scheduled to work on the project for 60 minutes during the work shift, that time could be two sequential duration units that total 60 minutes, or one 30-minute duration unit in the morning and another 30-minute duration unit in the afternoon.
Duration (Required projects only) The duration that agents are scheduled to work on the required project. Default = 30 minutes.
Limit the total number of hours spent on this project per week Select the check box if you want to limit the total number of hours spent on the project per week. When the check box is selected, the Maximum Hours per Week option appears.
Maximum Hours per Week The maximum number of hours per week an agent can work on this project. Select one of two options to indicate if the agent can work multiple days per week or only one day per week on the project.
Agents The agents selected to work on the project.
Note

(Optional) Add additional information about the project. The information you enter is visible to agents in My Schedule when the project is scheduled and to analysts on the Agent Schedules page. You can edit or delete the note here or in Agent Schedules. If you edit the note here the note is updated the next time the schedule is run.

Activity Metadata (Optional) Assigns a default metadata value to, or removes a default metadata value from, the project. For more information about configuring metadata values, see Manage activity metadata values.
Color The color that represents this project in the schedule.