How do I keep agents Online during their shift?

Agent Status Automation by Playlist sets an agent's status at the start and end of each time block in their schedule. If you want to set agents back to Online at regular intervals during a shift, split the shift into several shorter time blocks and set Online at their start and end times.

Example

This Monday shift runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and sets agents back to Online roughly every two hours:

Agents are set to Online at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 11:15 AM, 1:00 PM, 1:15 PM, 3:00 PM, and 3:15 PM. At 5:00 PM, they're set to Offline.

Each day can have up to four time blocks, each at least one hour long, with at least 15 minutes between blocks. The example above uses all four. To add a block, click Add time block under the day in the schedule editor.

Things to know

• It's periodic, not continuous – If an agent switches to Offline just after one of these updates, they'll remain Offline until the next scheduled update.
• It overrides the agent's current status – This includes custom statuses such as Lunch or In a meeting. This approach works best when scheduled breaks or meetings don't overlap the update times.
• It doesn't check whether the agent is currently in Zendesk – An agent who has logged off can still be set to Online, which may make them eligible to receive work through omnichannel routing.
• Each status change is recorded – Every change made by the app appears on the Activity page. If an agent already has the scheduled Online status, Zendesk makes no change, so nothing is recorded.

A lighter alternative

If agents mainly forget to go Online when they return to Zendesk, the built-in online prompt may be enough. When an agent opens Zendesk while Offline during a scheduled shift, the app prompts them to go online using the status defined by their schedule.

The prompt only appears when the agent is actually in Zendesk and doesn't automatically override a status they've chosen.

New to Agent Status Automation? See the Quick Start Guide.