From SJA

Contents 1 About ACD 2 ACD Configuration for SJA 2.1 Call distribution is determined like this: 3 SJA Auto-Attendant Configuration 3.1 Training Centre Menu 3.1.1 Script 3.2 Training Centre Submenu 3.2.1 Script 3.3 Provincial Office Menu 3.3.1 Script 3.4 Alberta Toll-Free Gateway Menu 3.4.1 Script 3.5 Staff Directory 3.5.1 Script 3.6 Intercept 4 Using ACD 4.1 Logging In 4.2 Make Busy 4.3 Logging Out 4.4 Work Timer 4.5 ACD Mailbox 4.6 ACD Alert 4.7 ACD Notes 5 Incoming Calls 6 Information tags 7 Answering Calls 7.1 What to say 7.1.1 Think system-wide 7.1.2 Lost Callers 7.1.3 Letters and Numbers 7.2 Voicemail 7.2.1 Your recorded name 7.2.2 Your greeting 7.3 Headsets 8 Transferring Calls 8.1 Location ACD Groups 8.2 Location Auto-Attendants 8.3 Direct to an extension mailbox 9 Paging 9.1 Page Groups 9.2 Direct Paging

About ACD

ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) allows us to share the workload of general phone inquiries over a group of people – this allow multiple phone lines to be used by a small group of agents, instead of assigning a single agent to a single line. If there are more calls than agents available, callers will automatically be put into a queue, so that the caller that has been waiting the longest will get the next available agent. As well, callers who are waiting in the queue are given the option of leaving a voicemail message instead of waiting on hold.

ACD Configuration for SJA

Presently, each centre of SJA (St. John Ambulance) has a pool of CSRs (Customer Service Representatives). There are two types of CSRs:

• Phone CSRs which have a primary task of dealing with customers over the phone, and a secondary task of dealing with customers in person. A Phone CSR will only deal with a customer in person if there are no calls waiting.
• Person CSRs which have a primary task is of dealing with customers in person, and a secondary task of dealing with customers over the phone. A Person CSR will only answer a customer phone call if there are no physical persons waiting.

Call distribution is determined like this:

1. A call will go to the Phone CSR that has been on the phone for the least amount of time of all the Phone CSRs logged in.
2. If all the Phone CSRs are busy, the call will go to the Person CSR that has been on the phone for the least amount of time.
3. If all the Phone CSRs are busy, the call will go to designated other persons in the centre that have ACD Accounts (Usually the Admin. Coordinator).
4. If all logged in agents are busy, the caller will be placed into the hold queue until the next agent is available.
5. The caller can wait for a maximum of 7 minutes; after that amount of time the caller will automatically be transferred to the ACD mailbox.
6. If no agents are logged in (e.g. afterhours) the caller will automatically be directed to the ACD mailbox for that location.

SJA Auto-Attendant Configuration

Training Centre Menu

A caller gets here by dialing the following numbers:

• 780-452-6161
• 403-250-2922
• 403-342-7744
• 780-532-1012
• 403-528-3292
• 403-327-2847
• 780-743-0991

Script

• Thank you for calling St. John Ambulance XXXXXX Centre.
• Please press 1 to speak to one of our representatives --> ACD Queue
• Press 2 for a staff directory --> dial by first name staff directory
• Press 3 for other options --> training centre submenu
• Otherwise, If you know your party’s extension, you may dial it at any time.

• (if no answer is given --> ACD queue)
• (0 --> operator --> ACD Queue)
• (any extension --> to the extension entered)

Training Centre Submenu

A caller gets here by dialing the following numbers:

• 3 at the training centre menu

Script

• Please press 1 to register for a course --> to the local ACD Queue
• Press 2 for Volunteer Services. --> to the local CSC
• Press 3 for Group Bookings --> to the local person in charge of group sales
• Press 4 for location information --> informational voicemail box with address, business hours, fax number
• Press 5 for account and billing inquiries --> Accounts Recievable Coordinator ext. 8226
• To Repeat This Menu, press #. To return to the main menu, press *.
• (0 --> operator --> ACD Queue)

Provincial Office Menu

A caller gets here by dialing the following numbers:

• 780-452-6565
• 780-452-6163 (old number, no longer advertised)

Script

• You have reached the St. John Ambulance Alberta Provincial Office
• If you know your party’s extension, please enter it now
• Press 2 for a staff directory
• Otherwise press 0press 0 or wait on the line for assistance
• (0 --> operator --> Edmonton ACD Queue)
• (any extension --> to the extension entered)

Alberta Toll-Free Gateway Menu

A caller gets here by dialing the following numbers:

• 800-665-7114
• 780-482-7863 (pilot number for TF number, not advertised)

Script

• You have reached St. John Ambulance Alberta. You may connect to the location closest to you.
• Press 1 for Edmonton --> Edmonton Auto-Attendant
• Press 2 for Calgary --> Calgary Auto-Attendant
• Press 3 for Red Deer --> Red Deer Auto-Attendant
• Press 4 for Grande Prairie --> Grande Prairie Auto-Attendant
• Press 5 for Medicine Hat --> Medicine Hat Auto-Attendant
• Press 6 for Lethbridge --> Lethbridge Auto-Attendant
• Press 7 for Fort McMurray --> Fort McMurray Auto-Attendant
• Press 8 for the Alberta Provincial Office --> PHQ Auto-Attendant
• Press 9 for a staff directory --> dial by first name staff directory
• (0 --> operator --> ACD Queue 1900)
• note: you can’t enter a direct extension here. You must first transfer to a location.
• note: you MUST use the staff directory here; if you transfer to a location you will not be able to use the staff directory then.

Staff Directory

The caller gets here by dialing the following numbers:

• 2 at the Training Centre or Provincial Office menus
• 9 at the Toll-Free Gateway

Script

• The Voice Directory. Please wait until prompted, then follow the directions. (then the caller waits for a second, then gets transferred to the next part.)
• Press up to six letters of the person’s first name, using 7 for q and 9 for z.
• (now the caller can press up to six letters, and will be transferred accordingly)
• If a caller presses the wrong numbers, it will intercept the call.

Intercept

• If a caller dials the wrong extension, or gets otherwise lost in the system by dialing numbers that go nowhere, the call will be intercepted.
• Any intercepted call will go to the Edmonton ACD Queue (1900).
• The idea here is that the caller gets to a real person as soon as possible.

Using ACD

Logging In

• Agents must log in to the ACD when they are available to take calls. To log in:

1. Press the superkey (the blue button)
2. Press Yes to Agent Login
3. Enter your ACD Account Code
4. Press Enter

Make Busy

• If you are temporarily unavailable to take a call (e.g. you are helping a customer in person or are caught up in some work such that you can’t take a call), you must press the Make Busy button on your phone.
• Make sure you turn off Make Busy when you are available again.

Logging Out

• Agents must log out of the ACD when they are unavailable to take calls (e.g. you go for lunch, go to the washroom, etc.)

1. Press the superkey
2. Press yes to Agent Logout

Work Timer

• After an agent hangs up with an ACD Call, they are given a few seconds in which to finish up whatever they are doing; they will not be presented with another call until the Work Timer expires.
• If an agent needs to do something else (such as finish up paperwork, or help a customer in person), this is a good time to activate the Make Busy feature, or Log Out.
• If you are ready to take another call and don’t need the remaining time left, you can press Cancel.

ACD Mailbox

• A caller can choose to leave a message in the ACD mailbox instead of waiting on hold.
• If there are no agents logged in (e.g. afterhours), or if a caller has been waiting for more than 7 minutes, the call will be transferred automatically to the ACD mailbox.
• If there is a message waiting in the ACD mailbox, the ACD Mailbox Indicator on your phone will blink.
• To check the ACD mailbox, press the ACD Mailbox Access on your phone; it will automatically put in the password and allow you to listen to messages.

ACD Alert

• Some phones are equipped with an ACD Alert Indicator.
  • This will light up if a caller is in the holding queue
  • it will flash and ring briefly if a caller has been waiting in the holding queue for more than 1 minute
  • it will start to ring more and flash rapidly if a caller has been waiting the in holding queue for more than 2 minutes.
• If you press the indicator, it will tell you:
  • The number of Agents logged in
  • The longest wait time
  • The number of calls waiting

ACD Notes

• If an agent is logged in, and misses a call, the system will AUTOMATICALLY log out that user, UNLESS it is the last user logged in to the system; in that case it will place the last user on Make Busy.
• It is VERY IMPORTANT that users are logged in when available to take calls
• It is VERY IMPORTANT that users use the Make Busy feature when they are tied up with a customer in person
• It is VERY IMPORTANT that users log out when not available to take calls
• It is VERY IMPORTANT that at the end of the day, when everyone is going home, that you check to make sure all agents are logged out, otherwise if anyone calls at night they will be forced to wait on hold in the queue, instead of being immediately re-directed to the ACD mailbox.
• If a Person CSR is dealing with a phone customer, and a customer walks in, they should activate the Make Busy feature while in the Work Timer mode when they conclude their call; they should only deactivate the Make Busy feature if there are no customers in person waiting.
• If a Phone CSR is dealing needed to deal with a customer in person, they should activate the Make Busy feature while dealing with that customer; but as soon as they finish with that customer, they should return to their phone and deactivate the Make Busy feature to see if there are any callers waiting, EVEN if there are more customers waiting in person. (remember, a Phone CSR puts priority on phone calls; a Person CSR puts priority on customers in person). If there is no caller waiting, then the Phone CSR can help the next customer in person.
• You cannot forward messages from the ACD Mailbox to other mailboxes.
• Pay attention to the ACD Alert Indicator. If it starts to flash then there are caller that have been waiting too long!

Incoming Calls

Pay attention to the display on your phone; it will let you know where the caller is calling from. There are three types of lines we use:

• Digtal lines are high-capacity systems used in Edmonton and Calgary. Digital lines allow multiple phone numbers to use the same group of lines and have been the standard for business telephone systems for the last 15 years; it is a very efficient and effective means of voice communication. However, for it to be cost-effective you need 8 or 9 lines or more; this is why we only use it in Edmonton and Calgary. We do pay modest long distance charges with our digital lines. The capacity of Digital lines is measured in channels; one conversation (on any number) occupies one channel.
• Analog lines are of the same type that has been around for a hundred years. Analog lines are suitable for a small location; each number requires it’s own line, so it becomes inefficient and complicated beyond 8 or 9 lines in one system. In order to use a single number, most of our analog lines are set up in Rotary Hunt Groups. Analog lines have the highest long distance charges of any line type.
• IP Lines are the most advanced and cost effective lines available. These lines use a packet-based IP network (the standard for computer networks) as a carrier, allowing a network connection to handle many simultaneous calls. SJA uses IP Lines to communicate from location to location over our organization-wide IP network. If you get a call from another SJA extension, or a call transferred from another location, it will most likely use our IP lines. We do not pay long distance charges to use an IP line. Edmonton and Calgary have fiber-optic data connections; this allows for a huge capacity (in practice we’ve never had any slowdown). The other locations have ADSL connections, allowing for only a small number of calls (10 theoretical maximum at one time, in practice 4 or 5 at a time would be max)

When you pick up a call, your phone will display one of the following tags; this is what they mean:

• ED DI Line – Edmonton Digital Line (23 Channels)
  • 800-665-7114 (Toll Free)
  • 780-452-6161 (Edmonton Centre)
  • 780-452-6565 (Provincial Office)
• ED AN Line – Edmonton Analog Line (4 Lines)
• ED IP Line – Edmonton IP (Network) Line (156250 call capacity)

• CG DI Line – Calgary Digital Line (12 Channel)
  • 403-250-2922
• CG AN Line – Calgary Analog Line (2 Lines)
• CG IP Line – Calgary IP (Network) Line (156250 call capacity)

• RD AN Line – Red Deer Analog Line (6 Lines)
  • 403-342-7744
• RD IP Line – Red Deer IP (Network) Line (10 call capacity)

• GP AN Line – Grande Prairie Analog Line (6 Lines)
  • 780-532-1012
• GP IP Line – Grande Prairie IP (Network) Line (10 call capacity)

• MH AN Line – Medicine Hat Analog Line (2 Lines)
  • 403-528-3292
• MH IP Line – Medicine Hat IP (Network) Line (10 call capacity)

• LB AN Line – Lethbridge Analog Line (6 Lines)
  • 403-327-2847
• LB IP Line – Lethbridge IP (Network) Line (10 call capacity)

• FM AN Line – Fort McMurray Analog Line (4 Lines)
  • 780-743-0991
• FM IP Line – Fort McMurray IP (Network) Line (10 call capacity)

Information tags

When you phone is ringing, it will display an information tag. One of two things can happen:

• The phone will display a calling name or number – this is a caller that has dialed your extension directly.
• Or, the phone will display one of the following tags:
  • 1901 – Lost Caller
    • This means the caller has inputted a wrong extension or misspelled a name when using the voice directory. These callers deserve special and immediate attention – they’ve already gotten lost!
  • 1900 – ED ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 2800 – CG ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 3800 – RD ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 4800 – GP ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 5800 – MH ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 6800 – LB ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 7800 – FM ACD Queue
    • This means the caller has press 1 to speak to a representative, or pressed 1 in the submenu to register for a course
  • 6161 – ED Centre Main
    • This means the caller has called 780-452-6161 (Edmonton Centre)
  • 6565 – ED PO Main
    • This means the caller has called 780-452-6565 (Provincial Office)
  • AB Gateway
    • This means the caller has called 800-665-7114 (Alberta Toll-Free Number)
  • 2922 – CG Centre main
    • This means the caller has called 403-250-2922 (Calgary Centre)
• Once you pick up the call, the display will change to show the line where the call is coming from.

Answering Calls

What to say

Remember, by now, the caller has heard the auto-attendant; you don’t need to say “St. John Ambulance” or anything like that. This allows a simple response when you pick up the phone:

• “Jane speaking… how can I help you?”

Think system-wide

Remember, your phone is connected to not only your local phone numbers, but to all SJA locations and phones within Alberta. It is important that you check with the caller to confirm which location they want to do their business in, before you start the process of taking down their information. If someone asks for a particular person, and you don’t know that person’s extension, check the phone list to see if the desired person is in another location. Before you transfer the caller, tell them the extension number and the most direct way to reach that person in future.

Lost Callers

If you get a call that rings as “1901 – Lost Caller”, this is a caller that has already gotten lost by pressing the wrong buttons, or got disconnected from a call. It is important that you provide extra care and attention to this caller; try to find out who they want to talk to or what they need, and get them the help they need with the fewest number of transfers or automated voices you can.

Also, you may get a “false” lost caller. These can occur these ways:

• Someone leaves their phone off the hook.
• Someone dials one of our voice numbers with their fax machine
• Someone dials the wrong number, either from a phone or a fax machine

It is important that you track down the call (your call display will display the name and number of the offending extension) and get the person at that station to correct their error. Try using a page to the location if all else fails…

Letters and Numbers

When spelling things out over the phone, use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet to avoid errors.

• It is hard to tell the difference between "Bee" "Cee" "Dee" etc over the phone
• The phonetic alphabet ensures accuracy
• A spelling error on a certificate requires a fair amount of work to correct so it is better to get it right in the first place

Voicemail

It is important that you set up your voicemail box properly – and keep your greeting up to date.

Your recorded name

Should be done along these lines

• “Jane Doe – Customer Service Representative – Extension 1234”

Your greeting

• Your greeting should be kept up to date. A normal greeting can be:

• • “You’ve reached the personal voicemail of Jane Doe, Customer Service Representative. I am unable to take your call, but if you leave me your name, phone number, and a brief message, I’ll get back to you soon. Thanks!”

• If you are unavailable for some reason, please say so, and tell the caller to seek help elsewhere!

• • “You’ve reached the personal voicemail of Jane Doe, Customer Service Representative. I will be away from the office until October 31st and will be unable to respond until then. If you need assistance before then, please dial 0 now, otherwise, if you leave me your name, phone number, and a brief message, I’ll return your call when I return. Thanks!”

• If you call in sick, or are otherwise unable to make it to the office,

Notify your supervisor as normal, but then also change your voicemail greeting so callers don’t leave messages expecting a fast response. You can change your greeting from outside the system as follows:

1. Dial your location (or call the toll-free, and transfer to a location)
2. Dial 8900.
3. Press *
4. Put in your voicemail box number (usually the same as your extension number)
5. Put in your pass code
6. Press U (8) for user options
7. Press G (4) for greetings
8. Record your greeting then press any button
9. Press X (9) to exit.

Headsets

If you have a headset, use it. This lets you type and write while talking on the phone, without straining your neck. Please follow the SJA Headset policy (don’t share headsets for reasons of hygiene – clean them regularly ONLY with a Plantronics #40697-01 Sanitizing Towelette, and if you need to swap headsets the unit must be sterilized ONLY with a Plantronics #40697-01 Sanitizing Towelette).

Transferring Calls

To transfer a call, press the Transfer/Conference key on your phone, and dial the number of the person you want to transfer to. It will ring, and you can talk to the person first, or see if there is a voicemail there… then, to release the caller to the transferred party, simply hang up your phone.

• Remember: Sometimes it may be better to transfer a caller to a group, or location auto-attendant instead of to a specific person.

Location ACD Groups

This is what you will use most often when transferring a call to another centre, since it will take the caller directly to the next available agent in that centre.

• 1900 – Edmonton
• 2800 – Calgary
• 3800 – Red Deer
• 4800 – Grande Prairie
• 5800 – Medicine Hat
• 6800 – Lethbridge
• 7800 – Fort McMurray

Location Auto-Attendants

Be careful when using this as the caller has already been through an auto-attendant to get to you; often it is better to send the caller directly to an ACD Group, or to a specific extension.

• 8900 – Edmonton
• 2900 – Calgary
• 3900 – Red Deer
• 4900 – Grande Prairie
• 5900 – Medicine Hat
• 6900 – Lethbridge
• 7900 – Fort McMurray
• 6565 – Provincial Office
• 7863 – AB Toll-Free Gateway

Direct to an extension mailbox

Use this if you know the person is out of their office, or does not want to be disturbed.

1. Dial 8900
2. press #
3. then dial the extension
4. then hang up immediately so the caller hears the greeting.

Paging

You can use the page function to call someone who is not answering their phone. Feel free to use it, but keep in mind the following:

• Use the correct page code so you don’t page unneeded people
• For facilities with phones in the classrooms, avoid paging the classroom phones so we don’t disturb our classes – only use those page groups for emergencies or afterhours
• Pages will only be broadcast from phones with a speaker, and phones that are not set to “Do Not Disturb”
• Avoid paging with your speakerphone; always use your handset or headset
• If you are in a meeting and you don’t want to be disturbed with pages or phone calls, please use the “Do Not Disturb” feature of your phone; that is what it is there for (in other words, don’t complain about hearing pages – use the button!)

The feature access code for the paging function is

• *48

So, to page someone, dial *48 then the page group number, then wait until you hear the beep in your phone, speak your message, then hang up by pressing a button or the plunger with your finger – DO NOT hang up the handset normally, since everyone will hear the banging of the handset hitting the phone when you hang up the set.

Page Groups

• 1111 – Edmonton Centre All
• 2201 – Calgary Centre – Staff Only
• 2202 – Calgary Centre – Classrooms Only (note: this group contains classrooms)
• 2222 – Calgary Centre All (note: this group contains classrooms)
• 3333 – Red Deer Centre All
• 4444 – Grande Prairie Centre All
• 5555 – Medicine Hat Centre All
• 6664 – Lethbridge Centre Staff Only
• 6665 – Lethbridge Centre Classrooms Only (note: this group contains classrooms)
• 6666 – Lethbridge Centre All (note: this group contains classrooms)
• 7777 – Fort McMurray Centre All
• 8888 – Provincial Office All
• 1188 – Edmonton Centre AND Provincial Office All¬

Direct Paging

You can also directly page a single extension; simply dial the extension number instead of a page group. You will hear the phone ring, then you can start talking. At the other end, the handset can be picked up and a regular call will commence.