What is the End-of-Day Handling Period?

The period during which inbound calls will be treated as if the Call Target is outside of its hours of operation is called the end-of-day (EOD) handling period. To prevent callbacks from being dialed outside of hours, you can configure the end-of-day handling period to begin prior to the actual end of business hours, while agents are still available.

Why Start the End-of-Day Handling Period Early?

Making sure that all pending callbacks can be dialed out before the end of the day is the primary reason to activate the end-of-day handling period early. There are several additional scenarios that can be helped by activating the end-of-day handling period before the close of business hours, and there are several configurable options to help address the different scenarios, such as:

• Staffing levels could decrease near the end of the day
• Call volume could unexpectedly increase near the end of the day
• Agents could be pulled into other queues to help with emergency volume

Retries are another consideration. If a retry goes into a pending state just prior to the end of business hours, it can be dialed after hours. This could result in a caller receiving a callback and being transferred to a queue with no agents available. When determining your end-of-day period, consider the additional time needed to process any remaining retries for the day, based on your Retry Delay.

What Are My Options?

The following options and examples can help to tune the end-of-day handling experience to achieve the best outcome for your team and callers.

Use ECBT to Determine End of Day

This is the recommended method for most organizations. Other methods may better help to meet your goals in specific situations, but Use ECBT to Determine End of Day is the most commonly used.

Using this setting introduces a more dynamic approach to timing your end-of-day call treatment. By using the ECBT, you will be sure to offer end-of-day treatment at the time when new callbacks could no longer be made before the end of the Call Target's hours of operation. This could be earlier on some days and later on others.

Example

• The hours of operation end at 10:00 P.M., and it is currently 9:30 P.M.
• There are only five calls in queue, with an Average Seconds per Agent Answer of three minutes.
• There are only 15 minutes (five calls * three minutes) of talk time expected for the calls in queue.
• The current calls should be complete 15 minutes prior to the close of business hours, but if the volume unexpectedly increases, your agents could find themselves overwhelmed.

In this case, you might consider activating the end-of-day handling period dynamically by enabling Use ECBT to Determine End of Day. If the call volume stays low, the end-of-day period will not activate too early, but if the volume unexpectedly rises, the period will activate sooner.

End of Day Fixed Time Margin

Using this setting ensures that end-of-day call treatment begins at the same time each day for a more consistent customer experience.

• The hours of operation end at 10:00 P.M., and it is currently 9:30 P.M.
• There are currently 10 calls in queue, with an Average Seconds per Agent Answer of three minutes.
• Thus, there are 30 minutes (10 calls * three minutes) of talk time to be expected for the calls in queue.

Since your current volume will already last until the end of the day, you might consider activating the end-of-day handling period immediately by enabling End of Day Fixed Time Margin and setting the value to 30 minutes. This will begin to move traffic to the next business day immediately since the current time is 30 minutes prior to the close of business hours.

No Early End-of-Day Handling

If the Use ECBT to Determine End of Day option is not selected, and the End of Day Fixed Time Margin is blank, then the end-of-day period will begin at the moment the Hours of Operation close. This will allow the system to continue to process callbacks throughout the entire day.

• The hours of operation end at 10:00 P.M., and it is currently 9:30 P.M.
• There are only two calls in queue, with an Average Seconds per Agent Answer of three minutes. In this case, there are only six minutes of talk time expected.

There does not seem to be any risk of agents becoming overwhelmed, so you might consider not activating the end-of-day period early, and instead letting the system activate it automatically at the close of business hours.

When Should End-of-Day Handling Start?

An effective EOD strategy allows time for pending callbacks in Mindful to be completed before agent staffing drops at the close of business hours.

Note that the EOD period in Mindful does not need to match the end of business hours in your contact center. Business close in Mindful should occur with plenty of time left to handle callbacks before the last agent logs off, and your telephony platform should stop sending inbound calls to Mindful when the Mindful business hours close. For example, if agent staffing declines considerably an hour before closing, then it may be best to end the Mindful business hours one hour before your call center closes when the staffing drops.

Considerations for 24/7 Queues

For queues open 24/7 that do not intend to offer callbacks overnight, the same best practices apply. Treat the time at which you no longer wish to offer callbacks as the effective close of business and follow the guidelines above.

For 24/7 queues that offer callbacks at all times, it can be helpful to change the callback aggressiveness settings (Max Queue Depth and Max Active Calls) based on changes in agent staffing at different times of day. This ensures that fewer callbacks are placed in queue when you have fewer agents, with more callbacks allowed at times of higher staffing. You can automate these changes with Smart Rules, if you would like. Other than that, no EOD-handling configuration is required.

End-of-Day Handling Decisions

If you need to activate the end-of-day handling period earlier than the close of business hours, you can use the following questions to determine the best configuration for your team's and customers' needs.

Question: Will your agents be available in the morning to take callbacks from the prior day?

• If Yes, consider using Offer Next Business Day Callbacks.
  • If your agents need extra time in the morning before starting to take callbacks, use Next Business Day Delay to give them a buffer of time in the morning before callbacks from the prior day are processed.
  • If you feel it would be better to limit the number of callbacks agents handle each morning, use the Max Next Business Day Callbacks setting to limit the number of callbacks that can be moved to the next business day. Once this number is reached, no further next-day callback offers will be made that day.
• If No, consider not using the Offer Next Business Day Callbacks feature.

Question: Do you lower staffing towards the end of the day while expecting lower volume, or does the call center remain fully staffed until the close of business hours?

• Lower staffing at end of day: Consider enabling Use ECBT to Determine End of Day or End of Day Fixed Time Margin to stop processing callbacks prior to the close of business hours and begin offering callbacks for the next business day.
• Constant staffing all day: Disable Use ECBT to Determine End of Day and End of Day Fixed Time Margin. In this case, the end-of-day handling period will begin at the close of business hours. This will allow your agents to handle as many callbacks as possible until the day ends.

For more information on all configurable settings for end of day handling, see Call Target End of Day Handling in the Reference section.