UCCX - Resource Groups or Skills?

There are a few and very distinct differences between choosing Resource Groups and Resource Skills in Cisco Unified Contact Center Express 8.x (UCCX 8). You'll have to ask yourself the following questions to help decide on Groups or Skills.

1. How do I want to select my agents?

• Resource Group
• Longest Available — Selects the agent who has been in the Available state for the longest amount of time.
• Linear — Selects the agent with the highest priority.
• Circular — Selects the next available agent in the resource group order.
• Most Handled Contacts — Selects the agent who has answered the most handled calls.
• Shortest Average Handle Time — Selects the agent who generally spends the least amount of time talking to customer

• Skill Groups
• Longest Available — Selects the agent who has been in the Available state for the longest amount of time.
• Most Handled Contacts — Selects the agent who has answered the most handled calls.
• Shortest Average Handle Time — Selects the agent who generally spends the least amount of time talking to customer
• Most Skilled — Used for expert agent call distribution. Selects the agent with the highest total competency level. The total competency level is determined by adding the agent’s competency levels for each of their assigned skills that are also assigned to the CSQ.
• – Example 1: If Agent1 is assigned Skill1(5), Skill2(6), and Skill3(7) and CSQ1 specifies Skill1(min=1) and Skill3(min=1), the total competency level for Agent1 for CSQ1 is 12.
• – Example 2: If Agent1 is assigned Skill1(5) and Skill2(6) and Skill3(7) and CSQ1 specifies Skill1(min=1), only, the total competency level for Agent1 for CSQ1 is 5.
• Least Skilled — Used for expert agent call distribution. Selects the agent with the lowest total competency level. The total competency level is determined by adding the agent’s competency level in each assigned skill.
• Most Skilled By Weight — Used for expert agent call distribution. Selects the agent with the highest total competency level multiplied by the skill’s associated weight.
  
• Least Skilled By Weight —Used for expert agent call distribution. Selects the agent with the lowest total competency level multiplied by the skill’s associated weight.
• Most Skilled By Order — Used for expert agent call distribution. Selects the agent with the highest total competency level in the ordered list.
• Least Skilled by Order — Used for expert agent call distribution. Selects the agent with the lowest total competency level in the ordered list.

     2. Do I need to have an agent, or groups of agents in multiple CSQs?

• Once a Resource Group has been utilized by a CSQ, it can no longer be applied or used for another group.
• A Skill Group can be used by multiple CSQs, allowing for the overlap of skilled agent groups to more than one CSQ.

     3.  Within my agent groupings, do I need to have user priorities?

• With Skill Groups, agents are giving a skill competency from 1-10 (1 = beginner, 10 = expert) which, based on the selection criteria, may play a major role in Agent Selection, call flow, and design.

     4. Who will be assigning agents to groups?

• If this needs to be simple, assigning agents to resource groups is much easier.
• Resource Groups - Assign an agent to a unique Resource Group, that can only be used for a single CSQ
• Resource Skills - Assign a skill to an agent with a specific competency level. This skill and competency assignment may affect other CSQs if that skill is utilized by more than one CSQ.

     5. Do I need to bulk remove the Resource Group or Skill from agents? 

• Both Resource Groups and Skills can be simultaneously assigned to multiple agents. 
• This is done through Subsystems > RmCm > Assign Skills
• Check mark each agent you'd like to assign a skill or group
• Click on Add Skill
• Choose the Resource Group or Skill/Competency and click Update
• Resource Groups cannot be removed in bulk. Only skills can be removed to multiple agents simultaneously through Subsystems > RmCm > Assign Skills and selecting Remove Skill.

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