​Hello.

We have programming in place that transfers calls to an externally hosted call center.  We have a need to add a 2nd external call center.  We need to send calls to each destination based on percentage of calls (ie: 40% to the new call center & 60% to the current call center).

Does anybody have a recommendation as to which tools would be the most efficient when building the handler?

Thanks.
Tom
#Handlers

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------

Hi Tom,

I am sure there is a better way to do this but I would think of having a counter of number of calls being sent to CC1 (60%) & CC2(40%). You can do the calculations for each call based on the 60/40 split and then send it to the relevant CC. I will do it in the handler that you use to send the calls to CC1.

Regards

------------------------------
Vineet Kakroo
FIL Investment Management Ltd
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:11
From: Tom Mullen
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

​Hello.

We have programming in place that transfers calls to an externally hosted call center.  We have a need to add a 2nd external call center.  We need to send calls to each destination based on percentage of calls (ie: 40% to the new call center & 60% to the current call center).

Does anybody have a recommendation as to which tools would be the most efficient when building the handler?

Thanks.
Tom
#Handlers

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------

I agree with Vineet, if you just used a global variable (int) that counted from 1 to 5, checked if the value was even and then reset the value to 1 once it reached 5, you could have a simple setup to get your desired percentages by transferring odd calls to your 60% center and even to the 40%.

If you do decide to use a global variable, though, create a separate subroutine to access and update it (that should be its only function) as global variables lock the execution of handlers trying to call them if a handler has already acquired it.  You want to hold a global variable for the least possible amount of time.

------------------------------
Aaron Lael
State of Utah
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:16
From: Vineet Kakroo
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

Hi Tom,

I am sure there is a better way to do this but I would think of having a counter of number of calls being sent to CC1 (60%) & CC2(40%). You can do the calculations for each call based on the 60/40 split and then send it to the relevant CC. I will do it in the handler that you use to send the calls to CC1.

Regards

------------------------------
Vineet Kakroo
FIL Investment Management Ltd

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:11
From: Tom Mullen
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

​Hello.

We have programming in place that transfers calls to an externally hosted call center.  We have a need to add a 2nd external call center.  We need to send calls to each destination based on percentage of calls (ie: 40% to the new call center & 60% to the current call center).

Does anybody have a recommendation as to which tools would be the most efficient when building the handler?

Thanks.
Tom
#Handlers

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------

I see a few different ways to do this but there are some considerations to keep in mind:

1. What is the call volume? All of the processing adds overhead and performance impacts should be carefully considered.
2. Do you need this to be easily administered? If you need to be able to easily, non-intrusively, adjust the percentages consider options that can be accessed via Server or Structured Parameters in IA.
3. To truly use percentages, you should consider using historical data for call counting. I would look for ways to record the past hour of four hour interval and make routing decisions based on history versus real-time routing. The larger the data sample, the more accurate the results will be. You could use IP Notes or temporary DB tables to track the counts historically.

------------------------------
Chris Mayo
Director, Technical Services
Altivon
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 09:28
From: Aaron Lael
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

I agree with Vineet, if you just used a global variable (int) that counted from 1 to 5, checked if the value was even and then reset the value to 1 once it reached 5, you could have a simple setup to get your desired percentages by transferring odd calls to your 60% center and even to the 40%.

If you do decide to use a global variable, though, create a separate subroutine to access and update it (that should be its only function) as global variables lock the execution of handlers trying to call them if a handler has already acquired it.  You want to hold a global variable for the least possible amount of time.

------------------------------
Aaron Lael
State of Utah

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:16
From: Vineet Kakroo
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

Hi Tom,

I am sure there is a better way to do this but I would think of having a counter of number of calls being sent to CC1 (60%) & CC2(40%). You can do the calculations for each call based on the 60/40 split and then send it to the relevant CC. I will do it in the handler that you use to send the calls to CC1.

Regards

------------------------------
Vineet Kakroo
FIL Investment Management Ltd

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:11
From: Tom Mullen
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

​Hello.

We have programming in place that transfers calls to an externally hosted call center.  We have a need to add a 2nd external call center.  We need to send calls to each destination based on percentage of calls (ie: 40% to the new call center & 60% to the current call center).

Does anybody have a recommendation as to which tools would be the most efficient when building the handler?

Thanks.
Tom
#Handlers

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------

Thanks everybody.  Unfortunately, it's a bit more complicated.  It is for our global service desk.  We have a menu with several options available.  We also support 11 languages.  I have a selection step in the programming that routes to a different external transfer destination based on the language and option selected.  Then for each of those options, we need to split the calls.  Some options/languages will be x%, and others will be y%.  So in total, I need to replicate this behavior about 50 times.  So I don't think the global variable is a viable option as I would need to create 50 unique variables.

I suspect it will be best to use a d/b to track a variable for each option/language, and then handle the routing based on the value of that variable.  ​

I'm surprised that percentage routing isn't a standard option.

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:11
From: Tom Mullen
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

​Hello.

We have programming in place that transfers calls to an externally hosted call center.  We have a need to add a 2nd external call center.  We need to send calls to each destination based on percentage of calls (ie: 40% to the new call center & 60% to the current call center).

Does anybody have a recommendation as to which tools would be the most efficient when building the handler?

Thanks.
Tom
#Handlers

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------

Hi Tom,

You can create a Table under Interaction Administrator/Interaction Processor/Tables and then set your x% or y% based on each language or whatever criteria you want to have and read this table in your handler before calculating the call to be sent to C1 or C2. One of the inputs to the handler should be the language that you want to make a decision about and then use that language to pull the values from the table.

Using DB is another option though using IA tables is quicker and easier to manage.

Regards

------------------------------
Vineet Kakroo
FIL Investment Management Ltd
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2019 16:32
From: Tom Mullen
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

Thanks everybody.  Unfortunately, it's a bit more complicated.  It is for our global service desk.  We have a menu with several options available.  We also support 11 languages.  I have a selection step in the programming that routes to a different external transfer destination based on the language and option selected.  Then for each of those options, we need to split the calls.  Some options/languages will be x%, and others will be y%.  So in total, I need to replicate this behavior about 50 times.  So I don't think the global variable is a viable option as I would need to create 50 unique variables.

I suspect it will be best to use a d/b to track a variable for each option/language, and then handle the routing based on the value of that variable.  ​

I'm surprised that percentage routing isn't a standard option.

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2019 08:11
From: Tom Mullen
Subject: Load Balance to 2 external transfer destinations

​Hello.

We have programming in place that transfers calls to an externally hosted call center.  We have a need to add a 2nd external call center.  We need to send calls to each destination based on percentage of calls (ie: 40% to the new call center & 60% to the current call center).

Does anybody have a recommendation as to which tools would be the most efficient when building the handler?

Thanks.
Tom
#Handlers

------------------------------
Tom Mullen
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH
------------------------------