SmarterTrack Help
Community Knowledge Base

Agents / Administrators

Agents and administrators use SmarterTrack's management interface to interact with users, interact with other agents, and/or set up all aspects of the system. Any employee that communicates with customers or end users via email, tickets or live chats is considered an "agent" and should receive the Agent Role. An agent with the additional "Manager" role (managers also have the Agent role) will have access to the various Departments and Groups associated with that manager role, and be able to access tickets, live chats, etc. of agents who are part of those Departments and Groups. Administrators, on the other hand, are in charge of managing the SmarterTrack installation, creating Brands and the Departments, Groups and Agents that are part of those Brands, etc. Unlike managers, administrators are generally NOT give an Agent role as they rarely interact with users.

To add new employees or edit existing employee settings, log into the management interface with an administrator account. Select Settings from the Navigator, then select Agents / Administrators in the navigation pane. Any employees associated to your brand will load in the content pane. By default, the Details for the first agent listed will be displayed.

The following options are available in the content pane:

  • New - Creates a new agent.
  • Edit - Edits the settings for the selected agent.
  • Delete - Permanently deletes the selected agent(s).

To view the settings for a specific agent, simply select them from the list and click the Edit button or double-click on their entry to pop out the configuration window. To add a new Employee, click New in the content pane toolbar. The agent settings will load in the content pane and the following tabs will be available:

Jump to:

Details

Use this tab to configure the profile information of the Employee:

  • Username - The username used to log into SmarterTrack.
  • Authentication Method - The method used to log into SmarterTrack. The administrator can choose to allow employees to log in using a standard password, using active directory authentication or via an external provider that ties into a third-party product, such as a CRM or control panel. For more information, see External Providers.
  • Authentication Domain - When using Active Directory authentication, the domain used for authentication of the login username and password.
  • New Password - When using password authentication, this allows administrators to change the login password by typing a new password in this field.
  • Confirm Password - When using password authentication, this allows administrators to verify the new password by re-typing it in this field.
  • Force password change at next login - When enabled, this setting will force the specified agent or user to change their password the next time they attempt to log in. This allows administrators to create new users or agents with temporary passwords knowing that the user or agent will have to reset it when they first log in. This checkbox remains enabled for the specific user or agent until they log in to the portal or management interface and change their password, at which time the checkbox is disabled. This setting also affects new users or agents created via the SetUsersProperties API call. (NOTE: This setting does not apply to users authenticating via Active Directory.)
  • Email Address - The Employee's business email address.
  • Display Name - The friendly name used to identify the employee within the SmarterTrack system.
  • Display Name for Chat - There are times when agents (as only an employee with an Agent role can use live chat) may not want their real names displayed in the live chat window. For example, they prefer to use a nickname or, for safety reasons, they want to use an alias. Adding in a name here will replace the agent's Display Name when they interact with customers via live chat.
  • Time Zone - To specify the time zone, select the appropriate time zone from the list.
  • Preferred Language - The language the web interface should be shown in for this employee. The list of languages in the drop-down menu is pulled from the list of configured Supported Languages.
  • Hourly Cost for Reporting - The hourly cost for the employee to work with tickets and live chats. This field is used for cost analysis reporting and is set to 10.00 by default.

Contact Info

Use this tab to input any phone numbers for agents who are connected to, and using, SmarterTrack Communicator (as only an employee with an Agent role can use SmarterTrack Communicator). Up to 4 different phone numbers can be added for any given agent. A website and home address can be entered here as well.

  • Website - If the agent has a website, it can be entered here.
  • Home Phone - The agent's home phone number.
  • Cell Phone - The agent's cell phone number.
  • Work Phone - The agent's work phone number.
  • Other Phone - The agent's alternate phone number.
  • Company - The agent's company.
  • Home Address - The physical address of the agent.

Portal Settings

  • Avatar - SmarterTrack allows employees to use popular services for maintaining consistency with the avatars they use across the Internet. This dropdown lists several, along with the option to upload a custom avatar.
  • Avatar Profile - The display picture as provided by the Avatar Provider or one uploaded. Note: Avatars are compressed after 30 days of inactivity to reduce disk space and reduce the number of files on the server.
  • Subscribe to community posts automatically - Checking this box allows the employee to automatically subscribe to Community threads that they create or post in.
  • Email summaries of subscribed community posts - Checking this box allows notification emails for Community threads employees are subscribed to that have had a new reply or the status or type changed.
  • Email new messages from conversations - Checking this box allows notification emails for new messages received in the Community.
  • Portal Signature - Use this field to create a signature that will be displayed in the Portal, such as in Community threads and replies.

Roles

This tab displays the roles assigned to the employee. An employee's permissions, and their overall responsibilities, are defined by the roles to which he/she is assigned. For more information on roles, see Roles.

To assign a Role to an Employee from Roles tab, simply select the checkbox next to the Role you want to assign. Then be sure to save your changes. By default, any new employee will be assigned the following roles:

  • Everyone - cannot be removed
  • Registered User - cannot be removed
  • Registered User with Verified Email
  • Agent

This works for most new employees added as they're being added as agents into SmarterTrack, then assigned to various groups. For specialized roles, such as manager or administrator, those roles would need to be added and any unnecessary role(s) removed. (E.g., removing the Agent role for administrators.) It's good to be aware that SmarterTrack's licensing is based on the number of agents. So, if a specific employee is NOT going to be working with customers or end users, removing the agent role from that employee essentially saves that role for a future employee who will.

To remove a Role, simply uncheck it from the list and save your changes.

Groups

This tab gives administrators the ability to add, edit or remove an employee from one or more configured groups. When clicking an employee's Groups tab, a list of the various Departments and Groups are listed, along with that employee's Ticket Handling and Chat Handling distribution methods.

To view or change an employee's settings for a specific group, simply double-click the desired row and the Agent-Group Relationship settings will load in a modal window. The following options will be available:

  • Agent - The name of the employee that is being configured.
  • Group - The name of the group that is being modified to add the agent.
  • Member - Indicator of whether the agent is part of the group. To add an agent to a group, simply check this box and the remaining agent-group relationship settings will load in the modal window. To remove an agent from a group, uncheck this option and save.
  • Ticket Handling - Select the method of ticket distribution for this agent. If round-robin distribution is the desired ticket distribution method for this group, at least one agent needs to be assigned to a distribution group. Options include:
    • Pull from Queue - By selecting this option, the agent will not receive tickets automatically for the group. The agent will still be a member of the group, so they will be able to see tickets, receive transfers, cherry-pick tickets, etc. but they will not receive any tickets automatically. Instead, they'll have to take tickets from the queue. This setting is good for managers or agents-in-training who want to participate in the group but manually take/receive ticket assignments.
    • Primary Group - Agents in the primary assignment group will be the first to automatically receive tickets via round-robin distribution. Agents in this group can include specialists for the group, senior agents or other "go to" individuals for the group.
    • Secondary Group - Agents in the secondary group will receive automatic round-robin distributions only after the primary group has met their max ticket limit (either the overall or group-specific ticket limit). Secondary group members act as failover agents for the primary group. Agents in this group can include agents-in-training, part-time agents or others.
  • Max Tickets - The maximum number of new, active tickets an agent can have at a time for this group. Waiting tickets that become active and follow-ups that become active do not count towards Max Ticket restrictions. Note: Setting a max tickets per agent means that there may still be tickets in the queue unless max ticket values for agents are adjusted based on ticket load. Tickets will only be distributed based on how quickly agents work.
  • Chat Handling - This option sets the distribution for live chats to agents within the group. Options include:
    • Chat disabled - This option excluded the agent from live chat, so they will NOT receive any live chats.
    • Pull from Queue - By selecting this option, the agent will not receive live chats automatically for the group. The agent will still be a member of the group, so they will be able to see live chats come in, receive chat transfers, cherry-pick chats, etc. but they will not receive any live chats automatically. Instead, they'll have to take them from the queue. This setting is good for managers or agents-in-training who want to participate in the group but manually take/receive chat assignments.
    • Primary Group - Agents in the primary assignment group will be the first to automatically receive live chats as they come in, via round-robin distribution. Agents in this group can include specialists for the group, senior agents or other "go to" individuals for the group.
    • Secondary Group - Agents in the secondary group will receive automatic round-robin distribution of chats only after the primary group has met their max ticket limit (either the overall or group-specific ticket limit). Secondary group members act as failover agents for the primary group. Agents in this group can include agents-in-training, part-time agents or others.
  • Auto-Inactive - Enter the number of minutes after which an agent is marked as "Inactive" for the particular group. When an agent is inactive in a group, they cannot be assigned tickets, live chats and/or phone calls using SmarterTrack Communicator. (Agents can use Active Groups to go active or inactive in each group of which they are a member. Note: Check the enabled checkbox to enable this setting.
  • Hand-off on Auto-Inactive - This setting is used in conjunction with Auto-Inactive. Checking this box will automatically hand off any of an agent's active tickets to another agent if the agent is automatically made inactive in the group.
  • Automatically go active upon login - Checking this box will automatically make an agent's status active/available for any live chat or ticket groups they belong to after logging into the management interface. If unchecked, agents will need to manually set their active status across their various groups.

Custom Fields

This tab displays the available custom fields for agent preferences. For more information on custom fields, see Custom Fields.

Tickets

Use this tab to edit the following settings regarding the agent's ability to use an external email client or application to handle tickets.

  • Copy To Address - Adding a Copy To Address means that any ticket that is assigned to the agent will be copied to this email address as well. This includes every message that comes in from the end user, not only the initial ticket message. The agent can reply from their email application/client, and every ticket reply will be stored in and sent out from SmarterTrack using that department's SMTP settings, keeping the agent's personal email information anonymous. Note: This is enabled by default when an email address is entered in this field.
  • Other Reply From Address(es) - This field can be used with the Copy To Address setting to allow additional email addresses to send ticket responses. For example, if an alias is entered in the Copy To Address, each email address within that alias may be entered here to allow all members of the alias to reply to tickets. This is also useful if an agent has forwarding set up on their mailbox. Though the ticket message is received in Mailbox A and forwarded to Mailbox B, the agent can reply from Mailbox B.
  • Max Tickets - The maximum number of new, active tickets an agent can have at a time. This field applies to the overall tickets an agent has and is not specific to any groups. Group Max Tickets may still be applied; however, the overall Max Tickets value will override. For example, if the overall Max Tickets is set at 10 and a group's Max Tickets is set at 15, the agent will only be assigned 10 tickets automatically. When configuring this field, take into account the number of groups an agent is part of and the total number of max tickets they should generally receive from those groups. Waiting tickets that become active and follow-ups that become active do not count towards Max Ticket restrictions. Note: Setting a max tickets per agent means that there may still be tickets in the queue unless max ticket values for agents are adjusted based on ticket load. Tickets will only be distributed based on how quickly agents work.

Live Chat

Use this tab to edit the following settings regarding the handling of live chats:

  • Max Active Live Chats - To change the total number of concurrent live chats that can be participated in, type the appropriate number in this field. By default, this option is set to 1.
  • Pop-up new chats automatically - Checking this box will display new live chats in a popup window. By default, this option is enabled.
  • Play chat sounds - Checking this box will enable SmarterTrack to play a sound when a chat message is received. By default, this option is enabled.
  • Play sound when a chat is queued - Checking this box will enable SmarterTrack to play a sound when a live chat is routed to the queue. By default, this option is enabled.
  • Block chat while composing call logs - Checking this box will block live chats from popping up while an active agent is composing a call log.
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