Initiate a conference

You can start a conference call between agents and subject matter experts. You can add a maximum of eight participants, including the customer and yourself.

Group communication is further enhanced by allowing three or more individuals to communicate simultaneously. This feature efficiently manages calls with multiple participants, by keeping the conversations active without any interruption.

Before you begin

You must have already initiated a consult call. For more information, see Initiate a consult.

1

Click Conference.

To interact with another agent, you need to initiate a conference on the Agent Desktop rather than using a phone device (hardphone or softphone).

The customer is taken off hold and you, the customer and the consulting agent can communicate with each other.

2

(Optional) Click Exit Conference to exit the call. The call continues between the customer and other participants. The call continues between you and the customer.

The Transfer button has been replaced with the Exit Conference button. To transfer control of the call, you will now need to exit the conference. Upon your exit, the participant who has been in the call the longest will automatically assume control.
3

Click End to end the call.

The Wrap Up Reasons dialog box appears. For steps on how to apply a wrap-up reason, see Apply a wrap-up reason.

Actions each conference call participant can perform

Each call participant involved in a conference call can perform different actions. Use this table to gain an understanding of how each participant can interact.

  • Primary agent refers to the agent who starts a conference call.

  • Conferenced agents refer to the consulted agents who are part of the conference call.

Participant

Actions

Customer
  • A customer can't initiate a conference call.
  • By default, the agent puts the call on hold unless they allow the customer and other participants to continue talking.
  • Customer is taken off hold when the agent starts a conference call. The call continues between the primary agent, the conferenced agents, and the customer.

Primary agent
  • The primary agent can start and end a conference call.
  • The primary agent can start a conference call with conferenced agents and the customer by clicking the Conference button.
  • The primary agent can put a customer or conferenced agents on hold by default, but also can allow the conference paritcipants to continue with the customer.
  • The primary agent can click Exit Conference to transfer a call to longest available conferenced agent. The Wrap Up Reasons dialog box appears for the primary agent. The participant who has been in the call the longest will automatically assume control and the call continues between the conferenced agents and the customer.
  • When a customer drops from a conference call, the interaction continues with the other agents on the call.
  • The primary agent can end a conference call by clicking the End button. They can exit from conference by hanging up the physical phone.

Conferenced agents
  • The conferenced agents can end a conference call. However, if the conferenced agents are participants, they can't end the conference call.
  • The conferenced agents can't apply a wrap-up reason for a conference call. However, they can help the primary agent with wrap-up assist.
  • The conferenced agents can exit a conference call by clicking the Exit button. The call continues between the primary agent, the other conferenced agents, and the customer.
  • If the conferenced individual is an agent rather than a participant, they can also consult and add another participant to the call.
  • If the customer exits from an ongoing call with the primary agent and the conferenced agents, the agents can continue the interaction. The call then enters the Wrap up assist state and no further hold, resume or consult can be made.

Non-agent participants (Dial Number)

Non-agent participants do not have call controls, such as consult, add participants or end conferences, unlike agents with Contact Center capabilities enabled.

Group communication is further enhanced by allowing three or more individuals to communicate simultaneously. This feature efficiently manages calls with multiple participants, by keeping the conversations active without any interruption.

Participant action

Description

Customer leaves the call
  • The conversation does not end immediately. Instead, the remaining participants can continue their discussion.
  • The call ends only when there's one participant left. This ensures that all discussions are completed and the call's "handle time" (the total time taken to handle the call) is accurately tracked.

Agent leaves the call

The call does not end when the agent exits the call. It continues between the remaining participants.

Both customer and agent leave the call

The call ends when both customer and agent leave the call.
Wrap up assistIf the customer exits the call, the call enters the Wrap up assist state. Existing participants can continue the conversation, but no new participants can be added.
Supervisor monitoring
  • Supervisors can't monitor or barge into a call that is in "wrap up" state. However, they can continue monitoring if they have already started.
  • If the supervisor was monitoring an agent who exits, they'll be dropped from the call.
  • If a supervisor is monitoring through a secondary agent and the primary agent is still on the call, they can continue monitoring.
  • A supervisor can stay on the call as long as there's at least one agent present, regardless of who they initially started monitoring.
Admin controlThere are no admin controls.