vaSystem.isLiveAgentAvailable() - Not re-checking availability?

Joe B2 · ‎04-27-2021

Before I log a Hi ticket for this I wanted to see if anyone here had some ideas.

In a couple of conversations we have the user is directed through a knowledge search along with some other deflections before being allowed through to an agent. When the time comes I am using the vaSystem.isLiveAgentAvailable(); function to determine if they can actually be routed to chat. This function also sets the context variable required to determine the correct chat queue.

If there isn't anyone available the user is presented with a list of options of what to do next and one of them is to try connecting to a Live agent again. This simply loops back round to the previous decision branch to check again. As a note, this option is here because our agents sometimes all go unavailable forgetting that Agent Chat + Agent Workspace doesn't just queue users like Connect Chat used to when this happens.

If an agent is available before the first vaSystem.isLiveAgentAvailable(); occurs then the chat routes correctly. If an agent isn't available at first but then becomes available vaSystem.isLiveAgentAvailable(); will only evaluate to false on the re-check.

To confirm this I added a text output to return the following after "re-try an agent" is chosen:

return 'VA agent available: ' + vaSystem.isLiveAgentAvailable();

This always brings back: VA agent available: false

Has anyone else encountered this or can think of a way to "force" vaSystem.isLiveAgentAvailable(); to re-check?

Joe B2 · ‎04-28-2021

Thank you for taking the time to reply. To elaborate on our use case slightly:

After no agents are found to be available a choice question is presented with the options:

Log a ticket on the portal (will likely embed this in at some point and have VA do it but this was the 'quick win' during the implementation)
Try connecting to a Live agent again
Try again later (leads to the end of the conversation)

You are right that it doesn't make too much sense having the option to try again right after it failed. The main reason for this is we also recently implemented Agent Workspace + Agent Chat. Agents keep forgetting to make themselves available as Connect Chat used to drop people into a queue to be picked up. I will likely end up removing the option in the future but this was the "middle ground" option so users mid conversation can potentially get through to a person once they have noticed and made someone available.

In terms of the issue - I found it was something to do with the routing rules on the Advanced Work Assignment module. We use context variables to determine which HR chat queue someone should go to and these weren't working on the second attempt. It was almost like a variable used for the queue determination was going blank for some reason.

I ended up resolving it by bypassing the inbuilt check and doing a glide query on the agent availability table. If any agents are found with a status that can have tickets assigned then someone is available.

View solution in original post

Travis Rogers · ‎02-28-2023

Hey @NunoMeira - I'd suggest having the check for "is an agent available?" first, then have a decision branch with your two paths:

Yes, the agent is available: invoke the live agent topic block
No agents available: submit the case

After my original reply above we rolled out a topic block called "Agent Availability" which performs this check for you. I'd use that instead of creating your own script.

This is what my flow looks like:

Let me know if you need more detail - happy to help!

By the way, @Joe B2 - I'm delighted to share a Utah enhancement which allows for multichannel callback. Basically, you can offer the user an opportunity to request a scheduled callback/teams message/etc as part of a VA convo. Based on your original challenge I think you might find this interesting. We should have more content available on this soon, but for now the (rather sparse) release notes on the feature are here. Edit: A more robust FAQ is available here.

Regards,

Travis

Joe B2 · ‎03-01-2023

Thank you Travis, that looks interesting. I shall give it a look.

NunoMeira · ‎03-01-2023

@Travis Rogers thank you for your replay! It was very helpful. I was thinking in a different way but it this solution I can cover more options to the user and get a more rich experience.

May I just ask you one thing more?

What did you put on the condition nodes for availability (Agent online and no agent available)?

Thanks for your assist.

Regards,

Nuno

ritu_saluja · ‎11-17-2023

Hello @Travis Rogers

please help me with the scripts as well