Availability Points

The Default link only appears in the Availability table if your supervisor configured your MU or agent data group value to allow agents to access their default availability.

Click the date range link in the Availability table to view or edit your availability for the date range. The date range links in the Availability table are the availability date range records that contain at least one of the dates in the Viewable date range or Modifiable date range fields.

You can view your availability for any availability date range record that contains at least one of the dates in the Viewable date range field. You can edit your availability for any availability date range record that contains at least one of the dates in the Modifiable date range field. See View and Modify Availability on the Availability Points Page for details on viewing or editing your availability for a date range.

Click Add a date range in the Availability table to add a date range for which you want to define your availability. The date range cannot overlap any of your existing availability date ranges. The date range must fall within the range specified in the Modifiable date range field. If the Modifiable date range field is None, the Add a date range link does not appear.

Refer to these topics:

In the Start date field, enter a start date for the new availability date range, or select a date from the calendar by clicking the calendar icon (). The default start date is the start date of the modifiable date range. The start date must be on or before the end date.

In the End date field, enter an end date for the new availability date range, or select a date from the calendar by clicking the calendar icon. The default end date is the end date of the modifiable date range. The end date must be on or after the start date.

If you want to copy the availability from an existing date range to the new date range, select Default or an existing availability date range in the Copy availability from field. The date ranges you can copy are the availability date ranges that contain at least one of the dates in the viewable or modifiable date ranges (see Viewable date range and Modifiable date range).

If you do not want to copy availability from an existing date range, leave this field set to the default value, (None), and the system does not copy any availability to the new date range. In this case, the new availability date range record shows all time periods within your MU’s operating hours as available.

Click OK to validate the start and end dates and add the new availability date range. If either of the dates is invalid, the system displays a message. You need to enter valid dates and click OK again. The new date range cannot overlap an existing date range, and the new date range must fall within the range specified in the Modifiable date range field.

Once your new date range is valid, the system returns to the My Availability page where you can select the new date range to view or edit your availability, as described in View and Modify Availability on the Availability Points Page. If you copied availability from an existing date range, the copied availability is on the Availability Points page for the new date range. If you did not copy availability from an existing date range, or you copied availability from a date range without defined availability, the Availability Points page shows the default availability (which means all time periods within your MU’s operating hours are available).

Click Cancel on the Add date range dialog to cancel adding the new date range and return to the My Availability page.

This view only column displays the current status of each availability record you can view or modify. The status icon appears next to the status.

Possible status values include Approved (), Pending approval (), and Rejected (). New availability records have a default status of approved, unless you copied from an existing availability record with a status other than approved. The scheduler only looks at the approved availability records when generating schedules.

When a supervisor makes changes to the status of your availability records, you receive an alert in the Alerts section in NICE WebStation, if you have access to the Availability Points page (see Alerts).

Click Delete for a date range in the Availability table to delete the date range availability.

When you click Delete, the system displays a confirmation message. Click OK to delete the availability and the date range. Click Cancel to close the confirmation message and return to the My Availability page without deleting the availability or the date range.

The Delete link only appears in the Availability table for the availability date ranges that are entirely within your modifiable date range (see Modifiable date range). You cannot delete availability date ranges that have dates outside your modifiable date range. You cannot delete the default availability.

This section describes how to view or edit your availability. The scheduler uses your availability when generating your schedules. If there is no approved date range availability record defined for the date the scheduler is generating schedules, it uses your approved default availability. If there is no approved default availability record, the scheduler treats all time periods as available.

Figure 71 Availability Points Page

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The Viewing availability for field displays the currently selected date range for which you are viewing or editing availability. If you are viewing or editing default availability, this field displays Default Date Range. Click the date range link or Default Date Range to return to the My Availability page where you can select a different date range, add a date range, or delete a date range (see Managing Availability Date Ranges on the My Availability Page).

The view only Status field displays the current status of the selected availability record (Approved, Pending approval, or Rejected).

New availability records have a default status of approved, unless you copied from an existing availability record with a status other than approved. The scheduler only looks at the approved availability records when generating schedules.

When a supervisor makes changes to the status of your availability records, you receive an alert in the Alerts section in NICE WebStation, if you have access to the Availability Points page (see Alerts).

The Availability grid displays your availability for the selected availability record. For new date ranges, the default availability for every period in your MU’s operating hours is available.

The Availability grid displays the time periods (START - END), in 15–minute increments, for each day of the week your MU is open, beginning with your MU’s first day of week. The earliest time period in the grid is the earliest time your MU is open for any day of the week. The latest time period in the grid is the latest time your MU is open for any day of the week. If your MU has no open time on a day of the week, that day does not appear in the grid.

Note

The scheduler analyzes the availability settings for each period of each day. If you do not explicitly make yourself unavailable, the scheduler considers you available for every period of every day (the default agent availability). Also, if there is no approved availability record for the week the scheduler is generating, it uses the default availability record for these values. If the default availability record does not have a status of approved or there is no default availability record, the scheduler treats all periods as available.

Each cell in the grid represents a 15-minute period of time. If a cell in the Availability grid is blue, you are available during that time period. If a cell is light gray, you are not available during that time period. If a cell is dark gray, the time period is outside your MU’s operating hours. When you position your cursor over a cell in the Availability grid, a tooltip displays the day, start to end time, and availability points for the cell.

There can be numbers in some or all cells in the Availability grid. These numbers are availability points for the time periods. If the configuration settings for your MU or agent data group value require a minimum number of availability points, the system adds the points in the cells you are available and compares them to the required minimum number of availability points. For more information, see Instructions and Summary.

If you have modify permissions for the selected availability record, the Availability grid allows you to select the periods you want to be available or unavailable. To select time periods:

Click on an individual cell to select it.
Click and drag your mouse to select a block of cells.
Select multiple blocks of cells using the Shift or Ctrl keys and your mouse.
Click a column header to select the whole column, selecting all time periods for the day of week.
Click a row header to select the whole row, selecting a time period for every day of the week in the grid.
Click and drag your mouse on a column or row header to select multiple columns or rows.

Selected cells are gold until you deselect them or mark them as available or unavailable.

You cannot select time periods outside your MU’s operating hours.

Use the Available and Unavailable buttons in the Mark As section or the right-click menu to mark the selected cells as available or unavailable (see Mark As).

Note

If your modifiable date range does not allow you to edit the selected availability record (see Modifiable date range), or if you selected the default availability record and your supervisor configured your MU or agent data group value for view only access to the default availability record, you cannot select cells in the Availability grid, and the Mark As section does not appear.

The Selected section displays the number of hours and availability points currently selected in the Availability grid. This information helps you decide the best way to meet all the rules.

When you select cells in the Availability grid, the system highlights the Selected section. The Hours field displays the number of hours in the selected block of cells, in HH:MM format. The Points field displays the number of availability points in the selected block of cells. Blank cells have zero availability points. Since you cannot select time periods outside your MU’s operating hours, the Selected section does not include these time periods in the count for hours and points.

If the Availability grid has no cells selected, the Hours and Points fields are zero and the system does not highlight the Selected section.

Note

If your modifiable date range does not allow you to edit the selected availability record (see Modifiable date range), or if you selected the default availability record and your supervisor configured your MU or agent data group value for view only access to the default availability record, the Selected section does not appear.

The Mark As section contains the Available and Unavailable buttons. Select a block of cells in the Availability grid (see Availability Grid) and click Available or Unavailable.

Available

This button allows you to mark the selected cells in the Availability grid as available (blue) for each period of the day, for each day of the week.

Unavailable

This button allows you to mark the selected cells in the Availability grid as unavailable (light gray) for each period of the day, for each day of the week.

You can also select cells in the Availability grid, right-click, and select Available or Unavailable to mark the selected cells as available or unavailable. Select Cancel on the right-click menu to clear the menu without making any changes. Or, select cells in the Availability grid and press the a or u key on your keyboard to mark the selected cells as available or unavailable, respectively.

Note

If your modifiable date range does not allow you to edit the selected availability record (see Modifiable date range), or if you selected the default availability record and your supervisor configured your MU or agent data group value for view only access to the default availability record, you cannot select cells in the Availability grid, and the Mark As section does not appear.

The view only Summary section displays a daily total, weekly total, and weekly target for the number of available hours and availability points. The system updates the values in this table when you change the available or unavailable status of any period in the Availability grid.

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The view only days of the week columns display the total number of hours you are available (in HH:MM format) and the total number of availability points you have for each day of the week. The system calculates the total availability points by adding the points for each period in the day you are available. If a time period has no points (the cell is blank), the points value is zero for the time period. The system displays a column for each day of the week in order, beginning with your MU’s first day of week.

The view only TOTAL column displays the total number of hours you are available and the total number of availability points you have for the week. The system calculates the total availability points by adding the points for each period in the week you are available. If a time period has no points (the cell is blank), the points value is zero for the time period. If the total weekly available hours or availability points is less than the target hours or points for the week, the system highlights the TOTAL field for that row (the field background is yellow).

The view only TARGET column displays the weekly required minimum number of available hours and minimum number of availability points configured for your MU or agent data group value. If your supervisor did not configure your MU or agent data group value with a required minimum number of available hours, the Hours field in this column is blank. If your supervisor did not configure your MU or agent data group value with a required minimum number of availability points, the Points field in this column is blank.

The view only Instructions section displays any instructions or rules your supervisor defined for your MU or agent data group value. If your supervisor did not enter instructions or define rules for your MU or agent data group value, this section is empty.

Possible rules include:

Days
If the configuration settings for your MU or agent data group value require a minimum number of days with availability each week, this rule appears in the Instructions section: You must have availability on at least <minimum days> days.
If you have availability on at least the minimum number of days required, a check mark icon () appears next to the rule. If you do not have availability on at least the minimum number of days required, a warning icon () appears next to the rule and a message displays below the rule with the number of additional days you need availability to satisfy the rule requirements.
Hours
If the configuration settings for your MU or agent data group value require a minimum number of available hours each week, this rule appears in the Instructions section: You must be available for at least <minimum hours (HH:MM format)> hours.
If you are available for at least the minimum number of hours required, a check mark icon () appears next to the rule. If you are not available for at least the minimum number of hours required, a warning icon () appears next to the rule and a message displays below the rule with the number of additional available hours you need to satisfy the rule requirements (in HH:MM format).
Points
If the configuration settings for your MU or agent data group value require a minimum number of availability points each week, this rule appears in the Instructions section: The numbers inside the boxes are availability points. Your total availability points must meet or exceed your target of <minimum points> points.
If you have at least the minimum number of availability points required, a check mark icon () appears next to the rule. If you do not have at least the minimum number of availability points required, a warning icon () appears next to the rule and a message displays below the rule with the number of additional availability points you need to satisfy the rule requirements. The system calculates the availability points by adding the points for each period in the week you are available.
Length
If the configuration settings for your MU or agent data group value require a minimum amount of time in each block of availability, this rule appears in the Instructions section: Each block of time must be at least <minimum hours (HH:MM format)> hours.
If you have at least the minimum amount of time required in each block of availability, a check mark icon () appears next to the rule. If you do not have at least the minimum amount of time required in each block of availability, a warning icon () appears next to the rule and a message displays below the rule with the time required for each block of available time (in HH:MM format).
Special Days and Times
If your supervisor defined special days and times rules in the configuration settings for your MU or agent data group value, this rule appears in the Instructions section: <Rule description>: You must be available at least <minimum time per day (HH:MM format)> beginning <any time | before | after> <time> and ending <any time | before | after> <time>, on at least <minimum days> days (<DOW list>)
Where <DOW list> is a list of the days of the week that count toward the rule.
Special days and times rules require you to be available for a minimum amount of time, for specific times, on a minimum number of days, for specific days.
If you meet the requirements of the special days and times rule, a check mark icon () appears next to the rule. If you do not meet the requirements of the special days and times rule, a warning icon () appears next to the rule and a message displays below the rule with the number of additional days you need to satisfy the rule requirements.

When you make changes to your availability (mark periods available or unavailable), the system performs validations for the rules listed in the Instructions section and updates the status of the rules, if applicable. When you click OK to save your availability, if your availability does not meet the criteria for one or more of the rules, the system displays a message that one or more of the rules did not meet the minimum requirements. For more information, see OK or Cancel.

To save your modified availability, click OK. If any errors occur while saving, the system displays an error message. Correct the error, then click OK again. If the save is successful, the system takes you to the My Availability page to select another availability record to view or edit. If the save is unsuccessful, you remain on the Availability Points page to correct any errors. Click Cancel to cancel viewing or editing your availability and return to the My Availability page.

When you save your availability changes for the selected availability date range record, if the availability date range record you edited is not fully in the date range listed in the Modifiable date range field, the system displays a message with the date range you can modify your availability. The message informs you that the system will split the date range so that your availability for the dates outside the modifiable range remain unchanged. The message gives the date range the system will modify your availability and asks for confirmation. Click OK to split the date range record and save the availability changes. In this case, the date range for which the system saves the changes is the earliest date that falls in the modifiable date range through the latest date that falls in the modifiable date range. The system saves all other dates from the original date range record as separate date range records, with the original availability. The system does not make changes to the availability data in the non-modifiable date range records. Click Cancel to close the message box without saving the changes.

For example, if your viewable date range is 5/1/12 – 6/30/12, your modifiable date range is 6/1/12 – 6/30/12, and you make changes to an availability date range record with the date range 5/15/12 – 7/15/12, the system splits the original date range record into three date range records:

5/15/12 – 5/31/12: no changes to the availability data
6/1/12 – 6/30/12: availability changes saved
7/1/12 – 7/15/12: no changes to the availability data

When you save changes to your availability, the system performs validations for the rules listed in the Instructions section. If your availability meets the criteria for all the rules, the system saves your changes to the availability record and sets the status of the record to approved. A message appears on the My Availability page indicating the save was successful and the status of the availability record. If your availability does not meet the criteria for one or more of the rules, the system displays a message that one or more of the rules did not meet the minimum requirements. Click OK to close the message box without making any changes and check your availability against the rules on the Availability Points page.

If your supervisor allows you to save changes to your availability when it does not meet the criteria of all the defined rules, the message allows you to continue the save and send the availability to your supervisor for approval. Click OK to save the availability changes and send them to your supervisor for approval. The availability record status changes to pending approval. A message appears on the My Availability page indicating the save was successful and the status of the availability record. Click Cancel to close the message box without saving the changes.

Note

If an availability record requires approval, a supervisor needs to approve the availability before the scheduler can use it when generating your schedules. The scheduler only uses approved availability records to generate schedules.

When you are viewing or adjusting your availability data on the Availability Points page, if a supervisor is editing your availability at the same time, you can update the availability data in the Availability grid to the most current data from the server by refreshing your browser window or returning to the My Availability page and selecting the availability record again.

If you do not save changes, but select another page in NICE WebStation, the system asks if you want to save your changes. Click No to discard the changes, close the message box, and continue opening another page. Click Cancel to close the message box and return to the Availability Points page with the unsaved changes. Click Yes to close the message box, save the changes on the Availability Points page, and continue opening another page.

Note

If your modifiable date range does not allow you to edit the selected availability record (see Modifiable date range), or if you selected the default availability record and your supervisor configured your MU or agent data group value for view only access to the default availability record, the OK button does not appear.

Availability Points

Menu Path

Introduction

View and Modify Availability

Need to Know More?

Overview

Managing Availability Date Ranges on the My Availability Page

Viewable date range

Modifiable date range

View or Edit Default Availability

View or Edit Date Range Availability

Adding a Date Range

Start Date

End Date

Copy Availability From

OK or Cancel

Current Status

Deleting Date Range Availability

View and Modify Availability on the Availability Points Page

Changing the Date Range

Status

Availability Grid

Selected

Mark As

Summary

Days of the Week

Total

Target

Instructions

OK or Cancel