Basic information and instructions for Call Center staff.







Enrollment Group Call Center

  • RH, LC and WEST will all be within one Enrollment Group Call Center (EG CC).

 

  • Call distribution is based on Competency Levels (CL).

 

  • The higher the CL the more likely you are to receive a call.

 

  • Enrollment Services (ES) Phone Bank – highest priority for taking calls.

 

  • Enrollment Services Counter Service – next priority for taking calls.

 

  • Operations – covers ES during ES staff meetings or very high volume call days.

 

  • Ancillary Departments – may receive distributed calls if all staff with a higher CL are on a call or in Not Ready status.

 

  • Ancillary Departments – will get consultation and transferred calls.
    1. Consultations and Transfers go to individuals (priority is to their Agent Extension)
    2. Consultations and Transfers go to the Financial Aid (FA) or Student Accounts (SA) Direct CSQs so the call can be distributed to an available rep from that office

 

  • All staff will have two extensions:
    1. A personal extension
      • This will consist of your current extension with a steering digit which defines your campus.
      • 1 – RH
      • 2 – LC
      • 3 - WEST 
      • This extension is always active and you can receive a call on it even though you may be on an ACD call.
      • Remember to make yourself Not Ready on your ACD extension if you are on a call on your personal extension.
      • Agents must make all calls from their ACD extension in Finesse for reporting purposes.
    • An agent extension
      • This extension will only be active when logged in as an agent and is used to receive ACD phone calls.
      • All outbound (internal and external) calls should be made from Finesse by placing yourself in “Not Ready” and then clicking “Make a Call”.

 

  • Customer Service Goals
    • To resolve customer service inquiries with accurate and comprehensive information in a professional and courteous manner.
    • To view each customer contact comprehensively to reduce customer call back.
    • To handle each inquiry from beginning to end with minimal hold time and limited transfer.

 

 


 

 

Finesse

 

  • Start of Day
    1. The system is automatically programmed to begin accepting callers at 9 a.m. even if an agent is not logged in.
    2. To begin taking calls:  Log into the Phone, then sign into Finesse.

 

  • End of Day
    1. The telephone system is automatically programmed to offer a night message at 5 p.m. to all callers.
    2. At end of shift/day:  Sign out of Finesse, then log out of the Phone.
      • If you are the last staff member to leave and before you Sign of Log Out, be sure there are no calls in queue.

 

  • Finesse Status
    1. Ready
      • You are ‘Ready’ to receive calls.
    2. Not Ready
      • Default status when you first log in. You must make yourself ‘Ready’ to receive a call.
      • The system will force you into this status if you miss a call.  The system will then bypass you as an agent until you manually update back to ‘Ready’ status. 
      • Always put yourself into a ‘Not Ready’ mode if you step away from your desk.
    3. Not Ready – (with a reason)
      • See next page for various Not Ready reason codes, and suggestions as to when to use each.
    4. Wrap Up
      • Default status after call completion so you can log a comment on your call interaction. The status will automatically revert back to ‘Ready’ after the allotted time has elapsed.
      • Financial Aid calls – 60 seconds Wrap Up.
      • Student Accounts calls – 30 seconds Wrap Up.
      • Admission, Academic Records and Student Employment calls – 10 seconds Wrap Up.
      • If you need more than the default allotted time for Wrap Up, you can choose the ‘Not Ready – Extend Wrap Up’ code which will allow you to add more time to finish your comments.  Remember to put yourself back into ‘Ready’ status when you are done making your comments.
    5. Reserved
      • Default status when a call is ringing on your phone or when you are consulting with another agent.
    6. Talking
      • Default status when you are on a call.

 

  • Sign Out
    1. If you are going to be away from your desk for 1 hour or more, Sign Out.
    2. Sign Out of Finesse at the end of the day.  Don’t forgot to log out of the phone as well.

‘Not Ready’ Reason Codes

  • Individual departments may have more specific definitions and appropriate use for each ‘Not Ready’ code.  Please refer to the definitions and when to use each provided by your manager.
    1. Not Ready – Call Follow-Up
      • Following up on a previous call that needed further research required for resolution.
    2. Not Ready – Extend Wrap Up
      • Allows you to add more time to finish your comments.  
    3. Not Ready – Meeting
      • Used during a planned meeting that will last less than 1 hour.
    4. Not Ready – Personal /Break
      • Used when taking a personal break (max: 15 minutes). 
    5. Not Ready – Project/Task
      • Used only when working on a task/project assigned to you by a manager.
    6. Not Ready – Walk-In
      • Use when helping a customer in-person; when assigned to Walk-In duty for a time period of less than 1 hour; or, a manager requests your assistance with a walk-in.

 

  • Not Ready Narratives & Code Correlation:

Not Ready Reason

Code

Personal/Break

121

On Duty/Walk-in

122

Call Follow-up

123

Extended Wrap-up

124

Meeting

125

Project/Task

126

 


 

 

Transferring to Undergraduate Admission, Academic Records or Student Employment

  • Types of Call Transfers:
    1. Soft-Transfer
      • CONSULT – between you and the representative
      • CONFERENCE – between you, the representative and the caller
      • END – you drop off the call, the caller is now with the representative
    2. Hard-Transfer (try to avoid Hard-Transfers, only use when you cannot get a rep on the phone)
      • CONSULT
      • TRANSFER

 

  • Make a determination if the call can be transferred to any representative or if it needs to go to a specific counselor.

 

  • If it can go to any representative - Review the list of staff from that office that are logged on and Ready to take a call.
    1. Do not continuously choose the same staff member.   If there are several available in a department, rotate who you transfer calls to: start with Student Workers/Part-Timers, then look for Clerical, then look for Administrators/Counselors.   
    2. Inform the caller “I am going to connect you to another representative that can help you further.  You will hear a beeping tone while on hold.” 
    3. CONSULT
      • Dial the Agent Extension and press CALL to start the consultation.
      • Note:  The caller will NOT be on hold until you press the CALL button.
      • When a representative picks up, you can speak with a representative while the caller is on hold.
      • Quickly explain why you are transferring and give the ID of the student. 
      • Get a confirmation from the representative that s/he is ready to receive the call.
    4. CONFERENCE – Introduce the caller and the representative.
    5. END – release the call, the caller will be connected with the representative.

 

  • If it needs to go to a specific representative and s/he is not logged onto the call center, send the call to the private extension.
    1. Inform the caller “I am going to connect you to (GIVE NAME).  You will hear a beeping tone while on hold.  If s/he is not available, your call will be placed in his/her voicemail.”  
    2. CONSULT 
      • Dial the Private Extension for the transfer.  
      • If the representative picks up, do as described above and give the rep the reason and ID of the student; click CONFERENCE to introduce the caller; click END to drop off of the call and leave the caller with the rep.
      • If the counselor does not pick up, click TRANSFER and the call will go into Voicemail.


 

 

Transferring to Financial Aid or Student Accounts

  • Types of Call Transfers:
    1. Soft-Transfer
      • CONSULT – between you and the representative
      • CONFERENCE – between you, the representative and the caller
      • END – you drop off the call, the caller is now with the representative
    2. Hard-Transfer (try to avoid Hard-Transfers, only use when you cannot get a rep on the phone)
      • CONSULT
      • TRANSFER

 

  • Inform the caller “I am going to connect you with a FA/SA representative.   You will hear a beeping tone while on hold.  If a representative is not available, your call will be placed in queue in the order it was received.”  
    1. CONSULT
      • Dial the Agent Extension for the Direct CSQ and press CALL.  
        • 19380 – Financial Aid Direct CSQ
        • 19490 – Student Accounts Direct CSQ
      • Note:  The caller will NOT be on hold until you press the CALL button.
      • Remain on the line while the greeting plays (about 10 seconds).
      • When a representative picks up:
        • The caller is put on hold while you speak with a representative. 
        • Quickly explain why you are transferring and give the ID of the student. 
        • Get a confirmation from the representative that s/he is ready to receive the call.
        • CONFERENCE – Introduce the caller and the representative.
        • END – release the call, the caller will be connected with the representative.
      • If a representative does not pick up and you hear, “all of our representative are currently busy, please hold for the next available representative”:
        • TRANSFER – drops the call into the Direct CSQ you dialed.


 

 

Recommendations & Troubleshooting

  • Firefox and Chrome are the recommended browsers for Finesse.

 

  • If you find some Finesse data and live reports are not loading correctly, you should Sign Out, close your browser, and then open the browser and sign in again.  

 

  • If you accidentally left Finesse open overnight be sure to close it completely and reopen. Be sure to place yourself in a ‘Ready’ status.

 

  • If you find yourself inadvertently in a ‘Not Ready’ status:   Your status will automatically revert to ‘Not Ready’ if you miss an ACD call.  Be sure to immediately place yourself back into ‘Ready’ status.

 

  • At the end of your shift/day, ensure there are no calls waiting in queue prior to log out.

 

  • Click ‘Sign Out’ on the top right after shift completion and then log out of your phone.

 

  • If an EG Call Center agent transfers a call to you, always take the call.  You should never deny a call.  Instead, be sure to ask the agent for the student’s FIDN and why the call is being transferred.  If you feel the call should not have been transferred, this could be a training issue, in which case please raise this with your manager at a later time.

 

  • A comment must be entered for every Financial Aid and Student Accounts call.  A comment is recommended for any other call that is unusual, unique, difficult, or if you think the caller will call again at a later time on the same or similar issue. 

 


 

 

Suggested Verbiage

 

  • When answering a call that comes in on one of the main lines:
    1. “Good morning/afternoon, this is ‘Mary’ speaking.   How may I assist you?”
    2. There is no need to state the office.  Every caller will hear a greeting which will confirm which office they are reaching.   The call will ring at an agent’s desk only after the greeting plays.
  • When placing a caller on hold:
    1. “I will need to place you on a brief hold.  You will hear a beeping while on hold. Can you please provide me with the number you’re calling from just in case we get disconnected?”
  • When you have a caller on hold, they are your top priority. You should return to the call at least every 2 minutes to give the caller the option to continue holding.  
    1. “Mrs. Smith, I appreciate your patience. Would you like to continue to hold or would you prefer a call back?”
    2. OR
      1. “Mrs. Smith, it is taking longer than I anticipated to find a resolution. I can have a representative call you back. What is the best number and time to reach you? If you are not available, can a representative leave a detailed message?”

 

  • When getting ready to transfer a caller to another EG representative/counselor:
    1. When sending the caller to FA or SA:

“I am going to connect you with a FA/SA representative.  You will hear a beeping while on hold.  If a representative is not available, your call will be placed in queue in the order it was received.”  

  1. When sending the caller to the personal extension of a specific person Admission or Academic Records:

“I am going to connect you to (GIVE NAME).   You will hear a beeping tone while on hold.  If s/he is not available, your call will be placed in his/her voicemail.”

 

  • When an agent consults with another EG representative:
    1. CONSULT with another EG Representative
      • Give FIDN to the rep, and a brief description of why you are transferring the call
      • The rep receiving the call must confirm: “I am ready to receive the call.”
    2. CONFERENCE the caller in
      • “Mr. Smith I have ‘John’, one of our counselor/representatives who can assist you further.  Have a good morning/afternoon.”
      • END the initial call to pass the caller off to the other rep.
  • To conclude the call:
    1. “Have I answered all of your questions today?   Again, this is ‘Mary’.  Thank you for calling the (state name of department).”


 


 

 

Voicemail

  • See the accordion style Cisco Phone User Guide that was left on your desk for VM instructions.

 

  • Default PIN: 561234
    1. Reset to a personal PIN the first time you enter VM

 

  • Recommendation is to record at least a 
    1. Standard Message
    2. Alternate Message

 

  • To access your voicemail remotely:
    1. Dial your full number from an external line (example: 718-817-3907)
    2. Wait for the voicemail prompt
    3. Hit *
    4. It will ask you for your extension first. Enter your 5-digit extension followed by # 

(example:  13907#)

  1. Then enter your VM password followed by #

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6/15/17; Version 4