Parameters & Thresholds 78 The Telecom Handbook CHAPTER 4 SKILLS BASED ROUTING In some incoming call centers, instead of routing the callers to the agent who has been idle the longest, routing is affected by the agent skills required to handle the call. Callers can be sent to the agent best qualified to help them, according to a set of pre- defined parameters. The caller's needs can be determined by what number he called, what number he is calling from or what option he selected from an automated announcement menu presented to him before being sent to an agent. If a caller waits too long for a specifically skilled agent to be available, the system may be pro- grammed to send him to a less qualified person, rather than waiting indefinitely. Skills based routing is routinely used in Help Desk Call centers where callers are looking for help with the operation of software programs. The ACD attempts to route the caller to the agent most skilled in the program with which they need help. OVERFLOW Overflow is a feature that recognizes when agents in one group are backlogged, then reroutes calls to another group that may have fewer calls waiting. In the best implementations, the call volume/performance analysis is done automatically and continu- ally in real time, freeing supervisors and management personnel from minute-by-minute monitoring of each groups call volume. NIGHT SERVICE The majority of Call Centers, including those that work a 24- hour day, notice a significant difference in traffic between normal office hours and the night shift. If the center is open at all, it may rely more on automated response systems and will have fewer agents in place to handle calls. Predefined inbound call routing schemes must be modified to accommodate the late hours environment. An intelligent Call Center system shifts to a night service inbound routing scheme based on time of day. Individual super- visors may also invoke night service manually. When invoked, calls may be routed to another inbound routing scheme, to an an- swering d