Locations is a new feature where you can create your shift layouts, assign agents to them, and define scheduling rules that will serve as directions for our algorithm to follow in order to create a schedule that works best for your team. Anything from operational hours, timezone to the maximum number of working hours per week will now be set up here.
You will also be able to choose what kind of shift logic to apply to any given location. Currently, we have two options to choose from Automatic or Fixed shifts. Let's dive in!
Note: to access Locations you will need to have Schedule - Manager (Full Access) permissions.
Click on the sections below to go over each step:
Locations is part of the Organization structure features and you can access it with just a few clicks:
- Hover over the Admin section
. - Select the Organization Structure.
- Click on Locations.
Once you access Locations you will first see a blank page and to start setting up your location follow the below guide:
- Click on the
on the top left to create your first location. - Set up the rules of your location:
- Location name: enter a unique name for your Location.
- Operational hours and Time zone:
- Time zone: choose the time zone (by default, we insert the time zone that you have already selected on our Time zone Switcher).
- Operational Hours: choose your hours of operation (by default we have this set to Open every day, all day (24/7), but you can change this to certain days of the week and specific hours. Also, if you're using Automatic shifts, we recommend setting the same length for your Operational Hours for every day.)
- Automatic shift requirements:
- Number of working hours per week: define the minimum and a maximum number of hours your Agents are allowed to work during a week.
- Number of consecutive workdays: define how many days in a row your Agents are allowed to work.
- Number of consecutive days off: define how many days off in a row your Agents are able to take.
- Minimum number of hours between shifts: define the number of rest hours your Agents will have between shifts.
Important: The Location setup rules (step 2) will only apply to the Automatic shift logic (see step 4, first bullet point) as the Fixed Shift logic will overrule the set Location parameters.
- Switch on to the Shifts section by clicking on Shifts on the top right corner of the screen.
- Tap the plus sign on the right of "Shifts" and elect your Shift logic:
- Automatic (default): you can create multiple shift layouts and assign users to them, we'll do the rest for you.
- Fixed: you can create multiple shift layouts, assign users to them and define at what time those users start working.
Note: You can also create folders to better organize your team's shifts. To add a shift to a folder simply drag and drop it to the folder of your choice. It will be possible to set the shifts inside the folder as rotating shifts in the future once the feature is launched.
In the below sections you will learn more about the specifications and logic for the Automatic and Fixed shifts.
Let's say you want us to do the bulk of the work for you, in that case, choose Automatic. You can now start building your shift layouts.
- Click on the plus sign on the right side below the Actions button.
- Configure your settings:
- Name: the name for this Shift layout.
- Length: the length of the shift.
- Max difference in shift start time: a window of hours where we'll schedule your agents to work (keep in mind if you don't fill it in we'll assume it's zero, which means your agents will start their shifts at the same time for the amount of time you defined on the Keep the same shifts for setting).
- Set intraday - when your agents' General tasks should occur:
- The Layout preview will show you an overview of what you're setting up below.
- Click the plus sign to get started.
- Choose the Task (this can be any General task that your agents need to have/accomplish on a daily basis such as Break, Lunch, or a daily stand-up meeting, for example, and/or any Workstream they're assigned to. If you do not select any Workstream our algorithm will auto populate the workstream for you based on what's been forecasted.)
- Can occur between ... of shift: this is the time interval in which these tasks will occur counting from the start of the shift (Example: if you place Break and choose 2 and 4 and it means that breaks for these Agents will be scheduled to happen between 2 and 4 hours after their shift has started)
- Duration: the duration of the task.
- Select Users on the top right next to Intraday Variants to assign users to this shift layout and you're done (by default we show you All users who are assigned to workstreams, but you can filter by your Teams, Workstreams, other Locations, and your Zendesk Groups.
Note: you can add more General tasks or Workstreams to your shift by clicking the plus sign and to delete the intraday task, click on the trash can icon. You can set one intraday variant to an Automatic Shift.
The Fixed shift logic works almost the same way as the Automatic one but we give you back more control over when your Agents are scheduled to work.
- After choosing Fixed and click the plus sign below the Actions button on the top right to create your shift layout.
- Set up the Settings:
- Name: a name for your layout.
- Start time: the time your agents start working.
- Length: the length of the shift.
- Working days: the days your agents will work, the greyed-out days will be their days off.
- Intraday works the same as with Automatic to set up with these key differences:
- You can set up multiple intraday variants for each shift.
- Each variant can be assigned to one or more days of the week (each day can only have one intraday variant)
- On the top left of the intraday variants screen you will be able to see an indicator showing the days covered by the multiple intraday variants of that Shift
- Select Users on the top right next to Intraday Variants to assign agents to the shift layout; be sure that users have workstreams assigned so they can be selected.
To make any changes to the Location settings all you need to do is:
- Hover over the Location you wish to edit.
- Click on the location and the location shifts will appear.
- Once you are happy with your changes you can just exit this menu and the settings will apply.
In case you need to delete the location, it takes just a few clicks:
- Hover over the Location you wish to delete.
- Click on the three dots that appear on the Location name.
- Choose Delete.
- Confirm your actions by clicking
again.