Using caller ID is part of which step in an effective time management plan

This article explains how each type of quick connect works: agent, queue, and external quick connects. It explains which flows are used, and what appears on the agent's Contact Control Panel (CCP).

For all three types of quick connects, when the quick connect is invoked, the contact that the agent is working on hears the Default customer hold flow unless you specify a different customer hold flow.

Agent quick connects

Let's say an agent named John is talking to a customer. During the conversation he needs to transfer the call to an agent named Maria. This is an agent quick connect.

Here's what John and Maria do, and what flow blocks are triggered:

1. John chooses the Quick Connect button on his CCP. (On the earlier CCP, the button is named Transfer). He selects Maria from the list of quick connects.

   When John does this, his CCP banner changes to Connected. However, the call isn't actually connected to Maria yet.

2. In our example scenario, Amazon Connect triggers an agent transfer flow that looks like the following image:

   The call is not yet connected to Maria.

3. John hears the first Play prompt, "Transferring to agent."

4. Maria receives a notification in her CCP to either accept or reject the call.

5. Maria accepts the incoming call. The banner in her CCP changes to Connecting.

6. The first Set whisper flow block is triggered. This block sets the custom agent whisper flow. It plays the Custom_Agent_Whisper to Maria, for example, "This is an internal call transferred from another agent."

   If you don't create and then select a custom agent whisper flow, Amazon Connect plays the default agent whisper flow, which says the queue name.

7. The next Set whisper flow block is triggered. It plays the Custom_Customer_Whisper to John, for example, "Your call is now connecting to an agent."

   If you don't create and then select a custom customer whisper flow, Amazon Connect plays the default customer whisper flow, which plays a beep.

8. Maria's CCP banner shows she's Connected. John and Maria are connected and can start talking.

9. Now John can do one of the following on his CCP:

   • Choose Join. This joins all parties on the call. John, Maria, and the customer have a conference call.

   • Choose Hold all. This puts Maria and the customer on hold.

   • Put Maria on hold, so he only talks to the customer.

   • Choose End call. He leaves the call but Maria and the customer are directly connected and continue talking.

Queue quick connects

Let’s say John is talking to a customer. The customer needs help resetting his password, so John needs to transfer him to the PasswordReset queue. This is a queue quick connect.

Another agent, Maria, is assigned to handle contacts in the PasswordReset queue. Her status in the CCP is Available.

Here's what John and Maria do, and what flow blocks are triggered:

1. John chooses the Quick Connect button on his CCP. (On the earlier CCP, the button is named Transfer). He chooses to transfer the contact to the PasswordReset queue. As soon as John chooses the PasswordReset quick connect, his CCP banner shows Connecting.

   Even though the status of the transferred call (internal-transfer) shows on John's CCP banner as Connecting, the contact is not yet transferred to the PasswordReset queue.

2. Amazon Connect invokes the queue transfer flow that's associated with the PasswordReset quick connect. In this flow, the Transfer to queue block transfers the contact to the PasswordReset queue since it's specified in the block. The contact is now in the PasswordReset queue.

3. Maria is notified in her CCP to accept or reject the incoming call.

4. Maria accepts the incoming call and her CCP banner changes to Connecting.

5. The Agent whisper flow is played to Maria. It says "Connecting you to PasswordReset queue."

6. The Customer whisper flow is played to John. It says "Connecting you to PasswordReset queue."

7. Maria's CCP banner changes to Connected. John and Maria are connected and can start talking.

8. Now John can do one of the following from his CCP:

   • Choose Join. This joins all parties on the call. John, Maria, and the customer have a conference call.

   • Choose Hold all. This puts Maria and the customer on hold.

   • Put Maria on hold, so he only talks to the customer.

   • Choose End call. He leaves the call but Maria and the customer are directly connected and continue talking.

External quick connects

There are no flows involved in external quick connect. When an agent invokes an external quick connect, the call is directly connected the destination without invoking any flows.

Because no flow is involved in external quick connects, you can't set the outbound caller ID. Instead, the caller ID that you specified when you created the queue is used.

1. Whenever you set your status in the CCP to Available, Amazon Connect can deliver calls to you, based on the settings in your routing profile.

2. When a call arrives, choose the Accept call button.

   The Accept call button does not appear if your admin has configured your user profile for Auto-Accept Call.

3. Before you're connected to the contact, Amazon Connect announces the name of the originating queue.

4. You're now talking to the contact.

5. You have 20 seconds to accept or reject a contact. If you miss a call, it will look similar to the following image. Choose Clear contact so you can accept another call.

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Learning Objective: To understand how call management can provide valuable information to your practice and how this information can improve patient and staff satisfaction. 

What is Call Management? 

Call management involves analysis of phone call data including number of incoming calls, answered calls, dropped calls, voicemail messages, peak call times, and length of calls.  The gold standard is a dropped call rate of <5% and a time to answer of <30 seconds. 

Your current phone system may not provide this information, or at least easily. This may mean using reporting software or considering a modern VoIP telephone system.  

Why implement Call Management? 

Calling a practice is often the first point of contact for your patients. A positive first contact will enhance the patient experience. Effective call management and data interpretation allows the practice to understand times of unmet demand and patient access issues resulting in increased patient satisfaction and a less stressed reception team. 

Who does what? 

Measurements 

Your telephony provider should provide reporting on:  

- Hourly/daily/weekly/monthly number of incoming calls 

- Caller ID & call date/time 

- Answered calls 

- Dropped calls 

- Time to answer 

- Call length including average call length 

Implementation timeline 

Planning 

- Identify telephony provider 

- Engage staff around the benefits of implementing call management 

- Fund any equipment or software changes which are required 

- Create a call management project plan 

Data Analysis 

- Set-up a process to routinely analyse data 

- Analyse data for a minimum of 2 weeks 

 Implement change 

- Use the data to consider improvements in processes. This may be: 

- Phones off the front desk and moved to a quiet area in order to create capacity 

- Increased telephonist resource during peak call times 

- GP and/or Nurse call process review 

- Consider the answering service flow and how it impacts other processes 

- Consider use of alternatives to telephone contact, such as patient portal, your website/social media 

Ongoing 

- Continue to review your data 

- Make further changes as required 

Patients 

It is important to convey changes in the practice which may impact patients. This could be conveyed through your website, social media, or bulk email/text.  

How to measure success 

The primary measure of success is a reduction in your dropped call rate and an improvement in your time to answer. The goal should be a dropped call rate of < 5% and a time to answer of < 30 seconds. The practice should aim to consistently meet these goals each month. Further measures of success include patients and staff reporting increased satisfaction. 

Helpful Tips 

A new telephony system can be an expensive outlay, but it can tie in with other system improvements such as installing fibre internet connection or moving from locally hosted to cloud-based services. 

An important part of call management is prioritising the patient who you are speaking with. Telephones should be removed from the front desk and moved to a quiet area, where telephonists and reception staff can deal with the patient in front of them without distraction. 

A process map showing the contact points between patients and staff within the practice is a useful tool to better understand call flow and improve call management. 

It is not always feasible for a Nurse or GP to answer a call from a patient straight away. The process around call backs and patients who leave voicemails for GPs/Nurses should be reviewed as part of the call management process. 

Further Resources 

A PDSA cycle can be a useful tool continuous quality improvement. Click here for a PDSA cycle template and example.

A printable version of this document can be found by clicking here.

Carin Hastie, Medical Receptionist at Broadway Medical Centre talks about her experience of moving phones off the front desk.