Usage
The Active Calls Switchboard is a tool for viewing and managing all phone calls on the system (call center administrators who need to focus on call queues and incoming calls can use the ACD Dashboard instead.)
It allows administrators to route calls to users and departments, participate in calls, and track the progress of calls in the system.
Access the ACD Dashboard from the side navigation menu under Live Dashboards>Active Calls Switchboard. To access the page and control calls on it, a user needs to be an Account Owner or have a role with Active Call Switchboard view permissions (roles are explained here).
Departments
The Departments panel displays all the phone system call queues and hunt groups, along with the number of holding and live calls (the difference between queues and hunt groups is explained here).
Clicking a queue or a hunt group name will take you to its Voice Features page, where you can edit its settings and the agents assigned to it. It is advisable you name your queues and hunt groups in a way that you can differentiate between them on the Active Call Switchboard, like "Sales Queue" vs "Sales Hunt Group".
Queues and hunt groups cannot be directly removed from the Departments panel. Instead, you need to go to the Call Queues or Hunt Groups pages and remove them there.
You can search (
) for departments by name. The results will not include departments that are filtered out (see next). Sort (
) the departments alphabetically (A to Z), by the number of Most Holding calls, or by the number of Most Answered calls.
Departments Filters
The filter button (
) two menus let you hide or show queues and hunt groups:
- By Department: Check the departments you want to display. Unchecked departments will be hidden. Select Clear or Select All to show all departments.
- By Status: Check to show departments by their status – No (holding or active) Calls , or Has Holding Calls waiting to be answered by agents, or Has Active Calls that were answered by agents.
You can select and combine any number of filters. When filters are applied, the filter button is displayed as 
to remind you that some departments may be hidden by filters. Filtered departments will not show in search results.
Users
This panel shows all system users with a description of their phone line and their availability status. If a phone line description is missing, the line number is shown instead.
Clicking a user's name will take you to their Users & Phones page, where you can edit settings relating to their account or remove the user.
A user's name can be edited in the User Profile settings of that page. To edit the phone line description, expand the Lines & Devices options, click 
next to the relevant line, and expand the General Info options to find the Description field. You can read more about users' settings here.
You can search (
) for a user by name. The results will not include users that are filtered out (see next). Sort (
) users alphabetically (A to Z), by User (availability) Status, or by call Duration (measured for answered calls). Status and Duration are further sorted alphabetically.
Users Filters
The filter button (
) two menus let you hide or show users:
- By Users: Check users you want to show. Unchecked users will be hidden. Select Clear or Select All to show all users.
- By Status: Check to show users by their line and call status – Available to take calls, On Call already, their line is Ringing, have enabled Do Not Disturb, have call Forwarding enabled on their line, or have signed out and are therefore Offline.
You can select and combine any number of filters. When filters are applied, the filter button is displayed as 
to remind you that some users may be hidden by filters. Filtered users will not show in search results.
User Status
A red or grey status indicates the user is not available to take calls. A green indicates they can take calls.Offline: The user is signed out of their account or is without internet access.
Note that the user must be signed out of every TeleConsole app or telephone where they are using their account, or another status will apply.
Ringing: Shows for incoming calls when the user's line is ringing with a direct call that arrived from another system user or from an external caller (the "On Call" status shows for system-routed ringing calls).
It also shows for any outgoing calls that a user dials while the call is ringing.
On Call: This status shows when the user has picked up a direct or a system-routed call.
It also shows while their line is ringing with a system-routed call that arrived from a queue or a hunt group (the "Ringing" status shows for direct calls).
DND (Do Not Disturb): The user has activated the Do Not Disturb feature on their TeleConsole app or physical phone. Calls dialed or routed to them will be directed to voicemail.
Incoming and Outgoing Calls
Outgoing calls are calls placed by users. Incoming calls arrive from external callers or from other users. Internal calls between users are considered outgoing calls on the caller's side and incoming calls on the recipient's side.
Each call box shows the name of the caller or the intended recipient, the call's duration (only counted from the moment a call is answered), and the number of the caller or the number/line description of an intended user.
For incoming calls, the name and duration are shown in red for holding calls and green for answered ones. The name and duration of outgoing calls are always shown in green.
Calls that are holding for departments are dynamically managed by Automatic Call Distribution as the system keeps ringing users who belong to the relevant queues or hunt groups. The system may move calls to other queues based on exit rules.
Call Journey
The call box also shows the current call journey state. A call journey is the progression of a call in the phone system – for example, a call may start with an IVR menu, get routed to a queue, get routed to a user, thier phone line will ring, and the call will end as voicemail if not answered. You can see a call's full journey under Call History Reports.
Calls and Users Stats
Values for calls are updated continuously. Ringing calls are also counted in the Department Calls and Users On Call fields. Total Calls is the sum of incoming and outgoing calls.
Note that internal calls are only counted as one call, even that technically they involve both an outgoing call for one user and an incoming call for the other.
These values are zeroed out when there aren't any calls happaning. Average and Total Department Holding time get zeroed out when calls are answered.
Calls directly received by users (from other users or by their direct number) are not counted as department calls, but when users answer a department call, it will counts in the Users On Call value.
Call Actions
Click a call box to display and use the following call actions:
- Pickup Call (
) shows for holding calls. You can pick up a call from your default line or enter a different number, leaving your own line free to receive calls. - The Join Call (
) action shows for answered (live) calls and allows you to listen to or talk to the call parties. You can join from your default account line or enter a different number, leaving your own line free to receive calls.
There are three Join Call modes –- Join call (muted yourself): You can hear both call parties, but they cannot hear you. This is useful if you don't want them to know you are listening on the call or don't want the caller to hear background conversations on your end.
- Join call, talk to both parties: This is like a conference call where you can talk and listen to the other parties and vice versa.
- Join call, talk to calling party only: You can hear both call parties, but only the caller can hear you.
- Join call (muted yourself): You can hear both call parties, but they cannot hear you. This is useful if you don't want them to know you are listening on the call or don't want the caller to hear background conversations on your end.
- Transfer Call (
): This will open a window where you can select or search for a user to transfer the call to. If a user doesn't pick up a transferred department call, the system will ring the other users in the queue or hunt group according to the call distribution strategy.
Transferring calls can also be done by dragging and dropping a call over a department or user box.
- Hang up Call: (
): Self-explanatory. You will be asked to confirm this action to avoid accidentally hanging up calls. hanging up calls.
