Sharpen Q Phone
- Josh Daugherty (Deactivated)
This article covers the Sharpen Q Phone, a specific component of the Sharpen Q Dashboard. The Sharpen Q Phone enables you to make outbound calls and send outbound messages from a particular queue.
Along the left side of the Q Phone, there are a few navigation tabs, each of which contributes certain features and functionality to the Q.
Within these tabs you can:
Make an outbound dial,
Send an SMS/MMS message,
View a directory of Q agents, and
Access your personal voice mailbox.
Note that this article covers the Sharpen Q Phone tabs—not to be confused with the Q Tabs available within the Interaction Window.
Making an Outbound Dial
Outbound calls are initiated by the Q Phone dial pad (highlighted below). Depending on which phone you’re routing to, the dial pad may look different.
If you are routing you calls to the Sharpen Q Phone, you’ll see a green Call button above the dialpad.
If you are routing calls to another phone—such as a desk phone or mobile—you’ll see a teal Dial button instead.
These are shown below:
Before placing a call via the Q Phone, be sure to check/specify which Outbound Q you’d like to use. This enables you to determine the Caller ID info that’s presented to the customer (e.g., calling from a recognizable Support Q as opposed to a personal extension).
Specifying the right Q to make outbound dials/calls from becomes especially important if the customer needs to call back.
To place a call using the Q Phone, then, you can either dial the number by pressing the buttons on the on-screen dialer or manually enter the number in the Number entry field. Then, click the Call (or Dial) button.
Note, too, that you can also place calls via the My History tab of the Activity Column. If you have previous interaction history with the customer, you can scroll through (or search) the records in My History, and click on the button that displays the contact’s phone number.
Sending an SMS/MMS While on a Call
In addition to calls, you can also send an Outbound Q SMS/MMS from the SMS Tab.
Just like an Outbound Q Call, you can specify the Outbound Q number that you’d like to use to send your message.
This is meant to enable agents to send an outbound message—not to transition the interaction to SMS/MMS. If a customer replies to this text, it will generate an inbound SMS interaction for the queue—not a direct message to you.
Though the blue SMS button doesn't visually change to indicate MMS, you are able to send an MMS by uploading a file via the Upload button.
Once the file is successfully uploaded, the upload button will then display the attached filename.
While Sharpen is able to support larger attachments, the recommended size is typically capped at 300kb, simply because not all wireless carriers and devices can support receiving larger files.
When you send an outbound message, you will NOT be taken to an interaction window. Instead, you’ll see an overlay that lets you know your message was sent.
Viewing a Directory of Q Agents
When enabled, clicking the contacts tab will display other Sharpen users within the organization. As you scroll through the listed agents, clicking on any one of them will expand their details, as shown below:
You can use the search filter to quickly find an agent.
The colored bars to the left of each user displays his or her status. Click on the colored bar to the left of the user to see status information.
In the example below, we can see that Antonia Riebe is messaging.
Finally, click the phone icon to initiate a call with that particular user.
You can also hover the phone icon next to a contact to view his/her extension. Then, click the phone icon to place a call.
Accessing Your Personal Voice Mailbox
Clicking the voicemail tab will display all voicemails for your personal extension.
Note that this section will not display voicemails left for a specific queue, only your personal extension. When a voicemail is left for a specific Q, it is treated like other inbound interactions.
Use the on-screen playback controls (shown above) to play/pause the recording and to adjust the volume. You can also manually scrub to a specific position within the voicemail. This can be helpful if you need to reference customer information—such as a phone number—and don’t want to take the time to listen through the entire voicemail to find it. A voicemail can be downloaded or deleted from the Q Phone tab, as well.
If you need to access your personal voicemail history and don’t have the Q Tab enabled, you can do so from the End User Dashboard.