How to set up agent shifts

In customer support, maintaining timely responses is essential to delivering a great customer experience. Agent shifts help streamline this by defining when support team members are available to handle tickets and chats.

By aligning agent availability with scheduled work hours, BoldDesk automatically adjusts agent status and ensures that tickets are routed only to those who are actively on shift. This leads to a more efficient auto-assignment process and improved service delivery.

Some benefits of the agent-shift system include:

• Streamlined operations: The system automatically updates agent availability, eliminating the need for manual checks and streamlining the support process.
• Improved response times: By allocating tickets to agents currently on shift, the system greatly enhances the speed of response
• Effective resolution: Tickets are handled by actively working agents, leading to faster and more efficient responses.

Check out this video tutorial for more details.

How to Create an Agent Shift in BoldDesk

To define when your agents are available to handle tickets and chats, you can create a custom agent shift. Follow the steps below to set up a new shift:

1. Navigate to the Admin module.
2. Click on Work Schedules.
3. From the dropdown, select Agent Shifts.
4. You’ll see a list of existing shifts displayed on the screen.
5. Click Add Shift to create a new one.
6. In the form that appears, enter the Shift Name and an optional Description.
7. Choose the appropriate Time Zone for the shift.
8. Under Operation Hours, select either:
   • Calendar Hours (24/7) – for continuous support coverage.
   • Business Hours – allows you to define multiple time slots per day.

9. Click Add to save the shift.
10. Go to the Agents tab to assign team members to the shift.
11. Select the agents you want to assign, click Add, then click Save.

The newly created shift will now appear in the list of configured shifts.

To manage existing shifts:

• Click the Edit icon to modify a shift.
• Click the Delete icon to remove a shift.

How agent shift schedule impacts ticket auto-assignment

• The agent’s status will automatically change to Online at the beginning of their shift.
• The agent’s status will automatically switch to Offline at the conclusion of their shift.
• Tickets will only be automatically routed to agents if their status is Online within the ticket auto-assignment process.
• The implementation of agent shifts removes the need for manually updating the agent’s availability status.
• Tickets are directed to agents who are available, resulting in quicker and more effective responses.