Barge for calls and chat

Barge lets a supervisor join any of their agents' ongoing calls or chats. After barging into a call or chat session, the supervisor has access to the same agent adapter controls as the agent. The supervisor can leave the session and let the agent continue, or the supervisor can stay until the end of the session.

In reports, you can see which calls and chats that barge was used with.

Barge behavior

Barge behaves as follows:

  • A supervisor can only barge into an active call or chat.

  • A supervisor can only barge into one one call or chat at a time.

  • Multiple supervisors can barge into a single call or chat.

Configure barge

To use barge, you need to enable it. Enabling barge makes it available to users with barge permissions. The CCAI Platform Admin and Manager roles have barge permissions by default. Users with the Admin role can barge into the call or chat sessions of any agent, while users with the Manager role can only barge into sessions of agents on their team. If you need to create a custom role with barge permissions, see Create a custom role with barge permissions.

Enable barge

To enable barge, follow these steps:

  1. In the CCAI Platform portal, click Settings > Operation Management. If you don't see the Settings menu, click Menu, and then click Settings > Operation Management.

  2. Go to the Barge pane.

  3. Do one of the following, or both, depending on your requirements:

    • Click the Calls toggle to the on position. This enables barge for calls.

    • Click the Chats toggle to the on position. This enables barge for chats.

  4. Click Save Barge.

Create a custom role with barge permissions

The Admin and Manager roles have barge permissions by default. You can create a custom role with barge permissions if you need one.

To create a custom role with barge permissions, follow these steps:

  1. In the CCAI Platform portal, click Settings > Users and Teams. If you don't see the Settings menu, click Menu, and then click Settings > Users and Teams.

  2. Click the Roles and Permissions tab.

  3. Click Add Roles.

  4. In the Add Role dialog, enter a role name, label name, and optional description for your custom role.

  5. Do one or more of the following, depending on your requirements:

  6. In the Monitor | Agents, Calls, Chats row, select the Edit checkbox. To make barge only available for those calls or chats that are assigned to the user's team, also select the Assigned teams only checkbox.

  7. Add any other permissions that you require.

  8. Click Save.

Barge into a call or chat session

You can barge into a call or a chat from the Agents page. You can also barge into a call from the Connected Calls page and barge into a chat from the Connected Chats page.

Barge from the Agents page

To barge into a call or chat session from the Agents page, follow these steps:

  1. In the CCAI Platform portal, click Agents > Agents. If you don't see the Agents menu, click Menu, and then click Agents > Agents.

  2. In the row for the call or chat that you want to barge into, click More, and then click Barge. The Call Details or Chat Details dialog appears, depending on context.

  3. In the details dialog, review the session details and click Barge to continue.

  4. In the confirmation dialog, click Barge to continue. The agent adapter appears and you're connected to the session. You can access the same agent adapter controls that the agent can.

  5. To leave the session, click End Call or End Chat, depending on context. If the agent is still in the session, the session stays active. If the agent has already left the session, it ends.

For more information, see Behavior after a barge is initiated.

Barge from the Connected Calls or the Connected Chats page

To barge into a session from the Connected Calls or Connected Chats page, follow these steps:

  1. Do one of the following:

    • To barge into a call: in the CCAI Platform portal, click Calls > Connected. If you don't see the Calls menu, click Menu, and then click Calls > Connected.

    • To barge into a chat: in the CCAI Platform portal, click Chats > Connected. If you don't see the Chats menu, click Menu, and then click Chats > Connected.

  2. In the row for the call or chat that you want to barge into, click More, and then click Barge. The Call Details or Chat Details dialog appears, depending on context.

  3. In the details dialog, review the session details and click Barge to continue.

  4. In the confirmation dialog, click Barge to continue. The agent adapter appears and you're connected to the session. You can access the same agent adapter controls that the agent can.

  5. To leave the session, click End Call or End Chat, depending on context. If the agent is still in the session, the session stays active. If the agent has already left the session, it ends.

For more information, see Behavior after a barge is initiated.

Behavior after a barge is initiated

The following shows what happens after a supervisor barges into a call or chat:

  • The agent hears a tone and sees a banner that indicates who has joined the session.

  • For calls:

    • The call becomes a conference call that shows each caller and provides the ability to place callers on hold.

    • The end-user is not alerted that another user has joined the call.

  • For chats:

    • The chat becomes a multiparty chat.

    • End-users see a message that indicates that another user has joined the chat.

  • The agent can remain in the session or click Done to leave. If the agent leaves, the supervisor remains in the session.