Cascade groups

Cascade groups allow multiple sets of teams or agents to answer calls for a specific queue. It also allows for tiered routing by notifying Group 1 first, then the next group or groups sequentially.

If your call isn't answered by one agent or group of agents, you can set up a custom routing configuration to make sure it's taken care of by the right agents. Cascade groups operate the same with human and virtual agents.

Cascade group behavior

Groups are notified in numerical order. Group 1 will be notified first, then Group 2, then Group 3. Each group in the process will be notified along with previous groups after the time limit selected in Operation Management > Group Settings. The setting affects the entire environment (all queues and channels).

If a call has moved to the next group but an agent from a higher level group becomes available, the call will always go to the agent in the highest level group. If no agents are available in the first group, the first group is skipped and the call is offered to the second group. If there are no agents assigned to the first group, the group will be skipped until Contact Center AI Platform (CCAI Platform) finds a queue with agents assigned.

Groups of agents receiving notifications will continue to receive them after more groups are notified until the call is answered. The Estimated Wait Time (EWT) is calculated based on all assigned cascade group agents.

When Scheduled Calls are enabled for a queue with cascade groups, the first available agent from any cascade group will be offered the call if no agents are available to assign a call to.

When cascade groups are used with Deltacast routing, the deltacast timer and the cascade group timer start at the same time. The call will only be routed using deltacast for the first attempt and will subsequently alert all agents using multicast until the call is answered.

Create groups and assign agents

  1. In the CCAI Platform portal, go to Settings > Queue.

  2. Under IVR, click Edit / View.

  3. Select the queue you want to add a cascade group to.

    • Only leaf queues with no sub-queues can use cascade groups.

    • Parent queues cannot use cascade groups.

  4. In the Settings panel that appears, scroll to Channel Settings and click either Assign Virtual Agent or Assign Human Agent.

  5. Click Add New Cascade Group to create a cascade group. Each time you create a new group, it is added in sequence. Enter the names of agents or teams to add them to the group.

  6. Click Save.

Configure a cascade group globally

To configure a cascade group globally, 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. In the General pane, go to Group Settings.

  3. Under Cascade Group, set the number of seconds after which the next group is offered the call.

  4. Click Save General.

Configure a cascade group at the queue level

To configure cascade group at the queue level, follow these steps:

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

  2. Depending on the type of queue you are editing, click either IVR (Interactive Voice Response), Mobile, or Web.

  3. Click the queue that you want to edit.

  4. In the Settings pane for your queue, go to the Routing section, and then click Configure.

  5. In the Cascade Group Timer section, set the number of seconds after which the next group is offered the call.

  6. Click Save.