Manually handle shift trade requests

Most agent shift trade requests can be handled automatically, but for the shift trade requests that you want to handle manually, for example if the shift trade fails a validation, this can be done in the web Requests tool.

NOTE   In the Requests tool, you can only review shift trade requests that were approved by both agents. For example, if agent 1 sends a shift trade request to agent 2 but agent 2 does not approve, the request will not appear in the Requests tool. Similarly, if agent 1 sends a shift trade request to agent 2 and the request is automatically denied, it will not appear. However, these requests are available in the Requests per Agent report

Prerequisites

  • You have the Web > Requests permission to access the Requests tool.
    • You have the underlying permission Approve/Deny request to approve or deny requests.
    • You have the underlying permission Reply to request to reply to requests with a text
    • You have the underlying permission Edit site open hours to set up site open hours to be used in shift trade request and overtime request validations.
  • You have the Global functions > View schedule permission to see which days agents want to trade.

Page location

WFM > Requests > Shift trade tab

Procedures

Select team or site and a date period

Select the teams or sites you want to work with, as well as choose a date period, before reviewing and approving or denying requests.

  1. Click Select organization. When teams are already selected, the field states the number of selected teams.
  2. Click a tab to select by Business hierarchy or Filter groups.
  3. Select the check boxes for the sites and teams or group pages to open. If there are many sites, teams and groups, use the search function to find the ones you are looking for.
  4. Click Select. The current week's requests, made by agents who belong to the selected teams and sites, will be displayed.

  5. To change the date period, click the input field and select a new start and end date by clicking in the calendar view.

    NOTE   The date you select affects which agents' requests you see. For example, if you are reviewing requests for Team A the list shows the requests made by agents who belong to Team A on the selected date.

Filter list of requests

Use the filters to find certain requests. First ensure the Show filter toggle is turned on.

  1. Open the menu below the Type header and select the check boxes for the absence types to see.
  2. Click the input field below the Subject or Message header and enter the text to filter on in the respective columns.
  3. Open the menu below the Status header and select the check boxes for the statuses to see.
  4. To remove the filter again, click the Clear button at the far left on the filter row.

Approve or deny a shift trade request

Approving a shift trade request automatically swaps the included shifts in the agents’ schedules. The agents receive a message that informs them about the decision, regardless of if you approve or deny.

  1. Start by selecting teams/sites and a date period.
  2. Use the information available in the table to decide to approve or deny the request.
    • Click on either of the agents' shift categories to view the agents’ current shifts.
    • View the information given by the agent in the Subject and Message columns.
    • Read any information stated in the Broken rules column, to see if the request has failed any of the work rule validations.
  3. Select the requests you want to approve or deny by selecting the check boxes.
  4. Click on Approve or Deny to change the status of the selected requests.

Set site open hours

Set site open hours to ensure that agents who are trading shifts with each other won't end up with scheduled time outside of the open hours of their site.

  1. Click Site open hours.
  2. Click to select the site you want to set open hours for.
  3. Enter the open hours most commonly used for this site. If the open hours end after midnight, click the sun icon and then enter the end time.
  4. Click Add open hours
  5. Select the check boxes for the days when these open hours are used.
  6. If there are other open hours on certain days of the week, repeat steps 3 to 5 as many times as needed.
  7. Click Save.

NOTE   The site open hours validation of shift trade requests is done according to the agents’ time zone. Therefore, set the site open hours in the time zone of the agents at that site.

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