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Create Shifts
Create shifts for particular dates and times when you need coverage and then assign those shifts to support reps.
Required Editions
| View supported editions. |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To create a shift or apply a template: | Shift Scheduling Planner OR Workforce Engagement Planner |
You can create shifts manually, using shift templates, or using shift templates and shift patterns. When you create shifts with shift templates, you can create many shifts at once. If you want to create a repeating pattern of shifts, create shift patterns to use with your shift templates.
After you create active shift templates and shift patterns, in the shift manager, click New from Pattern to quickly create multiple shifts for the upcoming weeks. If you specify a service resource who isn’t available in the pattern, the shift is still created and assigned. For example, if a support rep has a scheduled Resource Absence, the shift is still created and assigned to that resource.
Here’s how to create a shift manually.
- Open Shifts in the App Launcher.
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Select a list view from the dropdown menu.
Because the All Shifts list view can contain many shifts, we recommend that you create a custom list view. For example, create a list view that filters shifts by service territory or other criteria.
- Change to the schedule view.
- Hover over the calendar in the column for the date you want this shift to occur on, and click + New Shift.
- Select a start and end time for the shift. A second set of times shows the shift’s start and end in the service territory's time zone.
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Select a shift status. You can specify custom shift status values, or use these
defaults.
- Tentative—The shift is tentatively defined. It can be assigned to a service resource or unassigned.
- Published—The shift is assigned to a service resource and published. In Workforce Engagement, the support rep can view it in Agent Home. In Shift Scheduling, the support rep can see the shift schedule with the user permission View Shift Scheduling Results.
- Confirmed—The shift assignment is confirmed.
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Optionally, fill in the rest of the fields.
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Add the service territory and job profile.
The service territory indicates where the work takes place. The job profile describes the expertise needed for the work.
- Select a service resource. When the scheduling tools consider a shift that's already assigned, they look for the best match. They can keep or override your service resource selection.
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Add the service territory and job profile.
- Click Save. Or to create another shift, click Save and New.
- View your new shifts in your custom list view or the schedule view.
- Create Shift Templates
Create shifts more quickly with templates. Insert a template of pre-populated fields instead of manually completing fields in the shift creation pane. - Create Shifts in Bulk from a Capacity Plan
In Workforce Engagement, you can add shifts that your short-term capacity plan predicts as necessary. You can schedule shifts quickly and accurately when you create them directly from your plan. No more cloning shifts one-by-one and tracking how many you still need. - Non-Standard Shifts
Non-standard shifts are shifts not sought by contact center reps for various reasons, such as inconvenient hours or increased workload. Identifying and marking shifts as non-standard helps the planner assign shifts in a more equitable and balanced way, which can reduce support rep dissatisfaction and attrition.
