Conversations | Rules for handling conversations in the waiting list
Draft version - Work in progress
Purpose
This article describes the rules for controlling the handling of conversations in the Waiting List by members.
It is necessary to limit members' involvement in conversations on the waiting list, in order to avoid :
one member taking on too many conversations at the same time, and not being able to manage them properly simultaneously,
always having the fastest members take on new conversation requests,
having members handling too many conversations vs other members.
Beyond that, it is useful to define level of priority and the conditions for members to handle conversations according to their role.
Specifications
Time penalties
A time penalty can be applied to members regarding they recent conversational activity, according to the rules defined in the following sections.
The aim is to control who has priority among the members, but at the same time avoid blocking the fast handling of conversations. The time constraints applied must remain very light.
Rules applicable to members’ role
Rule | Description |
|---|---|
Priority | Time penalty (in seconds) applicable to incoming requests on the waiting list. Each role can be assigned a different penalty time. |
Filter based on topic | Ability to assign conversation topics to specific member’s roles. If an assignment has been made to a role, members will only view the requests they are entitled to handle. |
Filter based on URL | Ability to filter incoming requests by page, or by a group of pages assigned to a particular role. Group pages are defined by URL regexes. |
Rules applicable to members individually
Rule | Description |
|---|---|
Priority | Time penalty (in seconds) applicable to incoming requests on the waiting list. Each member can be assigned a different penalty time. This allows a member to be penalised if an administrator judges the quality of his or her work to be unsatisfactory. |
Features described in the two tables above are not yet applicable to current Popsell platform, and not yet scheduled in the roadmap.
Rules applicable to members' activities
Parameters used
Ongoing conversations are determined by messages written by either the member or the visitor in the last 5 minutes. Each member has a number of ongoing conversations, and it is recommended not to exceed 2 to 3 ongoing conversations.
Recent conversations : We also must take into account the total number of conversations handled in the last 60 minutes by the member. This enables to avoid picking conversations without pursuing the conversation immediately.
Closed conversations : if a conversation has been closed, it is immediately removed from the count of conversations. Conversations are considered as closed if a rating has been requested in the same period (5 or 60 minutes).
Conversations over an extended period : if required by the brand, it is possible to penalize the members based on the number of conversations made over an extended period (e.g. 1 week or 1 month). This is to avoid the same members always answering all the conversations, and to distribute them more evenly between the different members. This should only apply to large communities, such as those encountered in direct sales.
Algorithm
A score is calculated by summing:
the number of ongoing conversations, excluding those with a rating message * 5
the number of recent conversations, excluding those with a rating message.
A ranking of members is established based on this score, sorted in descending order.
All members with the same score have the same ranking
Condition | Rule |
|---|---|
Members Rank = 1 | No restriction applied |
Members Rank = 2 | 5 sec penalty |
Members Rank = 3 | 10 sec penalty |
Members Rank = 4 | 20 sec penalty |
Members Rank >= 5 | 30 sec penalty |
Based on this score, we ensure that if only one member is online, no restriction is applied.
When the penalty is applied, new requests does not appear in the waiting list, they are only displayed when the penalty time is elapsed for the member.
Features described in this section are not yet available, not yet scheduled