InstantRapport
Workflow Manager  

InstantRapport helps to keep each contact's workload to a manageable level.

Recognizing that a contact's workload comes from multiple sources - both online and offline - Leepfrog has equipped InstantRapport with the tools to help contacts balance their tasks and coordinate with other contacts. IntstantRapport is smart enough to route prospects to a contact with a lighter workload or transfer workload when a contact is away from his or her desk.

Availability Status

Each contact may select from three availability statuses at any time: Open, Restricted, or Closing.

• When Open is selected the contact is available to take any incoming conversation. This counselor will accept conversations that are redirected from any contact who is away from the desk or has set his or her status to Closing.
• When Restricted is selected the contact only accepts conversations from a select group of visitors, for example when InstantRapport deems that the counselor would be a particularly good match for a visitor.
• When Closing is selected the contact does not take on new conversations. However, this contact may continue current conversation until those conversations are finished. Visitors who would otherwise be paired with this contact will be re-routed to a contact with the Open status.

Each contact's availability status is broadcast to all other contacts through a status window. At any time a contact may view the availability status of all other contacts through the status window.

Contact's also have the option to decline new conversation requests individually. In this case the visitor automatically matched with the next available contact.

Conversation Forwarding

In order to direct visitors to the people best suited to help them, a contact may forward a visitor to a different contact at any time. So if a contact does not have the information a visitor needs, the contact can forward the visitor to someone who does.

For compartmentalized information centers, where different contacts handle different parts of a process, contacts can use conversation forwarding to direct a visitor to the next step in a process, forwarding him or her to the next point of contact.

Inactive Contacts

One of the most common problems with instant messengers is that nobody is around to answer a visitor's questions even though the visitor has reason to believe otherwise. In the mind of the visitor this situation reflects very poorly on the quality of your data center and your institution.

Although a team may have a policy that a contact must mark him or herself as "unavailable" when not available, the contact may have forgotten to log out during lunch, or may have become distracted by an offline telephone call or office visitor. From the visitor's standpoint, they have summoned a contact and nobody has responded because the contact is AFK (Away From Keyboard).

InstantRapport is capable of recognizing when a contact is Away From Keyboard, and tries to match the visitor with a different contact. IR also marks AFK contacts as "unavailable" until they return to their keyboard, so that they do not get matched in the future. This feature eliminates that "ghost town" feel to your online data center. Visitors get responses when somebody appears available and contacts don't come back from lunch to a screenful of conversations all asking "hello... is anyone there?"