Agent Availability and Auto-Answer
Configure Busy reasons, login availability, timers, and auto-answer without creating dead-air risk.
Agent availability determines whether careCycle can route a softphone call to an agent. Organization administrators can define the Busy reasons agents use, decide whether agents start each session Available or Busy, and choose whether auto-answer is optional or enforced.
Configure these options under Settings > Organization > General, in the Agent availability card.
Availability States
careCycle uses four live availability states:
- Available: the agent can receive routed calls and transfers.
- Busy: the agent is signed in but cannot receive calls. A configured reason, such as Break, Lunch, Meeting, or Coaching, explains why.
- On Call: careCycle sets this automatically while the agent is handling a call.
- Wrap Up: careCycle sets this automatically after a call while the agent completes the disposition.
Only Available agents are included in call routing. Busy, On Call, Wrap Up, and offline agents are excluded.
For a softphone destination, careCycle places only eligible Available agents in the routing sequence and rings them one at a time. Ring duration per agent accepts 5 through 30 whole seconds, while Max wait time accepts 10 through 120 whole seconds for the complete sequence. The overall timer can end the sequence before every eligible agent is tried. Neither timer applies when the routed agent has personally enabled Auto Answer or the organization enforces it.
See Agent-First Dialer Campaigns for the full campaign flow and Transfer Destinations for the destination-owned routing configuration.
Create Busy Statuses
In Busy statuses, enter a status name and an optional timer in minutes, then select Add status.
| Example | Timer | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Break | 15 | Returns the agent to Available after 15 minutes |
| Lunch | 30 | Returns the agent to Available after 30 minutes |
| Meeting | Empty | Remains Busy until the agent or a supervisor changes it |
| Coaching | Empty | Remains Busy until the agent or a supervisor changes it |
Leave Timer (min) empty when the status should remain active until someone changes it. Enter a value from 1 to 1,440 when the status should automatically expire.
The order shown in settings is the order agents see in their status menu. Use the arrow controls to reorder statuses. Archive a status when it should no longer be selected. Archived statuses remain available in historical reporting.
Choose the Login Status
The Login setting controls the state applied when an agent starts a new softphone session:
- Available: the agent can receive calls as soon as sign-in finishes.
- Busy: the agent starts with the selected Busy reason and cannot receive calls until that status ends.
Busy can be selected only after at least one Busy status has been created. If the login status is Busy, choose the reason that should be applied, such as Break.
Refreshing the page or briefly losing the network does not restart the login status. careCycle restores the current state during a short reconnect. A full sign-out followed by sign-in starts a new session and applies the configured login status.
Configure Auto-Answer
Auto-answer joins an incoming softphone call without requiring the agent to select Answer or Claim.
- When Auto-answer is enforced in organization settings, it is always on and agents cannot disable it.
- When it is not enforced, each agent can turn Auto Answer on or off from their avatar menu.
Auto-answer applies only when an agent is Available and a call is routed to them. A Busy agent does not receive calls. Personal and organization-enforced Auto Answer both bypass the per-agent and overall routing timers.
Timed Busy statuses can create dead air with auto-answer
If auto-answer is on and a timed Busy status expires while the agent is still away, careCycle returns the agent to Available. A new call can then be routed and answered automatically, leaving the customer connected to an unattended workstation.
For example, an agent selects a 15-minute Break but returns after 25 minutes. At minute 15 the agent becomes Available. During the next 10 minutes, an incoming call may auto-answer with no agent present.
Supervisor Controls and Reporting
Owners, administrators, and managers can set an online agent to a configured Busy reason or return a Busy agent to Available from the Wallboard. Custom roles need the agent-status override permission. On Call and Wrap Up agents cannot be manually overridden. Call monitoring is a separate permission and is not granted to managers by default.
The Wallboard displays the selected Busy reason and its live duration. Timed statuses also show when the agent will return to Available. The Productivity report keeps the total Busy time and breaks it down by reason, including archived reasons and older unspecified Busy sessions.