The emergency queue shutdown capability lets you temporarily shut down one or more queues during unexpected events such as system issues, a sudden lack of staff, a building emergency, or unplanned maintenance. You can configure the experience of end-users that are on a call, in a queue, or transferring at the moment you shut down a queue. This lets you manage only the affected queues without affecting the rest of your contact center.
By default, this capability is inactive. Contact Google Cloud Support to turn it on for your instance.
Automatic reset
When you shut down a queue, it automatically resets to normal operation depending on the following:
If you've configured hours of operation, the queue resets to normal operations at the start of the next business day.
If you haven't configured hours of operation, the queue resets to normal operations at 12:00 AM the following day.
Configure the global emergency message
The global emergency message is the default message for any queues that don't have a message configured.
To configure the global emergency message, follow these steps:
In the CCAI Platform portal, click Settings > Languages & Messages. If you don't see the Settings menu, click Menu.
In the Audible Messages pane, go to the Emergency Shutdown Message section.
Do one of the following:
To change the text-to-speech message, edit the text in the text field.
To upload an audio recording to read out instead of using the text-to-speech message, click Upload audio recording and then upload an MP3 or WAV file with your message.
Click Save.
Configure emergency shutdown for a queue
You can configure specific emergency shutdown behavior for one or more queues, including custom messages and redirect logic.
To configure emergency queue shutdown for a queue, follow these steps:
In the CCAI Platform portal, click Settings > Queue. If you don't see the Settings menu, click Menu.
In the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) pane, click Edit / View.
Click the queue that you want to edit.
In the Settings pane, go to the Emergency Shutdown section, and click the toggle to the on position.
Do one of the following:
To change the text-to-speech message, edit the text in the text field.
To upload an audio recording to read out instead of using the text-to-speech message, click Upload audio recording and then upload an MP3 or WAV file with your message.
In the Calls in progress list, select one of the following:
Do not play emergency message and continue call: The call continues normally and the shutdown doesn't interrupt the conversation.
Play emergency message and redirect to Overcapacity Deflection: The system plays the message and does an overcapacity deflection.
Play emergency message and redirect to After Hours Deflection: The system plays the message and does an after hours deflection.
In the Queued and Transferred Calls list, select one of the following:
Play emergency message and end call: The system plays the message and disconnects.
Play emergency message and redirect to Overcapacity Deflection: The system plays the message and does an overcapacity deflection.
Play emergency message and redirect to After Hours Deflection: The system plays the message and does an after hours deflection.
Click Save Emergency Shutdown.
The emergency shutdown API
You can use the emergency shutdown API to programmatically do the following:
Turn on or off the emergency queue shutdown capability for one or more queues.
Provide a queue-specific emergency message.
Determine how in-progress and queued calls are handled.
The API lets external apps, such as an incident management system, shut down queues automatically.
Enable the emergency shutdown API
To enable the emergency shutdown API, follow these steps:
In the CCAI Platform portal, click Settings > Developer Settings. If you don't see the Settings menu, click Menu.
Go to the Enable Remote Shutdown via API pane and click the toggle to the on position.
Use the API
For more information about using the API, see Emergency shutdown.
Reporting and auditing
The system tracks emergency shutdown activity to help you monitor emergency shutdowns:
Audit logging. When emergency queue shutdown is turned on or off, the system records data such as who made the change, the timestamp, and the action (turned on or off). If the emergency shutdown API is used, the system logs the request payload and the emergency message.
Deflection reason. Calls deflected when a queue is shut down are tagged with the following reason: "deflected due to emergency shutdown". You can use this tag in analytics to determine how many calls were affected.