Lines in use, parked callers and today's totals, updating as calls happen.
The first page you see now shows what the phones are doing right now.
What is on it
- Calls in progress, against how many the system allows.
- Outside lines in use, and which provider carries each.
- Who is parked, on which line, and for how long.
- Today's totals: calls in, out and between desks.
- The busiest moment of the day so far.
It moves
The page updates as calls happen. No refresh button to mash.
Under a busy system that could mean dozens of updates a second, so changes are gathered and sent at most four times a second. Fast enough to feel live, slow enough not to make a browser sweat.
Counting correctly
"Outside lines in use" sounds simple and is not. A call can be transferred, parked and picked up, and each time it becomes a different conversation while the same outside line stays in use. The system tracks the line by its leg of the call, not by the conversation, so a parked outside caller still counts as an outside line. Which is correct: the provider is still charging for it.
For administrators
Only administrators see the dashboard. Everyone else lands on their own phone page.
When the call service is down
The dashboard says so, plainly, and shows nothing it cannot vouch for. A dashboard that keeps showing the last numbers it had is worse than a blank one.
Why it matters to an IT company
Open it during a "the phones are acting strange" call and you can see, live, whether calls are flowing. Half the time that answers the question before the customer finishes asking it.