Components and Connections

This topic contains descriptions of the Workforce Management (WFM) components and connections.

Web

WFM Web is a server application that is hosted on a servlet container and provides content for two Web browser-based user interfaces, one for Supervisors and one for Agents. The appropriate interface opens after login, depending on the login information you enter.

• Web for Supervisors—Includes calendar management, forecasting, scheduling, real-time agent adherence, contact-center performance statistics, configuration of e-mail notifications, and reporting. These functions are all entirely accessible through any computer with a supported browser and network access.
  
  When you open WFM Web for the first time in your browser, it installs a Java applet on your machine. This applet provides WFM functionality and is presented in the user’s web browser. An updated version of this applet is downloaded to each user’s machine each time a more recent version of WFM Web is installed on the web application server.
  
  
  Important

  There is an increased demand on the web server when WFM Web is deployed, because it now provides almost all client user-interface functionality. In addition, WFM Web is also the web server component that generates reports. To find sizing recommendations for WFM Web server, see the Genesys Hardware Sizing Guide.
• Web for Agents—Enables contact center managers to easily distribute schedule information to their employees and provides agents with proactive scheduling capabilities, such as entering schedule preferences, planning time off, schedule bidding, and trading schedules.

Configuration Utility

Use this application to configure sites, business units, shifts, task sequences, and most other Workforce Management database objects. Also use it to set constraints such as site rules, working hours, and time-off accrual rules; to define contracts; and to set the week start day and the default time zone.

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Database Utility

Use this application to create and format a new database (for new users or those migrating from a previous WFM release), to migrate your existing data to the new database, and to perform database maintenance and cleanup.

You also use the WFM Database Utility to update the WFM database, which is a common task that must be done as part of an upgrade to a newer WFM release. If you are upgrading from WFM 7.x to the most recent 8.5 release, you will need to perform a database update.

Important

If you are migrating from an earlier release to WFM 8.5 and want to find important advisories about the database migration process, see the procedures provided in the “Workforce Management Migration Procedures” chapter of the Genesys Migration Guide.

Servers

The GUI applications are supported by the following servers:

• WFM Server—Acts as the main data and application services source and locator for WFM clients.
• WFM Data Aggregator—Automatically synchronizes configuration data, collects historical data, and provides real-time agent-adherence information to users of WFM Web for Supervisors.
• WFM Builder—Builds WFM schedules.
• WFM Web Server—Serves content for the Web browser-based GUI applications and generates reports upon request from users of WFM Web for Supervisors.
• WFM Daemon—can be configured to send (through a customer-supplied SMTP server) e-mail notifications to agents and supervisors.

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Database

WFM also requires a database to store all the relevant configuration, forecasting, scheduling, agent adherence, performance, and historical data.

Important

If you have been using WFM 6.x, you must migrate your existing data into a new database using the WFM Database Utility before starting to use WFM 8.5. For details, see the “Workforce Management Migration Procedures” chapter in the Genesys Migration Guide.

Connections

WFM connects to the following Genesys Framework servers:

• Stat Server—Provides statistical data to WFM Data Aggregator.
• Configuration Server—Provides Genesys’ centralized configuration information to the WFM Configuration Utility, and authenticates all WFM users and components.

WFM works in single-site environments or across multi-site enterprises.

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