Setup

To install RoutingEngine, do the following:

• Ensure that you have installed Java SDK 11 at minimum.

• Run the following commands on your Unix machine (e.g. MacOS) or on Windows with Git Bash:

  git clone https://github.com/han-keong/routingengine
  
  cd routingengine
  
  javac -cp "lib/*" -d bin src/main/java/com/routingengine/*.java src/main/java/com/routingengine/*/*.java
  

Demonstration

• To see a demonstration of the routing engine, run the following command:

  • On your Unix machine (e.g. MacOS)

    java -cp "bin:lib/*" com.routingengine.examples.RoutingEngineExample 50000
    

  • On Windows with Git Bash

    java -cp "bin\;lib/*" com.routingengine.examples.RoutingEngineExample 50000
    

• To run the server, run the following command:

  • On your Unix machine (e.g. MacOS)

    java -cp "bin:lib/*" com.routingengine.server.Server 50000
    

  • On Windows with Git Bash

    java -cp "bin\;lib/*" com.routingengine.server.Server 50000
    

• To see a demonstration of the client, do the following:

  1. Ensure that the server is running in a separate terminal (see above on how to start the server)

  2. Run the following command:

  • On your Unix machine (e.g. MacOS)

    java -cp "bin:lib/*" com.routingengine.examples.ClientExample 50000
    

  • On Windows with Git Bash

    java -cp "bin\;lib/*" com.routingengine.examples.ClientExample 50000
    

• After running each of the above commands, you can examine the output again by opening logfile.txt in the project root folder.

Routing Engine

This routing engine solution is a server application which is based on WebSockets.

It adopts a custom-made JSON request-response protocol, which has been designed for three kinds of users:

1. Support Requests (submitted by customers)
2. Agents
3. Admins (administrators)

This protocol has a total of 20 methods, which can be categorised by their intended users.

The following sections detail how the routing engine protocol works by explaining the purpose of each method to their respective users.

Support Request Methods

Support requests are created by customers when they fill in a form on the customer support website and click the 'Submit' button.

Three fields are required:

1. Name
2. Email
3. Type

With the necessary information, a new support request can be created by the customer's web client in the routing engine system.

A UUID (Universally Unique ID) will be assigned to the support request, which will be required to make further requests to the server.

Once the support request has been created, an agent with the required skillset needs to be assigned to the support request to cater to its type.

There may not be enough available agents at the moment, so the support request needs to wait for an agent.

If the support request has been waiting for a certain period of time (30 seconds), its priority will be incremented.

When an agent has finally been assigned, the customer's web client will be connected to the agent through Rainbow Unified Communications Platform.

Rarely, the customer might want to change the type of his/her support request.

In any case, once the support request has been serviced successfully, the customer or agent can proceed to close the support request.

Sometimes, an administrator might want to check the status of a particular support request.

The administrator might also need to remove a support request for some reason.

Summary of Support Request Methods

Method	Command
New Support Request	new_support_request {name:"bob", email:"[email protected]", type:1}
New Support Request	new_support_request {name:"bob", email:"[email protected]", type:"GENERAL_ENQUIRY"}
New Support Request	new_support_request {name:"bob", email:"[email protected]", type:1, address:127.0.0.1}
Wait For Agent	wait_for_agent {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->"}
Change Support Request	change_support_request_type {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->", type:1}
Change Support Request	change_support_request_type {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->", type:"GENERAL_ENQUIRY"}
Close Support Request	close_support_request {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->"}

Agent Methods

An agent is typically a contact center employee, whose job is to take and service customers' support requests.

He/she needs to have a specific skillset, which can be set by the administrator when creating a new agent in the routing engine system.

A UUID will be assigned to the agent, which will be required to make further requests to the server.

When the agent starts/stops working, he should update his/her availability in the routing engine system.

After that, he may start working by taking a support request.

The routing engine will automatically assign a support request with the highest priority to the agent that he/she is able to service with his current skillset.

The agent can then proceed to service the customer's support request on his Rainbow Unified Communications Platform application.

In some occasions, the agent might be unable to service the customer's support request due to certain reasons, and has to drop the support request.

The support request will have to wait for another agent, but its priority will be doubled.

However, in most occasions, the agent should be able to service the customer's support request successfully, and he/she may proceed to close the support request.

After the agent has closed or dropped his support request, he can proceed to take another support request, or he can stop working and update his availability.

An agent can be activated/inactivated by an administrator according to demand from high/low support request traffic.

At any time, an administrator might also want to check the current status of an agent.

Occasionally, an agent might have received training in other skills, so an administrator might want to update the skillset of that agent.

In the event that an agent is no longer working at the contact center, the administrator may remove the agent from the routing engine system.

Summary of Agent Methods

Method	Command
New Agent	new_agent {skills:{1:true, 2:true}}
New Agent	new_agent {skills:{"GENERAL_ENQUIRY":true, "CHECK_BILL":true}}
New Agent	new_agent {skills:{"GENERAL_ENQUIRY":true}, address:127.0.0.1}
Update Agent Availability	update_agent_availability {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->", available:true}
Update Agent Availability	update_agent_availability {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->", available:false}
Take Support Request	take_support_request {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->"}
Drop Support Request	drop_support_request {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->"}

Admin Methods

An administrator is somebody whose responsibility is to supervise the operations of the contact center.

When the routing engine server is initiated, he/she can ping the server to check that it is in operation.

At any time, the administrator can oversee all support requests by checking the status of all support requests.

The total number and UUIDs of all support requests for each of the following support request states will be listed:

State of support request	Support request has been closed	Support request waiting in queue	Support request assigned to an agent
Closed	Yes	No	No
Open	No	No	No
Waiting	No	Yes	No
Assigned	No	No	Yes
Total	Yes/No	Yes/No	Yes/No

The administrator may choose to check the status of, close, or even remove a particular support request using its UUID.

Also, the administrator may want to oversee all agents by checking the status of all agents.

The total number and UUIDs of all agents for each of the following agent states will be listed:

State of agent	Agent has not been activated	Agent is currently available	Agent is waiting for support request	Agent is assigned to a support request
Inactive	Yes	No	No	No
Unavailable	No	No	No	No
Available	No	Yes	No	No
Waiting	No	No	Yes	No
Assigned	No	No	No	Yes
Total	Yes/No	Yes/No	Yes/No	Yes/No

The administrator may choose to check the status of, activate/inactivate, or even remove a particular agent using its UUID.

If the administrator would like to examine how many support requests are currently in queue, he may check the status of the queue as well.

The total number and UUIDs of all support requests in each queue will be listed. There will be a queue for each type of support request.

Lastly, if the administrator would just like to have a summary of all the numbers for each of the above, then he may simply get a status overview.

Summary of Admin Methods

Method	Command
Ping	ping {}
Get All Support Requests Status	get_support_request_status {}
Check Support Request Status	check_support_request {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->"}
Close Support Request	close_support_request {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->"}
Remove Support Request	remove_support_request {uuid:"<--valid support request uuid string-->"}
Get All Agent Status	get_agent_status {}
Check Agent Status	check_agent {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->"}
Activate Agent	activate_agent {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->", activate:true}
Activate Agent	activate_agent {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->", activate:false}
Remove Agent	remove_agent {uuid:"<--valid agent uuid string-->"}
Get Queue Status	get_queue_status {}
Get Status Overview	get_status_overview {}