Setting up WFM general tasks for non-ticketing work

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Workforce Management (WFM) or Workforce Engagement Management (WEM)

Zendesk Workforce management (WFM) general tasks are tasks that you set up to track agent activities or tasks that take place outside of Zendesk. General tasks are also sometimes known as AUX codes or AUX states.

For example, you may want to set up general tasks to track time for necessary activities such as lunch, breaks, meetings, training, and so on. By setting up general tasks, you can track agents’ time spent on non-ticketing work.

This article contains the following topics:

• Creating WFM general tasks

Related articles

• About WFM general tasks

Creating WFM general tasks

Before creating general tasks, it’s recommended to align with other stakeholders in your organization on what types of general tasks you’ll need.

You must be a WFM admin to create general tasks.

To create general tasks

1. In Zendesk WFM, hover over the admin icon () in the navigation bar, then select General tasks.
2. Click the Add icon ( ).
3. Enter a Name.

   

   Choose a descriptive name so that agents know what it is when they see it on their schedule, or clock into it from the WFM time tracker app in Zendesk Support.

4. (Optional) Enter a Description to describe the purpose of the task.
5. Set the Team permissions. By default, a new task is available to all of your teams, but you can restrict the task to certain teams only.
6. Select a color for the new task. The color you select will appear on the Agent activity page and to agents in Zendesk Support.

   A preview of the color you select appears, and you can adjust it as needed.

7. In the Occupancy section, toggle the Log this general task as paid time and the Log this general task as productive time sliders to the on or off position.
   If you choose to turn either setting on, then the new task is included in the total paid time or productive time when calculating your occupancy rate.

   To see the Productive time option, you must turn on the Paid time setting. All productive time tasks are included in paid time. To learn more, see About paid time and productive time general tasks.
8. Under Talk status settings, set the Talk status the agent will appear in when they clock in to this general task.

   

   For example, if the general task is for a meeting or lunch break and the agent will be away from Zendesk, select the Away status. Setting the Talk status associated with a general task helps you optimize your agent's time, by reducing the number of actions they need to perform efficiently, as they won't need to update their Talk status manually.

   Note: General tasks currently synchronize with your agents’ Talk states only when omnichannel routing is turned off. When omnichannel routing is turned on, general tasks do not synchronize with your agents’ unified agent statuses. Additionally, changes in activity related to general tasks triggered by automations do not affect your agents' talk states.

   You can select between the following options:

   • No change

   • Online

   • Away

   • Transfers only

   • Offline

9. (Optional) Under Schedule adherence customization select workstreams. By connecting workstreams to this general task you can ensure that the workstreams’ activities are also taken into consideration when calculating the agent’s schedule adherence.
10. Click Save.