Schedule change requests

Use schedule change requests to let agents ask for changes to their own schedule, such as starting an hour later next Tuesday, or record what they actually did, such as arriving late. Agents make the change on their schedule and submit it as a request; the people you choose approve or deny it, and approved changes go straight onto the schedule.

To turn them on, go to Configure > Additional settings. To review requests, go to Schedule > Schedule requests.

How schedule change requests work

Every request:

• Covers one agent’s schedule, and no more than 24 hours.
• Can’t add or extend time off. Agents use time off requests for that.
• Notifies the people the agent chooses by email.

Assembled sorts each request by when the change happens. On Schedule > Schedule requests, these are values of the Request type filter.

Future changes

A Future change request changes a time in the future, such as moving next week’s lunch.

Schedule changes (revisions)

A Schedule change request revises a time in the past. Agents use it when they didn’t do what they were scheduled for and want to record what they actually did. For example, if an agent arrived late or started early, they can submit a revision with their actual start time.

When requests become invalid or expire

Invalid

A request becomes Invalid when the events it would change are edited after the request was made, so the schedule no longer looks the way it did when the agent asked.

For example:

1. An agent requests that their phone event be lengthened by an hour.
2. Before anyone approves, denies, or cancels the request, a manager changes that phone event to chat.

The request becomes Invalid within a few minutes, and the agent gets an email saying so. An invalid request can’t be approved or denied. If the agent still wants the change, they need to make a new request.

Expired

A future change request becomes Expired if no one approves, denies, or cancels it before the change would have happened. For example, a request to change an event that starts at 10:00 AM expires at 10:00 AM if no one has acted on it. You can still approve or deny an expired request for your records.

Turn on schedule change requests

This turns requests on for everyone in your company who has permission to make them.

1. Go to Configure > Additional settings.
2. In the Agent schedule change requests card, select Enable schedule change requests.
3. Under Set which non-admin roles may respond to requests:, choose the roles that can approve and deny requests, or follow the link to set this in Roles and permissions.

If agents can already edit their own schedules, the card says requests can’t be turned on. To change that, contact our team.

The Prevent saving outdated changes option on the same page is a separate setting for the Staffing timeline. See Outdated schedule changes.

Give people access

Two permissions control requests, both on the Schedule tab in Manage team > Roles and permissions:

• To make requests: under Schedules, set Edit schedules to Can request schedule changes for only their own schedule or Can request schedule changes for all agents. You can also allow requests for specific event types only.
• To respond to requests: under Requests, set Schedule changes to Can approve and deny all. The other options are View all, View only their own, and No access.

By default, Standard and Basic roles have No edit access, so they can’t make requests until you change this. Only the Admin role can approve and deny all requests; Manager, Team Lead, Standard, and Basic roles can view only their own.

Request a schedule change

Agents can request changes from My Assembled or from the Staffing timeline. For the agent’s view, see Request schedule changes.

1. On their schedule, the agent selects Request changes and makes their changes to the calendar.
2. They select Request 1 change (or Request 3 changes, and so on).
3. In Request changes to my schedule, they choose who to notify under Who would you like to notify about this request?, usually the person who approves it, such as their manager.
4. Optional: they explain the request under Additional comments.
5. They select Request changes.

The people they chose get an email about the request. Agents can see their requests on Schedule > Schedule requests, and can select Cancel to cancel a pending or expired request. A canceled request can’t be approved or denied.

Approve or deny a request

People whose role can approve and deny schedule changes can act on requests on Schedule > Schedule requests.

1. Find the request. To check exactly what it changes, select View changes.
2. To approve it, select the check mark icon. The changes are applied to the schedule straight away, and the agent gets an email.
3. To deny it, select the deny icon (a circle with a line through it). Optionally add a reason under Would you like to add a reason for denial?, then select Deny request. The agent gets an email and sees your note.

To act on several requests at once, select them and use Bulk actions. For more about the page, see Schedule requests.