Approving an SLA-risk deferral

When an agent needs to move a callback later than the location’s SLA window allows, the deferral is routed to you. The callback keeps its original time until you act. Approving updates the not-before time; declining leaves the schedule as it was. Either way, the decision is written to the ledger with your name.

What you’ll see

• The Callback & retry health card on the manager desk shows “Deferrals awaiting approval” with a count and a Review deferrals button. The card’s header says “Needs you”.
• An alert reads “SLA-risk deferral needs approval”. By default it goes to push, email, and Teams / Slack, and waits in the recovery inbox until acknowledged. It names the location, not the contact.
• The affected callback shows “SLA at risk” in the Callbacks view.

Steps

1. Click Review deferrals.
2. Open a request. You see the current callback time, the requested time, the owner, the attempt count, and the agent’s reason.
3. Check the preflight for the requested time. If the new time falls in quiet hours or on a holiday, the touch will be blocked then; choose a different time or decline.
4. Choose Approve or Decline. You can adjust the time when approving, as long as it stays within policy.
5. The agent receives an alert with the outcome. If approved, the callback becomes ineligible until the new not-before time.
6. Click Acknowledge on the alert in your recovery inbox so it stops waiting.

Deciding well

• A deferral is a promise being renegotiated. Prefer the earliest time that works for the contact.
• If the agent will be off shift at the new time, move the callback to Coverage after approving so another agent owns it.
• Repeated deferrals on one contact may mean the cadence or the SLA window needs an admin’s attention.

If something looks wrong

• The request is gone. The agent withdrew it with Keep schedule. The withdrawal is in the ledger.
• You cannot see a request. It belongs to another location. Approvals respect location scope.
• You approved by mistake. Open the callback and set the time back. The correction is a new logged event.

Related

• Deferrals and manager approval
• Reading queue health
• Scheduling a callback in local time