Busy Channels

<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p>The Busy Channels report allows you to break down each business day into half-hour periods, showing the maximum and average number of telephone lines in use in any particular half-hour. You can opt to exclude weekends, when perhaps not many calls are being made or received, and so as not to distort the averages. You can also concentrate on only incoming or outgoing calls.</p>

<p>This report is ideal for determining whether or not you have enough lines, or if you have too many!</p>

<img class="screenshot" src="http://www.tri-line.com/common/img/documentation/tim_plus/busy_channels_1.png" alt="Busy channels" />

<h2>Running the report</h2>

<p>On the <span class="reference">Reports</span> screen, click on <span class="reference">Busy channels</span> in the reports list and then press the <span class="button">Select this report</span> button.</p>

<img class="screenshot" src="http://www.tri-line.com/common/img/documentation/tim_plus/busy_channels_2.png" alt="Busy channels" />

<p>The following report selection criteria window appears:</p>

<h4>Reporting period</h4>

<p>Every report requires a period to run over. This is generally defined as the "Reporting period".</p>

<img class="screenshot border" src="http://www.tri-line.com/common/img/documentation/tim_plus/period_screen.png" alt="Busy channels" />

<p>There are several pre-defined periods that can be selected from a simple drop-down list as shown above.</p>

<p>The built-in periods are based on a standard Gregorian calendar and are defined as follows:</p>

<table class="confluenceTable">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th class="confluenceTh" width=98>Period</th>
			<th class="confluenceTh">Description</th>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>Today</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date and end date is set to the current date. The default start time is set to <span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and the end time to the current time.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>Yesterday</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date and end date is set to the current date minus one day. The start time is set to <span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and the end time to <span class="keyword">23:59:59</span>.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>This week</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date is set to the Monday of the current week, whilst the end date is set to the current day. The default start time is set to <span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and the end time to the current time.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>Last week</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date is set to the last Monday, whilst the end date is set to the start date plus seven days. The start time is set to <span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and the end time to <span class="keyword">23:59:59</span>.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>This month</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date is set to the 1<span class="exponent">st</span> day of the current month and the end date to today. The default start time is set to <span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and the end time to the current time.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>Last month</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date for this period is set in three stages. The day is set to <span class="keyword">01</span>, the month is set to the current month minus one, or in the case of January, 
			it is set to <span class="keyword">12</span>. The year is set to the current year, unless it is a new year, in which case the year is reduced by one. The start and end times are set to 
			<span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and <span class="keyword">23:59:59</span> respectively.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>This year</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date is set to the first day of the first month of the current year. The end date is set to today's date. The start and end times are set to <span class="keyword">00:00:00</span> and <span class="keyword">23:59:59</span> respectively.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>All calls</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">The start date is set to the date of the first call in the database, whilst the end date is set to the date of the most recent call in the database. Times are also set to the times of the first and last calls in the database.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td class="confluenceTd"><b>Custom period</b></td>
			<td class="confluenceTd">Enter the start and end dates and times into the boxes below. The start and end times are linked to their respective dates.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>If you want to be more specific, you can choose the <span class="keyword">Custom period</span> from the bottom of the drop-down list. This option
will allow you to define the start date and end date yourself, as shown below. When you need to be even more specific,
you can also choose a start time and end time.</p>

<img class="screenshot border" src="http://www.tri-line.com/common/img/documentation/tim_plus/custom_period_screen.png" alt="Busy channels" />

<p>When the report is executed, if the user has selected an in-built period, the reporting engine simply substitutes the start
and end dates based on the current date and the period the user selected.</p>

<p>Once you have set the report's period, click on the <span class="button">Next</span> button to set more of the report's features or select the <span class="button">Finish</span> button to run the report.</p>