Decline reasons are the choices an agent sees when they reject an incoming call, for example Not Available or Wrong Queue. They explain why a call was turned down, so you can understand missed calls later. You define the reasons once, then decide which queues offer them.
Open them from Administration, Settings, Work Environment, Decline Reasons.
Watch the walkthrough
What you can do on this page
| Action | What it does | Permission needed |
|---|---|---|
| See the list of reasons | Shows every reason and the queues it is offered in | Manage Decline Reasons (the Decline Reasons tab only appears with it) |
| Add Decline Reason | Creates a new reason | Manage Decline Reasons |
| Edit, Delete | Changes or removes a reason | Manage Decline Reasons |
| Assign reasons from a queue | Ticks reasons inside the queue's own settings | Agent Management (the permission that opens Queues) |
You find Manage Decline Reasons in the role permissions under Manage Work Environment Settings. The other tabs next to it, Segments, Statuses, Skills and Wrap-up Codes, are covered in their own articles.
The list of reasons
The tab is titled Decline Reasons with the line Define decline reasons for call rejections. Under the table you see the total, for example 2 decline reason(s). The list is sorted by name. Each row shows:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Name | The text the agent sees |
| Queues | The queues where the reason is offered, as badges. If they do not all fit, a +N badge shows how many more there are |
| Actions | The row menu |
Row menu
Select the menu icon at the end of a row.
Every reason offers Edit and Delete. Unlike wrap-up codes, there are no locked built-in reasons here.
Add a decline reason
Select Add Decline Reason. The Add Decline Reason form opens.
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | Up to 100 characters. The field stops accepting text at 100. Must be unique, and upper and lower case do not count as different. Spaces at the start and end are removed |
| Assign to Queues | No | One or more queues. You can search the list and tick all queues at once. The field shows the names you picked, or N items selected when there are many |
Select Save. Save stays disabled until the form is valid, and Cancel closes the form without changing anything.
Messages you can see
| Message | When |
|---|---|
| Decline reason name is required. | The name field was left empty |
| Name must be unique and A decline reason with this name already exists. | A reason with that name already exists, for example Not available while Not Available exists |
Edit a decline reason
Choose Edit in the row menu. The Edit Decline Reason form has the same two fields. You can rename the reason and change its queues. The queue selection you save replaces the previous one.
Delete a decline reason
Choose Delete in the row menu. A Delete Decline Reason window asks you to confirm: Are you sure you want to delete this decline reason? Select Delete to confirm or Cancel to keep it.
Deleting is permanent, and SESTEK AgenticCX does not check whether the reason has been used before. Calls that were already declined with it are not removed.
Assign reasons from the queue
You can also work from the other side. Go to Administration, Settings, Queues and open a queue.
In the queue settings, find Decline Reasons (Select decline reasons available for this queue.). Open the list and tick the reasons this queue should offer. The field shows the names you picked. Select Save Queue to apply.
Both ways edit the same link between a reason and a queue, so a change made in one place shows in the other.
How agents use the reasons
When a human agent selects Decline on an incoming call, Agent Desktop asks Are you sure you want to decline this call?. After the agent confirms, a Select Decline Reason step lists the reasons of the queue the call came from, and the agent chooses one and selects Confirm. If the queue has no decline reasons, the call is declined without a reason.
A typical setup
- Open Administration, Settings, Work Environment, Decline Reasons and check which reasons you already have.
- Select Add Decline Reason for every explanation your agents need, for example Customer Not Reachable or On a Break.
- In the same form, pick the queues that should offer the reason, or leave Assign to Queues empty and assign them later.
- Use Edit to add or remove queues for an existing reason, or open the queue and use Decline Reasons there.
- Check the Queues column. Every reason should show the queues you expect.
Good to know
- A reason that is not assigned to any queue is not offered on any queue, so assign every new reason to at least one queue.
- Reasons are offered per queue, so an agent only sees the reasons of the queue the call came from.
- Names are limited to 100 characters, so keep them short enough to read in the Agent Desktop dialog.
- Delete is permanent. If you only want to stop offering a reason on one queue, remove the queue from the reason instead.