Can you cover the promised replies?
Check which contacts still need a person to respond and assign the work.
The question
It is 10:00. You are the only agent available for the active queue. A reply needs 4 continuous minutes. You can send one reply at a time and have started none.
| Reply due | |
|---|---|
| A | 10:06 |
| B | 10:10 |
| C | 10:14 |
| D | 10:24 |
Plan for the earliest promises first. The deadline is met when a person sends the reply by the due time.
Automated acknowledgements and assignment events do not meet the human reply promise. An unresolved case stays open.
“How do you use the available time and check that every commitment has an owner?”
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A strong answer, step by step
Open each step in turn. This is one strong answer, not the only one.
Step 1: What counts as a reply?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Use the customer-facing human reply event
The strong move. This event is the one named in the queue rule.
Use the first automated acknowledgement
Tempting, but it misses something. It confirms receipt without supplying the promised human reply.
Use the assignment time
Tempting, but it misses something. The work can be assigned without a message reaching the customer.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I’ll check the conversation for a reply a person sent to the customer.”
Why it works: The written promise specifies a human reply.
Step 2: What order meets the current promises?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Send A, B, C, then D
The strong move. This meets all four deadlines with the available agent.
Send D, C, B, then A
Tempting, but it misses something. B and A would finish after their promises.
Mark A and B answered while you write
Tempting, but it misses something. Marking a status does not send a reply.
See how a strong candidate says it
“I can send A at 10:04, B at 10:08 and C at 10:12. D follows at 10:16.”
Why it works: Each four-minute reply finishes before its deadline in this order.
Step 3: How do you cover the new deadline?
Before any replies go out, an audit finds contact E was hidden after an automated acknowledgement. Its human reply is due 10:05. The duty lead has a confirmed 4-minute slot starting at 10:00 and can send E.
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Assign E to the duty lead and keep A, B and C
The strong move. Both agents can finish their first reply at 10:04.
Handle E first and keep all work yourself
Tempting, but it misses something. A and B would finish after their promises.
Wait for E to reopen on its own
Tempting, but it misses something. The conversation record already shows that E still needs a person to respond.
See how a strong candidate says it
“There are 4 replies due by 10:14. I can send 3 in that time. The lead can send E by 10:04 while I send A, then I can send B and C on time.”
Why it works: The confirmed parallel slot covers the earliest added promise without displacing another reply.
Step 4: What do you confirm with the duty lead?
What would you do here? Open the move you’d make.
Confirm E’s owner, send time and remaining case state
The strong move. This makes the parallel work visible without claiming resolution.
Close E as soon as you assign it
Tempting, but it misses something. The assignment does not confirm a reply or a resolution.
Ask the lead to take any contact
Tempting, but it misses something. A general request leaves E’s owner uncertain. Name who will send each reply and by when.
See how a strong candidate says it
“You own E’s reply by 10:04. Please confirm when it is sent. I’ll send A, B and C and keep each unresolved case open.”
Why it works: A named assignment and a sent event allow the queue owner to verify the promise.
The answer, in short
- Decision
- Give E to the duty lead and keep the original reply order.
- Because
- Four replies are due by 10:14. One agent can complete only three in that time.
- What would change it
- Without the confirmed lead slot, at least one deadline would slip. Alert the queue lead and record which promise is at risk.
Common traps
- Counting an acknowledgement as the promised human reply.
- Treating an assignment as delivery.
Check your answer
- Which event counts?
- How many replies are due by 10:14?
- How many can you send alone?
- Who owns E?
Last reviewed Nov 11, 2026