_ExcerptTimezones

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the global standard for dates and times. ContactWorld Perform expresses all times, for example in schedules and shifts, in UTC with a local offset. For example, UTC+1 indicates a location one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. Daylight Savings Time (DST) settings define the dates when the clocks go forwards and backwards in any location.

Different locations can share the same UTC offset, but have different DST settings. For example, one location in UTC+1 might put their clocks for a week before another location in UTC+1. For that week the clocks in the first location are an hour ahead of the second location.

To take into account UTC offsets and DST settings in all locations around the world, software often uses Timezone Locations, which define the UTC offset and the dates that local clocks will change. ContactWorldPerform uses the default Timezone Location of UTC – Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, as Vonage Contact Center is based in the United Kingdom; clocks in the UK go forwards and backwards at the same time as Portugal. (Other Timezone Locations in UTC are UTC – Casablanca and UTC – Monrovia, Reykjavik. Clocks in these Timezone Locations go forwards and backwards on different dates from UTC – Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London so cannot share the same Timezone Location.)

With regards to ContactWorld Perform, agents in different locations can share the same UTC offset, but have different DST settings. You must therefore set the Timezone Location for each of your agents within their Agent Profile. Setting the correct Timezone Location for your agents ensures that shifts are adjusted both for local timezones and at the right time of year for local DST settings. Using Timezone Locations, you can use the same Shift Patterns for agents in different locations around the world as the shifts reflect the agents' local times all year around.

Your agents' shifts are represented on the schedule in UTC, with any local offsets already applied, showing you the the overall spread shifts against the UTC clock. When you publish the schedule, your agents' shifts are translated back into local time within their Schedule reminder emails.