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ADR 031 — WBP: Use INBOX_WHEN_QUEUED as Inbox Dimension for Contact Volume

Status

Accepted

Context

The WBP contact volume models (rpt_wbp_contact_volume_inbox, rpt_wbp_contact_volume_inbox_export) use an inbox dimension to classify contacts by the Gladly inbox they passed through. The contact export and timestamps tables expose two inbox fields per contact:

  • INBOX_WHEN_QUEUED — the inbox where the contact first appeared (queued)
  • INBOX_WHEN_ENDED — the inbox where the contact was assigned when it closed

A contact can be routed between inboxes during its lifecycle (e.g., opened in a general email queue and reassigned to a specialist inbox before closing). These two fields will differ for any contact that was rerouted.

This decision arose from a reconciliation spike (#1179) comparing our model output against a Gladly contact summary report (offline Excel sample). The Gladly summary uses INBOX_WHEN_ENDED as its inbox dimension. We evaluated which anchor better serves WBP's reporting needs.

This is a WBP-specific decision. CondeNast also uses Gladly but has different reporting requirements; inbox anchor decisions for CondeNast are made independently.

Decision

WBP contact volume models use INBOX_WHEN_QUEUED as the inbox dimension.

INBOX_WHEN_QUEUED captures where a contact first appeared in the queue, which is the best proxy for inbound volume distribution — how many contacts arrived in each inbox. This is the primary question for capacity planning and SLA tracking.

This may be reconsidered if WBP explicitly requests alignment with the Gladly contact summary report. In that case, switching to INBOX_WHEN_ENDED would bring our inbox counts closer to the Gladly native report, at the cost of misattributing rerouted contacts.

Consequences

Easier: - Inbox classification reflects where demand arrived, not where it was resolved - Consistent with the multi-date-spine approach (each metric on its own event date)

Harder / trade-offs: - Contact counts by inbox will not match the Gladly contact summary report, which uses INBOX_WHEN_ENDED. This divergence is expected and documented here. - A contact rerouted from one inbox to another will count toward its origin inbox in our model but toward its destination inbox in the Gladly summary.

Options Considered

INBOX_WHEN_QUEUED (chosen) Captures inbound demand. Best for volume forecasting, SLA measurement against where contacts arrive. Does not match the Gladly summary.

INBOX_WHEN_ENDED Matches the Gladly contact summary inbox dimension. Better for measuring where work was resolved. Misattributes rerouted contacts to the destination inbox instead of the origin.