What the HotKeys Active user option does

HotKeys Active is one of those small user settings that has an outsized effect on how fast an agent can work. Turned on, it lets an agent finish a call with a single keypress instead of clicking through the screen. Turned off, every call ends with mouse clicks. On a busy outbound floor, that difference adds up quickly.

What the option enables

When HotKeys Active is set on, the agent can use the HotKeys quick-dispositioning function in the agent screen. A Disposition is the outcome code an agent assigns to a call, things like sale, no answer, or not interested. Normally the agent picks one from a list and submits it. With HotKeys, each disposition is mapped to a key, so the agent presses one button and the call is closed and the next one begins.

By default this option is off. You switch it on per user when you want that user to have the faster keyboard-driven flow.

flowchart TD
  A[Call ends] --> B{HotKeys Active}
  B -->|on| C[Agent presses mapped key]
  C --> D[Disposition recorded instantly]
  B -->|off| E[Agent clicks disposition then submit]
  D --> F[Next call begins]
  E --> F

Why it matters for throughput

The time between one call ending and the next starting is dead time. Shaving a few seconds off each disposition raises Agent utilization and shortens Wrap-up time across the day. For high-volume campaigns where an agent might disposition hundreds of calls a shift, hotkeys are one of the cheapest ways to claw back productive minutes without changing anything about Dialer pacing.

There is a subtle pacing effect too. On a predictive campaign the dialer is constantly estimating how soon agents will free up. When agents close calls faster and more consistently with hotkeys, that estimate gets steadier, which can help keep the Drop rate down. It is not a substitute for proper pacing settings, but a floor full of agents who all disposition at the same brisk speed is easier for the dialer to predict than one where everyone hunts for the mouse at a different pace.

When to leave it off

Speed is not always what you want. New agents who are still learning the meaning of each disposition can mis-key a call and bury the mistake before they notice. Compliance-heavy campaigns sometimes want a deliberate click so the agent reads the screen before closing. For those roles, leave HotKeys off until the agent is fluent, then switch it on.

Because the setting lives on the user record, you can turn it on for your veterans and off for trainees on the same campaign. That kind of per-seat tuning is exactly what the users and groups model is built for: keep the team-wide policy at the group level and use per-user options for the exceptions.

If you are working through the agent-interface options one by one, the HotKeys toggle sits right next to recording behavior. Our explainer on the Agent Recording Override covers another agent-screen setting you will likely set at the same time, and the wider user permission matrix shows where every one of these toggles sits on the user record so you can review them together.

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