Set an automatic inactivity timeout

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Genesys Cloud provides an automatic inactivity timeout feature that logs out users after a specified idle period, changing their presence to Offline and returning them to the login prompt. Administrators with Directory > Organization > Admin permissions can configure timeouts between 5 minutes and 8 hours at the organization-wide level, for specific user groups, or both. When agents are logged out while On Queue, their routing status automatically changes to Off Queue, requiring them to log back in and manually return On Queue to accept new interactions. The feature functions across desktop, web, mobile apps, and custom clients, supports single sign-on (SSO) environments, and can exclude APIs from resetting the inactivity timer. Group-specific timeouts override organization-wide settings for applicable users, and administrators can establish priority-based group bundles to control which timeout applies when users belong to multiple groups. Genesys Cloud supports creation of up to five group bundles containing up to 25 groups total, with configurable API exclusions from inactivity timeout resets. Activity in Genesys Cloud is determined by API calls, including background requests made by the user interface for data fetching and log saving, all of which reset the idle timeout. Administrators can enable or disable default APIs through a toggle switch, with Genesys recommending exclusion of specific APIs including api/v2/featuretoggles, api/v2/diagnostics/newrelic/insights, api/v2/diagnostics/trace, api/v2/integrations/clientapps, and api/v2/users/me. Custom APIs can be excluded by entering their paths in the Custom APIs field, which displays matching options during input; excluded APIs can be removed from the list as needed. Organizations with HIPAA compliance face a mandatory 15-minute timeout requirement, and when inactivity timeout is enabled, the maximum allowable duration is 15 minutes. After automatic logout, users return to the same page upon re-authentication. The feature helps organizations manage costs and security risks associated with unattended sessions. Genesys does not recommend this feature for organizations using Genesys Cloud mobile apps, and when enabled, the system does not provide refresh tokens for code authorization. Genesys recommends supplementing this feature with supervisor logout capabilities and user training on logout best practices, as users retain primary responsibility for logging themselves out.

PrerequisitesClick to expand

Administrators can set Genesys Cloud to log out users automatically after a specified period of inactivity. When Genesys Cloud logs out a user due to inactivity, it changes their presence to Offline and returns the user to the login prompt. After the user logs back in, they return to the same page they were on before Genesys Cloud automatically logged them out.

If a user is an agent and is On Queue, their routing status changes to Off Queue when they are logged out. To accept new interactions, agents must log in and go back On Queue. Also, when this setting is enabled, Genesys Cloud does not provide a refresh token for code authorization.

The timeout applies to either an entire organization (all members of the organization) or specific user groups. Administrators can also set different timeouts to multiple user groups, either independently or in combination with the organization-wide timeout. It works for both desktop and web app users, embedded client, or a custom-developed client; and works for organizations that use single sign-on (SSO). For more information about the best practices for embeddable framework, see Understanding Inactivity Timeout Functionality in Embeddable Framework in the Genesys Cloud Developer Center.

Note: Genesys does not recommend this feature for organizations that use the Genesys Cloud mobile apps.

To enable the automatic timeout and set the amount of idle time before Genesys Cloud logs out a user, complete the following steps:

Click Menu > Account > Organization Settings.
Click the Authentication tab.
To set an organization-wide inactivity timeout, follow these steps:
1. Under Inactivity Timeout > Organization-wide timeout, select the Enable organization-wide inactivity timeout checkbox.
2. In the Timeout minutes field, enter the amount of time in minutes or hours, depending on the selected time unit. You can also use the increase and decrease arrows to adjust the value. The field allows any value between five minutes and eight hours (480 minutes).
To set inactivity timeouts for specific user groups, follow these steps:
1. Under Inactivity Timeout > Group-specific timeout, select the Enable group-specific inactivity timeout checkbox.
  Note: If you enable both the organization-wide and group-specific timeouts, the group-specific timeout overrides the organization-wide timeout for the users who belong to the selected user groups.
2. Click Expand. The Group Bundles section appears. Group bundles let you organize groups by priority so that you can control which settings apply when users belong to multiple groups.
3. Under Priorities, set the timeout value in the Timeout minutes field.
4. From the Groups list, select the groups to include in the bundle.
5. (Optional) Click Add bundle to add more group bundles as needed.
6. To arrange the group bundles in priority order, drag and drop the group bundle tiles as needed. The priority setting allows you to define which group bundle timeout takes precedence when a user belongs to multiple group bundles.
  Note: You can create up to five group bundles and include up to 25 groups across all bundles.
Under Excluded APIs > Default APIs, use the toggle switch to enable or disable any of the default APIs. The enabled APIs cannot reset the inactivity timeout. Genesys recommends that you exclude the following APIs from resetting the timer:
- api/v2/featuretoggles
- api/v2/diagnostics/newrelic/insights
- api/v2/diagnostics/trace
- api/v2/integrations/clientapps
- api/v2/users/me
In the Custom APIs box, type the path of the API that you want to exclude from resetting the inactivity timeout. As you type, the system shows a list of matching APIs from which you can select the required API. The selected APIs cannot reset the inactivity timeout. To remove an API from the exclusion list, click Remove from list.
Note: Genesys Cloud determines activity by calls to the API. Even if the user is not typing or actively working with Genesys Cloud, the user interface can make a request on behalf of the user, for example, fetch data to keep the application up to date or saving application logs. Any request resets the idle timeout. Use the Default APIs to Exclude from Inactivity Timeout toggle and the Custom APIs to Exclude from Inactivity Timeout field to specify the APIs that Genesys Cloud must prevent from a timer reset.
- Organizations with HIPAA enabled automatically have a 15-minute inactivity timeout, even if the inactivity timeout is off. If the inactivity timeout is on, the maximum amount of time allowed for the timeout is 15 minutes.
- This feature provides an additional layer of functionality to help customers control security implications for users who forget to log out when they leave stations. Genesys recommends that customers also use the supervisor feature to log out agents and extend training to the agents to enforce best practices to log out. It is the user’s responsibility to log themselves out.

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