ContactNow: An agent has already logged in from this number
Symptom
When an agent attempts to log their phone into ContactNow using Agent On Demand (AOD), they receive the following error:
"An agent has already logged in from this number."
Note: Please see the following articles when an agent attempts to log in via phone and receives a different error:
Applies To
This issue applies only to agents attempting to log in to the Agent On Demand (AOD) service on ContactNow, by dialing the AOD login phone number (669) 245-4253.
Cause
This issue happens when all of these conditions are met:
- More than one agent is attempting to log into the Agent On Demand service
- Each agent's phone is presenting the same outbound caller ID phone number, such as an 8x8 Work virtual or toll-free number.
- The AOD Lock feature is not enabled for the affected agents.
The outbound caller ID number is used by ContactNow to identify and call the AOD agent when an inbound call is routed to them. If every agent presented the same phone number as caller ID, there would be no way for the service to correctly route that inbound call to a specific agent.
Resolution
Some administrators prefer that their agents present the same caller ID phone number when they make routine outbound calls from their phone extensions.
There are two solutions to this issue:
- Permanently change the agent's AOD settings to have the service call them directly.
- Temporarily change the outbound Caller ID for AOD login.
Change the Agent's AOD Settings
This is generally the easiest solution.
Using the following procedure, inbound calls to each specific agent will always be presented to the AOD DID entered:
- In Configuration
> Agents, Teams, and Queues > Agents, click on the gear icon 
for each affected agent and select Edit. - Update the listed AOD DID to the direct inbound phone number that the agent's inbound queue calls should always be routed to.
- Set AOD Lock to ON.
- Click Update.
- Agents who are currently logged in to the ContactNow dialer must log out and log back in to activate the change.
Temporarily Change the Outbound Caller ID for AOD Login
To resolve this issue without using the AOD Lock, have the agent follow these simple steps:
- Before logging on to Agent On Demand, change your Caller ID number so that your next outbound call will present the extension's real, direct phone number.
- Log in to Agent On Demand.
- Immediately change the Caller ID back to the phone number that your administrator wants others to see when you call them. This step will not affect the current AOD session.
These steps must be performed each time the agent logs into ContactNow using Agent On Demand.
Users of 8x8 Virtual Office can make these temporary changes in the Virtual Office Desktop app, as below.
Work for Desktop
Users of Work for Desktop can change their outbound caller ID before logging in to Agent On Demand by doing the following:
- Log into Work for Desktop.
- Click on the Status icon in the upper-left corner of Work for Desktop. This is typically displayed as a circle with your initials or photo.
- Click on the phone number in the Caller ID field and select the direct phone number assigned to your phone extension. This phone number is displayed at the top of the Status display, next to the extension number.
- Once this is done, log into Agent On Demand. AOD will call you back as needed at that direct phone number.
- Then immediately follow the above steps to return the Caller ID setting to the desired phone number for all other outbound calls.
Note that changing the outbound Caller ID does NOT ever change the direct (inbound) phone number of your phone extension. It only changes the phone number that is displayed to others when you call them.