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Depending on your needs and business processes, you can assign tasks to agents manually or by using the task auto assignment engine. This engine allows automating tasks assignment by various criteria, defined by conditions, and implement business logic before a task is assigned. Tasks auto assignment allows balancing employee workload, creating different rules for different kinds of tasks.

There are three types of auto assignment:

• Load Balancer – use this type to spread team load evenly. That is, if John Doe is already processing three tasks, he cannot take another one, so the current task will be automatically assigned to Barbara Wilson, who is processing two. So no employee within this team is overloaded with tasks. 

• Round Robin – use this type to assign tasks to users one after another, disregarding their workload. That is, if this time John Doe got a task, then next time a task will be assigned to Barbara Wilson.
• Custom – use this type to create a custom auto assignment rule with the help of the Condition Builder and scripts. For example, a custom rule with specific conditions (such as keywords in subject or description, highest priority, urgency, services affected, etc.) can assign one particular user competent enough for such a task.

Creating an assignment rule

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assignment rule form fields assignment rule form fields

To create a new assignment rule, please complete the steps below:

1. Navigate to Auto Assignment → New Rule.
2. Click New and fill in the fields.
3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

Load Balancer Elements 

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load balancer form fields

Specify a table extending from Task and containing objects to assign (like incidents, requests and so on).

Specify the assignment type. Available options:

• Custom – this type allows to define assignment logic more flexibly, even including scripting. 
• Load Balancer – this assignment type allows assigning tasks to responsible persons that are least loaded so far within the group specified. This metric represents the minimum amount of the incomplete tasks to the date per user group.
• Round Robin – this assignment type allows assigning tasks to responsible persons within the specified group interchangeably.

load balancer form fields

If you are creating a Load Balancer assignment type, you should define which tasks will not be taking into account while evaluating team's load. That is, you should exclude completed tasks works on which are finished. For this, complete the steps below:

1. Open the auto assignment rule of the Load Balance type.
2. Scroll down to the Related Lists area.
3. Open the Load Balance Element tab.
4. Click New and fill in the fields.
5. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

Specify the states that can be defined as "Completed". All other states related to this rule will be considered "incomplete".

You can specify more than one state in this field.

You can find an example with filled fields on the screenshot below.

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Round Robin Elements 

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round robin element from fields round robin element from fields

Round Robin Element stores information about the next group member to be assigned to a task. The count starts with "0" (group member 1). When the Current User Count field value is equal to "1", it mean that the next task will go to group member 2.

Unlike the load balance element, the system will create a relevant element automatically once the auto assignment rule executes. That us, the round robin element is not obligatory to create manually.

To create a round robin element, complete the steps below:

1. Navigate to Auto Assignment → Round Robin Elements.
2. Click New and fill in the fields.
3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes

This field allows to choose the system response options if the user to which the task should be assign is inactive. Available choice options:

• Restrict assigning
• Display warning
• Ignore

Specify a warning message. This field appears only if the Display warning option is selected in the Assigning to inactive user choice list.

Create a condition to meet before the assignment rule is triggered.

Use the Condition Builder to configure a filter that fits your needs. You can create complex AND and OR filters, more than one condition in one filter.

If you need to configure a general rule (for example, assign all tasks to a specified employee), then use a workaround by specifying a common condition like:

ID is not empty

Specify a responsible person for this kind of tasks.

This field appears only when selected Assignment Type option is Custom. 

Select this checkbox to specify the script implementing the advanced assignment logic.

This checkbox appears only when selected Assignment Type option is Custom.

Reference to a business rule containing the assignment logic (conditions, groups, and so on). This rule is automatically created when saving the form, and populating a business rule ID to the relevant field is automatically, too. 

You can manage this business rule later in an appropriate section (System Definition → Business Rules).

Specify a script implementing an advanced logic for a group assignment.

This field appears when the Use script checkbox is selected.

Specify a script implementing an advanced logic for a user assignment. 

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Absences and auto assignments

Auto assignment engine works in collaboration with personal schedule engine. If an agent is absent (on vacation, for example), they won't will not be assigned to a task. For this, the absence record must be should be created and approved for the person.

To create a new absence record, please complete the steps below:

1. Navigate to Personal Schedule → All Absences.
2. Click New and fill in the fields.
3. Click Save or Save and Exit to apply changes.

Personal absences form fields

In there, the employee's manager name will appear automatically after saving the record.

This person is responsible for the absence approval.

Specify an absence type. Available options:

• Absence
• Vacation
• Unpaid Vacation.

The absence state. Available options:

• Pending Approval
• Approved
• Rejected.