Routing and assignment by turn, load or skill
Routing rules send each new ticket to the right team by issue type, customer and site. The team then gives it to a technician: by hand, in turn, to the least loaded member, or by skill.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Every new complaint lands with one coordinator, who forwards it by phone or WhatsApp and loses track of who has what.
- The same two technicians get every job while others sit idle.
- An AC fault goes to the network engineer because nobody checked who can fix it.
- A ticket sits unassigned overnight and nobody notices until the customer calls.
How it works
- Set up your teams, each with a Team Lead, Members and an Assign Method. Manual is the method to start with.
- Add Routing Rules under Helpdesk > Configuration: the Issue Types, Customers and Sites a rule is for, and the Team it sends to. An empty column means any.
- When a ticket is raised, the most specific rule that fits picks the team. A rule naming an issue type and a customer wins over one naming only the issue type. Between equal rules, the one higher in the list wins.
- Without a rule, it goes to the site's team, else the customer's Default Team, else the issue type's team, else the Entity's first team.
- The team's method picks the technician at once. With Manual, the ticket waits in the queue and the Team Lead is told there is a ticket to assign.
- Anyone can press Assign to Me, or choose the Technician and add Helpers. The ticket moves from New to Assigned and the technician is told.
Everything it does
Assign methods (per team)
- Manual: the Team Lead assigns each ticket; this is the method a new team starts with
- Round Robin: the members in turn, starting after the last person who got one
- Least Open Tickets: the member with the fewest open tickets, counted across all teams
- By Skill, then Least Open: members who have every skill the issue type needs, then the fewest open tickets. If nobody has the skills, all members
Routing rules
- Columns: Issue Types (a rule for a parent type also covers its sub-types), Customers, Sites (Growth) and Team
- Most specific rule first, then the order of the list; drag lines to change the order
On the ticket
- Technician (the lead) and Helpers, so several people can work one job
- Assign to Me button, on the web and in the app
- Assigning a New ticket moves it to Assigned and records when it was assigned
- Filters Unassigned and My Tickets (where you are the technician or a helper)
- Automatic assignment happens when the ticket is raised; if you change the team later, choose the technician yourself
Who uses it
Helpdesk AdministratorSets up teams, assign methods and routing rules.
Team LeadAssigns tickets on manual teams and moves work between members.
Technician / AgentTakes tickets with Assign to Me and works the ones given to them.
Service ManagerSees all tickets and the load of each technician.
Where you use it
- Web: Helpdesk > Configuration > Tickets > Teams and Helpdesk > Configuration > Routing and Service Levels > Routing Rules, and the ticket form
- The SmartMy Desk app: the Queue with Mine and Unassigned, and Assign to Me on a ticket. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not by location: rules do not pick the nearest technician, and there is no route planning
- Not by skill level: levels are kept on technicians, but routing checks only whether the skill is there
What you control
Settings
- Assign Method per team: Manual to start with; Round Robin, Least Open Tickets or By Skill, then Least Open
- Skills Needed per issue type, and each technician's skills under Technician Skills
- Default Team on a customer and on a site; Team on an issue type
Notifications
- New Ticket to Assign: to the Team Lead when a new ticket has no technician, in the app's Inbox. App push is built and not switched on yet
- Ticket Assigned: to the technician when someone else gives them a ticket, in the app's Inbox
- Both go out at once; a person can switch off a channel, not the message
Works with
SmartMy HRMSAn employee's ticket can go to the team set on their department.
SmartMy CampusA student's ticket goes to the department's team, or to the class teacher or head of department if the issue type says so.
SmartMy Hostel and SmartMy FeastTickets take the team set on the hostel or on the food outlet.
Questions
Does a ticket go to someone who is on leave?
The methods look at the team's members, not at today's attendance. Take a person out of the team while they are away, or assign by hand.Can two technicians work on one ticket?
Yes. One is the Technician, the others are Helpers. All of them see it under My Tickets.What happens when nobody in the team has the skills?
Then the ticket goes to the member with the fewest open tickets, skilled or not. It is never left unassigned.Can a rule send one customer's tickets to their own team?
Yes. Name the customer in a rule, or set their Default Team. A rule wins.Is routing in the Starter plan?
Yes. Rules by issue type and customer, and every assign method, are in every plan. Rules by site come with Growth, where sites are.Related features
SET-UPTeams, working hours and stagesEach service team has its members, a lead, its own working hours and holidays, and its own email address. Tickets move through stages you name, and a waiting stage stops the response-time clock while you wait on the customer, parts or a quote.SET-UPTechnician skills, saved replies and tagsRecord which technician has which skill and at what level, so tickets can go to someone who can do the job. Answer common questions with saved replies typed in two keystrokes, and sort tickets with coloured tags that can also set response times.RESPONSE TIMESEscalation before a target is missedEscalation rules act when a share of a response-time target has passed, such as 75 % or 100 %. Each level tells the team lead, the customer's account manager or people you name, and can hand the ticket to them.SET-UPKinds of issue with their own raise formKinds of issue form a tree, such as AC > Not cooling. Each kind decides its team, skills, priority and who may raise it. It also sets the questions on the raise form and whether a photo, site or unit is required.MORE IN THE PRODUCTWall screen for a TV and the board in the appPut a live board of your service office on a TV. It shows open and unassigned tickets, targets due soon and missed, who is on site and where, each technician's load and today's visits. Team leads see the same board in the app.PHONE APPThe technician appYour technicians work their tickets on the phone. They get a queue with the time left on each target, the ticket with directions and a call button, and the timer. They wait, resume and solve with the customer's closing code or signature.
See one of your own jobs run through it.
Tell us how a complaint reaches you today and what you bill for. We will show you the same job in SmartMy Desk.