Assignment Rules automatically route incoming conversations to the right team members based on criteria you define. Reduce manual triage and ensure customers get help from the best-suited agent.
Overview
Assignment rules help you:
- Route by expertise - Technical issues to engineers
- Prioritize VIPs - Enterprise customers to senior agents
- Balance workload - Round-robin distribution
- Handle by region - Route by time zone or language
Creating Assignment Rules
- Go to Settings → Assignment Rules
- Click New Rule
- Define conditions
- Choose assignee(s)
- Set priority order
- Save the rule
Conditions
Conversation Properties
| Condition | Description |
|---|---|
| Channel | Email, Chat, Slack |
| Subject contains | Keywords in email subject |
| Message contains | Keywords in message body |
| Has tag | Specific tag applied |
Contact/Company Properties
| Condition | Description |
|---|---|
| Company | Specific company |
| Company plan | Starter, Pro, Enterprise |
| Contact email domain | Route by email domain |
| Custom field | Any custom contact/company field |
Assignment Methods
Specific Agent
Assign directly to a named team member. Useful for:
- Account owners handling their accounts
- Specialists for specific topics
Round Robin
Distribute evenly across a group of agents:
- Select agents to include
- Conversations rotate through the list
- Respects agent availability status
Least Busy
Assign to the agent with the fewest open conversations:
- Balances workload automatically
- Considers only agents in the selected group
Team Queue
Don't assign immediately - place in a team queue:
- Agents pick up conversations manually
- Good for specialized teams
Rule Priority
Rules are evaluated top to bottom. The first matching rule wins.
- Drag rules to reorder priority
- Put specific rules above general rules
- If no rules match, conversation stays unassigned
Example Order
- Enterprise customers → Assign to Senior Support
- Billing questions → Assign to Billing Team
- Technical issues → Assign to Engineers
- All other → Round-robin Support Team
Availability
Assignment rules respect agent availability:
- Available - Can receive assignments
- Away - Skip in round-robin
- Offline - Not included in assignment
Agents can set their status from the top navigation bar.
Fallback Rules
Configure what happens when no rules match or all agents are unavailable:
- Leave unassigned - Manual pickup required
- Assign to default - Specific fallback agent
- Notify channel - Alert Slack channel
Testing Rules
- Click Test Rules in settings
- Select a sample conversation
- See which rule would match
- Verify the expected assignee
Analytics
Track assignment rule performance in Analytics:
- Conversations assigned per rule
- Response time by rule
- Unassigned conversation rate