Note

   

This documentation supports the 20.20.01 version of BMC Helix Remedyforce.

To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Configuring automated assignment of records to staff members

To ensure that records assigned to queues are quickly distributed and resolved, you can configure the automated assignment of these records to staff members. Records can be automatically assigned to staff members who are part of the assigned queue by using the round robin method. If your staff members work in multiple shifts to resolve incidents and service requests, you can also configure the automated assignment of records based on business hours.

Note

How automated assignment of records to staff members works

Consider the following points about how the automated assignment of records to staff members works:

  • Records are not automatically assigned to staff members as soon as they are created. After you enable the queue and user assignment feature, configure automated assignment of records to staff members and start assignment automation, the Assignment Automation process runs every few minutes to check for the following: 
    • New records for which the Queue field is populated and the Staff field is blank.
    • Updated records for which the Queue field is populated and the Staff field is blank.
    • For the selected queue, at least one staff member is configured for automated assignment of records.
    Only the records that meet the above conditions are considered for further processing.
  • All rules for automated assignment of records to staff members are then applied to the new or updated records that are identified for further processing.
  • If multiple staff members that belong to a queue are selected for automated assignment, records are assigned to the staff members by using the round robin method. Consider the following points about how the round robin method works:
    • Staff members who are identified for the automated assignment of records are sorted based on the time when the last incident was assigned to them. A record is assigned to the staff member who was the earliest to be assigned an incident.
    • The record is assigned to the staff member who is at the top of this list; the last incident assigned time for this staff member is longer than any other staff member in the list.
    • If two staff members have the same last incident assigned time, the record is assigned to any one of the staff members.
    • Similarly, if none of the staff members have a last incident assigned time, the record is assigned to any one of the staff members. 
  • You can also enable the automated assignment of records to staff members based on business hours. Consider the following points about how the automated assignment based on business hours works:
    • Staff members who are selected for round robin assignment during specific business hours are automatically assigned records that are created only during those business hours.
    • The automated assignment of records is based on the timezone defined in the business hours, and not on the time zone of the staff members who are selected for automated assignment.
    • If the business hours of staff members selected for automated assignment are changed, the staff members are considered for automated assignment in their changed business hours.
      Example: Consider a staff member who belongs to Hardware queue, has business hours assigned as 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., and is selected for automated assignment. If the business hours are changed to 3:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M., the staff member is considered for automated assignment in the changed business hours.
  • If staff members of a queue 'X' are selected for automated assignment and later those members are assigned to a different queue 'Y', then the staff members are no longer considered for automated assignment in the 'X' queue.
  • The automated assignment of records to staff members is not implemented if a queue or staff member is no longer active after automated assignment is configured.

Before you begin

The following  table lists the actions that you must perform before configuring the automated assignment of records to staff members.

StepActionDetails
1.

(Optional) Create business hours for your organization. 

Perform this action if your staff members work in shifts and you want to configure automated assignment of records based on business hours. Although you can configure multiple business hours, at least one set of business hours must be configured as the default.

Best practice

We recommend that you create business hours that do not overlap.


Salesforce Help
2.

Create staff members who attend to incidents and service requests.

If your staff members work in shifts, select the appropriate business hours for each staff member.

Note: The Business Hours field is not displayed on the default Client form. You must add this field to the Main Panel field set in the User object and then assign the custom Client form to specific profiles.

Managing clients and staff members
3.Create queues and add staff members to the queues.

Configuring queues

Managing queues availability and assignment

4.

Enable assignment of records to both queues and staff members simultaneously by selecting the Enable Queue and User Assignment check box (Remedyforce Administration > Application Settings > Record Assignment).

Ensure that you also update existing QuickViews, email alerts, reports, and other settings to use the Queue and Staff fields instead of the Owner field.

Note: Automated assignment of records to staff members is supported only if you enable shared ownership of records (queue and user assignment feature).

Enabling assignment of records to both queues and staff members


The following video (4:51) shows how to configure automated assignment of records to staff members.

https://youtu.be/P5uOiofe_4E

To configure automated assignment of records to staff members

  1. Click the Remedyforce Administration tab.
  2. On the Home page, click the Application Settings tile, and from the menu select Record Assignment.

  3. In the Queue and User Assignment section, ensure that the Enable Queue and User Assignment check box is selected.
    The Configure Staff Auto Assignment button is displayed only if this check box is selected.
  4. Click the Configure Staff Auto Assignment button.
  5. In the Staff Auto Assignment for Incidents and Service Requests section on the Staff Auto Assignment tab, select from the following options:
    • When a record is created: Select this option to use the auto assignment functionality specifically for a newly created record.
    • When a record is created or updated: Select this option to use the auto assignment functionality for a newly created record or for an updated record with a blank Staff field.

    Note

    When you select the When a record is created or updated option, the Staff field never remains blank after a record update.

    On the Staff Auto Assignment tab, active queues available for the Incidents object are listed.

  6. From the Queue list, select the queue for which you want to configure the automated assignment of records to staff members.
    The Staff list displays all active staff members who belong to the selected queue. Only those staff members for whom the ServiceDesk Staff  check box is selected are displayed in this list. 
  7. (If only one set of business hours is configured in your organization) From the Staff list, select the check box for the staff members to whom you want to automatically assign records.
  8. (If multiple set of business hours is configured in your organization) To automate the assignment of records to staff members based on business hours, perform the following steps:
    1. Select the Enable Auto Assignment based on Business Hours check box.
    2. From the Filter by Business Hours list, select the appropriate business hours.
      Staff members for whom no business hours are selected are displayed when you select Default from the Filter by Business Hours list.
    3. From the Staff list, select the check box for the staff members to whom you want to automatically assign records.
    4. Repeat step b and step c to select staff members for each set of business hours.
    Configuring the automated assignment of records to staff members based on business hours ensures that incidents or service requests that are assigned to a queue during specific business hours are immediately routed to the selected staff members.
  9. Click Save.
  10. To configure the automated assignment of records to staff members that belong to another queue, repeat step 6 to step 9.

Note

To update the Business Hours and Account Name fields for users, we recommend you to use the Client form. In case you update these fields using the Standard User form, you will need to update the values for Account Name, Account ID, Business Hours, and Business Hours ID fields respectively.

To start or stop assignment automation

After you have configured the automated assignment of records to staff members for all required queues, you must start the Assignment Automation process. This process runs every few minutes and applies all assignment rules to the records. For more information, see how automated assignment of records to staff members works.

  1. Click the Remedyforce Administration tab.
  2. On the Home page, click the Application Settings tile, and from the menu select Record Assignment.
  3. In the Assignment Automation section, perform one of the following actions:

    • To start assignment automation, click Start.
    • To stop assignment automation, click Stop.

Best practice

BMC recommends that you do not stop the Assignment Automation process once the automated assignment of records has been initiated. If you stop and restart this process, any incidents or service requests created in the interim are not considered for automated assignment to staff members. 

Related topics

Configuring automated assignment of records to queues

Configuring record assignment

Troubleshooting issues when configuring automated assignment of records

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