Configuring automatic ticket assignments

As an administrator, you can configure tickets to be automatically assigned to support groups based on the organization, location, service, and categorization. Optionally, you can also configure tickets to be automatically assigned to individuals within a support group. 

Before you begin

Support groups must be configured. 

Organizations, locations, services, and categorization must be configured before they can be used for automatic assignments.

To configure ticket assignments to support groups

1. In Mid Tier, from the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Foundation  > Configure Assignment  > Configure Application Assignment, and then click Open.
   The Configure Assignment form is displayed.
3. To change the Configure Assignment form to New mode, click New Request.

4. In the Event field, select the type of assignment entry.
   For example, to assign an Owner Group to incidents, select Incident Owner. The Owner Group is responsible for ensuring that the customer is satisfied with the incident resolution and for closing the incident.
   

   Important

   For major incidents, ensure that you configure Major Incident Manager and Communication Coordinator events.

5. Select a status for the assignment entry.
   For an active assignment, the status should be Enabled.
6. In the Assignment area, select the support company, support organization, and assigned group.
7. (Optional) In the Routing Order area, you can specify when the assignment entry should be used for the automated assignment.
8. In the Available Systems area, select the BMC Helix ITSM modules to which to apply the assignment entry.
   For example, you can create an assignment entry that applies only to the Incident Management module. This enables you to select different support groups for assignment, even if the mapping selections are the same.

For more information about configuring ticket assignments, see  Configuring assignments .

To configure ticket assignments to individuals within a support group

The Assignment Engine can automatically assign tickets to individuals. You configure this assignment from the rules form for each ticket type, such as Incident Rules and Work Order Rules.

1. In Mid Tier, from the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.

2. From the Application Settings list, select the applicable module, such as Service Request  Management, then the ticket type, such as  Work  Order, then Rules, and click Open.

3. Select the company for which to configure assignment, or select the  Global  option.
   Selecting Global configures assignment for all companies.
4. Set  Assignment Engine Integration  to  Yes .
   Along with the other ticket types, the major incident management process follows this assignment method.
5. For each type of assignee, select an assignment method.
   For example, for work orders, you configure the assignment method for the work order manager and for the work order assignee.
6. Click Save.

To enable automatic assignment of Live Chat tickets to a support agent

Incidents or work orders in Smart IT that are created from a Live Chat conversation can be automatically assigned to the support agent who last handled that chat conversation .

This setting can be enabled from Centralized Configuration.

1. In Mid Tier, from the Application list, select AR System  Management Console > AR System Server Group Console > Server Group Configuration.
2. From the Work on Component Type menu, select com.bmc.arsys.smartit.
3. Click Load Settings.
4. From the Global Settings table, select the assignTicketToLiveAgent parameter and click Add To Update Settings under that table.
   For information about this parameter, see Centralized configuration.
5. Set Update Selected Rows With Value to True and click Update.
6. Click Save All Rows.

Methods for automatically assigning tickets to individuals

The following methods are available from the Rules forms:

• Round Robin — Assigns the issue to the person who has gone the longest since receiving an assignment.
  For example, if person A was last assigned an issue at 9:00 A.M., and person B was assigned an issue at 10:30 A.M., person A is selected.

  Important

  You can use this assignment process for Major Incident Managers and Communication Coordinators as well.

• Load Balance by Number — Assigns the issue to the person who has the fewest number of issue assignments.
  For example, if person A is assigned 2 issues and person B is assigned 3 issues, person A is selected.

• Load Balance by Capacity — Assigns the issue to the person who has the lowest capacity ratio.
  Consider the following example:

  If person A has a capacity rating of 10 and is assigned 5 issues, the capacity ratio is 5/10=0.5 (Assigned issues/Capacity rating=Capacity ratio).

  Similarly, if person B has a capacity rating of 20 and is assigned 8 issues, the capacity ratio is 8/20=0.4. In this case, person B is selected because of the lower capacity ratio.

  But if person A and person B have a capacity rating of 10 and are assigned 10 issues, in this case, the next open issue is assigned to the person who has gone the longest since receiving an assignment.

To remove an individual from automatic assignment

On the People record for the individual, set the  Assignment Availability  field to  No.