Configuring automatic assignment rules for individuals

After you have configured BMC Service Request Management assignment events, you can configure individual assignment options. 

By default, Service Request Management uses the round robin method in the Assignment Engine to assign service requests and work orders. You can configure Service Request Management to use different assignment processes for Work Order Managers and for Work Order Assignees.

When Work Order Management uses approvals, the Assignment Engine checks the assignment rules for the approver's company. If no rules are found, the Assignment Engine uses the rules defined for Global.

You can also define custom individual assignment information for work orders by using the Assignment Engine. For more information about configuring the Assignment Engine for assignment to individuals, see the Integrating the Assignment Engine into an application .

Automatic assignment methods

The assignment method determines who is assigned to a work order when more than one person matches the qualification. In such cases, the following assignment methods can be specified in an assignment rule to automatically assign the work order:

• Round Robin—Assigns the work order to the person who has not received any assignments for the longest duration.
  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.
• Load Balance by Number—Assigns the work order to the person who has the fewest number of issue assignments.
  For example, if person A is assigned 2 work orders and person B is assigned 3 work orders, person A is selected.

• Load Balance by Capacity—Assigns the work order 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 work orders, then 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 work orders, then the capacity ratio is 8/20=0.4. In this case, person B is selected because of the lowest capacity ratio.

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

For the Load Balance by Number and Load Balance by Capacity assignment methods, it is possible that two or more people qualify for a work order. In such cases, the assignment happens in the sequence in which the records are fetched. This sequence is determined by the sort order on the assignee form, if specified; else, in the order in which the records are created.

To configure automatic assignment rules for individuals

1. In the Application Administration console, click the Custom Configuration tab.

2. From the Application Settings list, select Service Request Management > Work Order > Rules, and click Open.
   For Company/Group Rule, the Company option is selected. 

   Important

    You cannot select the Group option as BMC reserves it for future use.

3. Select the company for which to configure assignment, or select the Global option.
   Selecting Global configures assignment for all companies.
4. From the Work Order Rule Status list, select Enabled if you want this assignment to be available to users.
5. In Assignment Engine , perform the following steps to automatically assign work orders to individuals:
   1. Set Assignment Engine Integration to Yes.
   2. From the Assignment Process Manager list, select the appropriate assignment method:
      • Work Order Manager Assignment - Capacity
      • Work Order Manager Assignment - Number
      • Work Order Manager Assignment - Round Robin
   3. From the Assignment Process Assignee list, select the appropriate assignment method:
      • Work Order Assignee Assignment - Capacity
      • Work Order Assignee Assignment - Number
      • Work Order Assignee Assignment - Round Robin
6. From Create Service Request on the Submit list, select Yes or No.
   If you select Yes, when a user submits a work order, a corresponding service request is created. The user can view this service request and its status, by using the Request Entry console.

7. Click Save.
   To modify a rule from the Work Order Configuration Rules form, search for the appropriate rule, and open it.

To remove an individual from auto-assignment

Set the Assignment Availability field on the People record to No as described in Configuring assignments