Automatic request assignment

The Assignment Engine, which is installed with AR System, is a rule-based application that uses processes instead of workflow to automatically assign requests to individuals. The Assignment Engine administrator defines the processes and rules. (A process can have multiple rules.)

An entry in the Application Pending form provides the process name and request ID of the application request. Based on this input, the Assignment Engine executes the associated rules against a form where the assignee information is stored. The correct assignee is located and is set in a preconfigured field on the request form.

If multiple assignees are available, the predefined assignment methods are used to identify an assignee for the request. See Integrating-the-Assignment-Engine-into-an-application.

For information about configuring assignments using BMC Helix ITSM, see Configuring assignments.

Auto-assignment methods

The assignment method determines who is assigned to an issue 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 issue:

Assignment method	Description	Example
Round Robin	Assigns the issue to the person who has gone the longest since receiving an assignment.	Person A is selected when person A was assigned an issue at 9:00 A.M., and Person B was assigned an issue at 10:30 A.M
Load Balance by Number	Assigns the issue to the person who has the fewest number of issue assignments.	Person A is selected when Person A is assigned two issues and Person B is assigned three issues.
Load Balance by Capacity	Assigns the issue to the person who has the lowest capacity ratio.	If person A has a capacity rating of 10 and is assigned 5 issues, 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 issues, 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 issues, in this case, the next open issue 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 an issue. In such cases, the assignment does not happen in alphabetical or random order, but 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.

Assignment process flow

The assignment process flow is as follows:

The AR System client sends a request along with an application command. This command tells the Assignment Engine which process should be run to perform auto assignment.
Assignment Engine starts the process.
If a rule returns a set of assignees, Assignment Engine skips the execution of the remaining rules defined in the process, and starts applying the assignment method. However, if a rule does not return a set of assignees, Assignment Engine runs the next rule in the process.
Using the assignment method, Assignment Engine identifies a single assignee and the request is assigned.
After the request is assigned, the assignee record is updated, and the assignment process is successful. This record consists of the last assigned request time and the number of tickets currently assigned to the assignee.
If all the rules fail to return a set of assignees, the assignment process fails.

The following diagram shows the process flow of the assignment engine:

Assignment Engine Administration Console

To set up auto-assignment processes, forms, and rules, you use the Assignment Engine Administration Console.

The Assignment Engine Administration Console has these tabs:

Assignment Engine Administration Console tab	Description
Processes	Lists the processes that the Assignment Engine can use. Each process has a Process Name, which should be unique. Each process consists of a request form and a set of sequential rules, all of which you enter using the procedures described in the following sections.
Forms	Shows all forms registered with the Assignment Engine. To list forms used by a specific process, select the process name from the Show For Process list. The Forms tab also has a Related Processes table that shows the process for the form selected in the table. If the form is used in more than one process, the Related Processes table lists all those processes.
Rules	Shows all the rules in the Assignment Engine. To list rules used by a specific process, select the process name from the Show For Process list. The Rules tab also has a Related Processes table that shows the process for the rule selected in the table. If the rule is used in more than one process, the Related Processes table lists all those processes.

For information on Assignment Engine server settings, see Configuring-the-Assignment-Engine-server-settings.

Assignment Engine forms

The following table lists the forms that are installed when you install Remedy Assignment Engine.

Form name in Remedy Developer Studio	Description
ASE:Administration	Allows you to configure processes, rules, and forms for Assignment Engine.
ASE:Admin-ServerSettings	Allows you to configure logging for Assignment Engine.
ASE:AssignAssoc_AssignForm	This form is a join form of ASE:Assignment Association and ASE: Form Information. Assignment Engine uses this join form for internal processing.
ASE:AssignAssoc_AssignRules	This form is a join form of ASE:Assignment Association and ASE: Assignment Rules. Assignment Engine uses this join form for internal processing.
ASE:Assignment Association	Stores the process-to-form and process-to-rule mapping information.
ASE:Assignment Process	Stores information about the processes that are configured with Assignment Engine.
ASE:Assignment Rules	Stores information about the rules that are configured with Assignment Engine.
ASE:AssignmentDetail	This form is a join form of ASE:Assignment Association and ASE:ProcessRuleForm. Assignment Engine uses this join form for internal processing.
ASE:Config	This form is now obsolete. Do not use this form to modify the Assignment Engine configuration settings.
ASE:DialogYesNo	A dialog box; not listed in the Object List.
ASE:Form Information	Stores information about rules configured with Assignment Engine.
ASE:LocalizedString_MenuItems	A menu; not listed in the Object List.
ASE:ProcessRuleForm	Stores the process-to-rule mapping.
ASE:SearchRulesDialog	A dialog box; not listed in the Object List.

To set up assignments, you use only a few of these forms. See Integrating-the-Assignment-Engine-into-an-application.