Automatic request assignment
Auto-assignment methods
The assignment method determines who is assigned to an issue when more than one person matches the qualification. In such cases, as an administrator, you can specify the following assignment methods 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. | If person A was assigned an issue at 9:00 A.M., and person B was assigned an issue at 10:30 A.M, the next issue is assigned to person A. |
Load Balance by Number | Assigns the issue to the person who has the fewest number of issue assignments. | If person A was assigned two issue and person B was assigned three issues, the next issue is assigned to person A. |
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, 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, the next issue is assigned to person B because of the lowest capacity ratio. But if person A and person B have a capacity rating of 10 and are assigned 10 issues, 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.
- The 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
| |
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 panel that shows the related processes for the selected form. If the form is used in more than one process, the Related Processes panel 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 panel that shows the related processes for the selected rule. If the rule is used in more than one process, the Related Processes panel 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 Assignment Engine.
Form name in Developer Studio | Description |
|---|---|
ASE:Administration | Used to configure processes, rules, and forms for Assignment Engine. |
ASE:Admin-ServerSettings | Used to configure logging for Assignment Engine. |
ASE:AssignAssoc_AssignForm | This form contains information from the ASE:Assignment Association and ASE: Form Information forms. Used for Assignment Engine internal processing. |
ASE:AssignAssoc_AssignRules | This form contains information from the ASE:Assignment Association and ASE: Assignment Rules forms. Used for Assignment Engine internal processing. |
ASE:Assignment Association | Used to store the process-to-form and process-to-rule mapping information. |
ASE:Assignment Process | Used to store information about the processes that are configured with Assignment Engine. |
ASE:Assignment Rules | Used to store information about the rules that are configured with Assignment Engine. |
ASE:AssignmentDetail | This form contains information from the ASE:Assignment Association and ASE:ProcessRuleForm forms. Used for Assignment Engine 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 | Used to store information about rules configured with Assignment Engine. |
ASE:LocalizedString_MenuItems | A menu; not listed in the Object List. |
ASE:ProcessRuleForm | Used to to store 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. For more information, see Integrating-the-Assignment-Engine-into-an-application.