In this blog we will discuss:
- What is Omnichannel Routing?
- Problems Without Omnichannel
- How Task Assignment and Omnichannel Routing Work Together
- How the Routing Engine Makes Decisions
- Types of Omnichannel Routing
- How Skills-Based Routing Works in Contact Centers
- Why Skills-Based Routing Improves Agent Performance and Customer Experience
- Best Practices for Implementing Skills-Based Routing
- FAQs about Omnichannel Routing
What is Omnichannel Routing?
Omnichannel routing is a call center feature to automatically route different kinds of work items and interactions such as cases or leads to agents based on agent capacity, priority, and skills. It is a customer service and console-based feature. Work items such as cases or even leads automatically get assigned to an agent so that they can work on them.
Omni stands for all, which means everything at one place. A channel is a way to communicate such as phone, web, email, or live chat. Basically everything at one place is called Omnichannel.
Explore More About: What Is a Branded Caller ID and its Requirements, Security Framework, and Benefits
Problems Without Omnichannel
Without Omnichannel, when cases were getting assigned, some agents working very efficiently were getting overbooked with work, while some agents were not getting booked with work. Everybody was not utilized efficiently. Low priority issues were getting assigned while high priority issues were left behind.
Agents were assigning themselves low priority simple issues, leaving behind complex issues. Cases which require special skills should be assigned to agents who are trained to handle complex issues.
Some companies offer very complex products.
Different products require different sets of skills for a person to resolve those issues. In order to automate cases created for a specific product, they need to go to specific agents or a queue of agents with specific skills. That kind of problem is resolved by Omnichannel.
How Task Assignment and Omnichannel Routing Work Together
Initial Assignment Rules are a set of predefined rules on the basis of which system decides where a new interaction (case, call, ticket, message, or lead) should go immediately after it is created or received. Initial assignment rules assign an interaction to a particular queue, agent or team.
The behavior of omnichannel routing starts once a case is assigned to a queue based on initial assignment rules. Omnichannel routing is a contact center routing feature that automatically routes different kinds of work items to the most appropriate agent based on their availability, presence and skills.
If assignment rules assign any case directly to an agent, omnichannel routing does not work. If it assigns the case to the queue, omnichannel comes into play:
- If the queue is not configured with routing rules, the case remains in the queue until manually accepted.
- If configured with routing rules, it becomes an omnichannel queue and the routing engine routes the case to an agent.
Omnichannel routing assigns work based on conditions such as:
- Capacity
- Priority
- Availability
In omnichannel routing, if queue-based routing technique is used then only the available agent who already has capacity to work without burning out gets the case. Whereas, in skill based routing technique, in addition to availability and capacity, the presence of appropriate skill in an agent also matters in case assignment.
How the Routing Engine Makes Decisions
Omnichannel Routing engine routes the interactions based on logics and criteria. These criteria are
- Routing Priority Models
- Presence and Agent Eligibility
Routing Priority Models
Routing priority determines the order in which work items are pushed to agents.
Routing models include:
- Least Active: Work is assigned to the agent with the fewest number of open work items.
- Most Available: Work is assigned based on total capacity minus current work assigned.
Available capacity is calculated as:
Total capacity – Current assigned work
Depending on whether Least Active or Most Available is selected, the work is routed accordingly. The size of work items can also be configured. One case can equal one unit of capacity, or percentage-based capacity can be defined.
Presence and Agent Eligibility
Presence configuration defines maximum work capacity and agent availability status. Presence statuses can include:
- Available
- Busy
- On Break
- On Lunch
These statuses must be assigned to agent configurations. Omnichannel routing must also be added to the agent workspace interface. To receive work, an agent must be marked as available. Once a case is assigned to a configured queue, and all conditions such as availability and capacity are satisfied, the work item appears in the routing panel for the agent to accept or reject. If another user is idle and available, work is routed to them based on configuration.
Types of Omnichannel Routing
There are three types of Omnichannel routing:
- Queue-based routing
- Skill-based routing
- External routing
Queue-Based Routing
In queue-based routing, a case is created and assigned to a queue that contains multiple agents. A case can only be assigned to one agent. Without Omnichannel, an agent would manually assign the case to themselves. With Omnichannel routing, the case is automatically assigned from the queue to an agent.
Before assigning the case, Omnichannel checks:
- Whether the agent is present
- Whether the agent is available
- Whether the agent has capacity
For example, if an agent has a capacity to handle only two cases at a time and already has two cases assigned, their capacity is full. Another agent with no cases appears as the ideal candidate. Omnichannel assigns the case to that person, and the agent can accept or deny the case based on configuration.
External Routing
External routing is used when routing logic is implemented outside the primary contact center platform. If cases are automatically assigned to agents through third-party routing systems based on availability or skill set, the system can honor that routing and assign work items through the agent workspace interface.
Skill-Based Routing
Skill-based routing is more complex in nature. It is used when cases require special skills.
For example: certain agents are trained for car collisions while others are trained for truck-related accidents. Some agents can speak specific languages. So, cases are routed to agents based on product expertise, type of issue, language capability, availability and capacity
If a customer speaks a specific language or the issue relates to a specific product, the case is assigned to the agent who possesses those skills.
How Skills-Based Routing Works in Contact Centers
Skills-based routing is a call distribution strategy that directs inbound queries to the agent or group of agents with the skills best suited to meet the caller’s particular needs. It applies to VoIP calls, SMS texts, chat messages, and emails.
It routes incoming calls to available agents based on skill level rather than other factors like idle time, shortest queue, or preset sequence. Skills-based routing works by the phone system’s automatic call distribution or ACD technology analyzing the inbound call’s details and needs, then routing it to an agent with the best matching skill set.
The ACD gathers call details and context through multiple steps. First, self-service IVR ascertains the call reason. Then the CRM system describes purchase history and customer journey. Call tracking provides details like the phone number and location, and the customer’s profile shares insights like language preferences.
Additionally, the ACD system utilizes preset call routing rules such as business hours, caller location, and agent availability for fast and effective call assignment.
To configure skills-based routing rules in the contact center settings, administrators select skills to create agent skill types and indicate the communication channels, menus, queues, and call centers where these skills apply.
Next, administrators set each skill’s priority value so the ACD knows which skills to prioritize when a query involves multiple needs. Administrators then evaluate and score each agent 1 to 100 on their proficiency for each skill. When the ACD receives an inbound call, message, or email, it undergoes the following process:
- First, it determines call needs and context.
- Second, it checks agent availability and skill levels.
- Third, it routes the call to the agent with the highest scores for the highest priority skills.
Skills-based routing distributes calls based on agent skill rather than other ACD routing rules such as agent idle time, business schedules, preset orders, or customer relationships and interaction history.
Why Skills-Based Routing Improves Agent Performance and Customer Experience
Skill-based routing improves the agent performance and customer experience by:
- Improving Agent Effectiveness and Productivity
- Developing Customer Trust and Satisfaction
- Utilizing Agents Effectively without Overtraining
- Enhancing First Call Resolution
Improved Agent Effectiveness and Productivity
Skills-based routing ensures that agents receive tickets regarding the issues and topics most in line with their expertise and experience. This leads to more effective agents, as well as happier and more confident ones. Agents can better resolve queries when the call’s topic, language, and needs reflect their specialties, knowledge, and familiarity. A higher agent success rate fuels greater agent productivity, confidence, and satisfaction.
Stronger Customer Trust and Satisfaction
Customers feel reassured when they believe their agent has the knowledge and abilities to serve them. This is best for both in customer support, when customers want an agent with proper tools and know-how, and in sales, when customers expect an agent to know the product offerings well enough to give them the best deal.
Smarter Specialization Without Overtraining
With the skills-based routing strategy, not every call center agent needs to have expertise on all topics. Agents can utilize the channels, languages, and topics they already know well or have experience with.
Higher First Call Resolution and SLA Performance
Skills-based routing utilizes ACD and IVR automation to route calls to the right agent immediately, increasing the first call resolution rate and meeting service level agreements (SLAs) more often. A skills-based distribution rule reduces the chances of routing to a poorly qualified agent who would then have to route the call to someone more specialized.
Best Practices for Implementing Skills-Based Routing
The following practices help ensure that a skills-based routing system functions optimally:
Use Customer Data to Determine Which Skills to Evaluate
Use CRM data, IVR records, call logs, and customer profiles to determine which skills to feature for routing and agent scoring. Look for frequently recurring metric results, product pages clicked, channels utilized, call reasons, products requiring support, IVR menu questions, or languages spoken. Use these recurring needs to determine the most important categories for agent skills.
Consider Skills by Category
When setting up skills-based routing, many phone systems prompt you to first enter skill categories before entering specific skills. For example, language spoken and channels are skill categories, while Spanish and SMS are specific agent abilities. This distinction helps the intelligent routing system evaluate multiple agent skills concurrently, improving matching effectiveness and preventing random assignment when two agents score a tie for a given skill.
Match Agent Staffing with Skill Demand
As you decide which skills to use as routing criteria, notice each skill’s popularity and activity demands. Depending on your customer base, some skills, channels used, languages spoken, or product knowledge will generate more demand than others. The most demanded skills, such as the most commonly spoken customer language, should have the highest number of proficient agents.
Monitor Key Analytics
Track the effectiveness of your omnichannel routing strategy and make necessary adjustments. Monitor KPIs and analytics such as average queue length, customer wait time, ticket handling time, and customer satisfaction score. Mark starting points before implementing skills-based routing and then indicate KPI goals over time. If you are not seeing improvement, look more deeply into these metrics to determine bottlenecks or instances of sub-optimal routing.
FAQs about Omnichannel Routing
What is the difference between queue-based, skill-based, and external routing?
In queue-based routing, a case is created and assigned to a queue that contains multiple agents. With Omnichannel routing, the case is automatically assigned from the queue to an agent.
Skill-based routing is used when interactions require special skills. So, cases are routed to agents based on product expertise, type of issue, language capability, availability and capacity.
External routing is used when cases are automatically assigned to agents through third-party routing systems based on availability through the agent workspace interface.
How does omnichannel routing decide which agent gets a task?
Omnichannel routing assigns work based on conditions such as:
- Capacity
- Priority
- Availability
Why doesn’t omnichannel routing work when tasks are assigned directly to agents?
If assignment rules assign any case directly to an agent, omnichannel routing does not work. If it assigns the case to the queue, omnichannel comes into play. If the queue is not configured with routing rules, the case remains in the queue until manually accepted. If configured with routing rules, it becomes an omnichannel queue and the routing engine routes the case to an agent.
