Overview: Tag routing (Console)

This article explains the concept of tag routing. Tag routing is a way of labeling interactions to help categorize and assign them.

In this article

Overview

Tags are skills that are assigned to users and added/removed from interactions based on the needs of the interaction.

​​When a queue is configured for tag routing, this queue always prioritizes delivering tagged interactions before any untagged interactions as long as the tags assigned to the interactions have a weight greater than zero. This means that the system delivers interactions that have tags configured with a weight greater than zero first. Untagged interactions and tagged interactions with a weight of zero are delivered only after all the tagged interactions with weights greater than zero are addressed. 

This optimized routing process for tagged interactions is called tag routing.

Sometimes a queue user isn’t available with the same tag as the interaction. If the system can’t find anyone (i.e. available and with the same tag), the tagged interaction is delivered based on the routing method of “Least Recent”, unless another method is configured for the queue. The system repeats this process for all tagged interactions.

Once all tagged interactions with weights greater than zero are delivered, the system proceeds by delivering the remaining untagged and tagged interactions with a weight of zero.

At times, a queue user needs specific skills to be able to manage an interaction. These skills are referred to as “required tags”. If an interaction has a “required tag” assigned to it, the interaction remains waiting in the queue until a queue user with the matching, required tag becomes available. This means that these interactions aren’t sent to a queue user unless that queue user has the matching, required tag.

Tag routing is an optional queue configuration, so queues can be configured to use it or not. This depends on the needs of the queue and the work completed in it.

Queues using tag routing

Tag routing is a queue setting. This means that you configure a queue to either use or not use tag routing as a method for routing interactions. 

All newly created queues have tag routing enabled as the default setting.

For queue users working in a queue, there isn’t a visual indicator that tag routing is enabled for the queue or not. 

Tag routing is a method for optimizing how and when an interaction is sent to the best available queue user. This means that a queue user might notice that tagged interactions are delivered before untagged interactions, but there isn't a visual indicator that this setting is enabled for the queue or not.

Tag routing process

Step 1: Interaction is tagged

The process starts with an interaction becoming tagged. An interaction is tagged by being processed through a workflow that has a Modify Tags module in it. 

Once the interaction is tagged, it’s sent to the queue to be officially created or updated, which is the case when an interaction becomes tagged while it’s already being hosted in a queue.

Step 2: System checks tag routing settings

Upon the tagged interaction reaching or being updated while in the queue, the system determines if the interaction is hosted in a queue that has the tag routing setting enabled or not.

After tag routing is determined, the system proceeds by delivering the interaction based on the queue’s tag routing setting. 

• If tag routing is enabled, the system knows to prioritize delivering tagged interactions before untagged interactions.The system proceeds with the next step in the tag routing process.

• If tag routing is disabled, the system doesn’t prioritize tagged interactions over untagged interaction. Instead, all interactions are prioritized equally. The system doesn’t work to match tagged interactions with the appropriate queue user. In short, the queue doesn’t take into account if an interaction is tagged or not - all interactions are routed the same. The system defaults to delivering interactions based on the “Least Recent” routing method, unless a different method is defined. 

Step 3: System checks for required tags

Once the system determines if tag routing is enabled for the queue, it then determines if there are required tags configured for the queue or not. 

This means that a queue can manage interactions that have tags and/or required tags. 

A required tag is a skill that is needed by a queue user to be able to process the interaction. If an interaction has a required tag, a queue user must also have a matching tag for the system to deliver the interaction to them. 

Step 4: System delivers tagged interactions

​​Now that the system knows if the queue has required tags or not, the system works to deliver the interaction. This can mean that the interaction is delivered to a queue user right away or it can wait in queue, depending on your queue’s settings

There are a few scenarios that can happen here, so review how the system proceeds based on each situation.

• Tagged interaction without required tags –  the system first looks for an available queue user with a matching tag. 

  • If a matching user is available, the interaction is delivered to that queue user. 

  • If a matching user isn’t available, the system delivers the interaction to the next available queue user based on the ‘Least Recent’ method or the routing method configured for the queue.

• Required tag interaction, queue user not available – the system looks for an available queue user with the matching required tag. 

  • If a matching user is available, the interaction is delivered to that queue user with the matching required tag. 

  • If a matching user isn't available, the interaction remains waiting in the queue until a queue user with the matching, required tag becomes available. This means that in this scenario the system moves on to deliver other tagged interactions until a queue user with the required skill tag becomes available. Once the skilled user becomes available, the system delivers the required tag interaction that has been waiting, even if there is another interaction with the same required matching tags. The system always prioritizes the older interaction because it has been waiting the longest.

Read more

• Overview: Tags

• Overview: Basic queue settings

• Overview: Modify Tags workflow module

• Overview: User tags settings