Assignment Rule form

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Assignment Rule form

    The Assignment Rule form in ServiceNow’s Advanced Work Assignment (AWA) enables managers to create and configure rules that determine how work items are assigned to agents. This form is critical for automating and optimizing the distribution of work based on various criteria such as agent availability, skills, shift schedules, and workload capacity.

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    Key Features

    • Name and Application: Define the assignment rule’s name and associate it with a specific application, defaulting to Global.
    • Assign By: Choose how work items are routed:
      • Last Assigned: Assigns work to the agent who has been idle the longest.
      • Most Capacity: Assigns work to the agent with the most availability.
    • Auto-Assign Handling: Automatically accepts work items for agents without requiring manual acceptance or rejection. When enabled, agents cannot manually accept or reject work items. Display options allow configuring how accepted interactions appear (Inbox card only or Inbox with workspace tab).
    • Rejection Handling: Allows agents to reject work items and enables reassignment if work items are not accepted or rejected within a specified timeout period. Timeout settings include duration and the agent’s presence state after timeout (Available, Away, Offline). This feature is disabled when auto-assign is enabled.
    • Skill Handling: Supports skill-based routing by enabling skill evaluation and enforcement of mandatory skills to ensure work items are assigned to the most qualified agents.
    • Shift Handling: Assigns work based on agents’ shift schedules. Features include:
      • Enabling shift-based assignment.
      • Adding time constraints such as the time required to complete work and continuous availability requirements.
      • Selecting agents based on least or most time left in their shifts.

      Note: Shift handling requires the Advanced Work Assignment plugin along with Workforce Optimization for Customer Service or ITSM plugins, and planned agent schedules must be in place.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring assignment rules via this form, customers can automate work allocation to optimize agent productivity and customer service efficiency. The form’s options allow tailoring assignment logic to the organization’s operational policies, whether prioritizing agent availability, skill matching, or shift schedules. Enabling auto-assign streamlines agent workflows for rapid acceptance, while rejection and timeout settings ensure work items are promptly reassigned if needed. Skill and shift handling capabilities enhance precision in assignments, critical for maintaining service levels and agent workload balance.

    To fully leverage shift handling, customers must ensure appropriate plugins are activated and agent schedules are planned. Understanding and configuring these fields correctly enables better workload management and improved customer experience through timely and accurate work assignments.

    When creating or changing an Advanced Work Assignment assignment rule, the Assignment Rule form contains the following fields.

    Table 1. Assignment Rule form
    Field Definition
    Name Name of the assignment rule.
    Application Name of the application to which this assignment rule belongs. The default application is Global.
    Short description Brief description of the assignment rule.
    Assign by Type of assignment. Select one of the following values:
    • Last Assigned: Routes a work item to the agent who has gone the longest without being assigned work.
    • Most Capacity: Routes a work item to the agent who has the greatest availability for handling the work.
    Auto-assign handling Work items are automatically accepted without agents having to select Accept or Reject.
    • Enable auto-assign work items: Select this option to have work items automatically accepted on behalf of agents. Agents are unable to manually Accept or Reject work items.
    • Display options: Select one of the following values:
      • Select Inbox card to accept the chat interactions and add them to the agent inbox. Agents can open the accepted interaction from the inbox.
      • Select Inbox card and workspace tab to accept chat interactions and open a tab for each accepted interaction.
    Rejection handling Work items are rejected and handled.
    • Allow agents to reject: Enable agents to reject work items in their inbox.
    • Reassign on timeout: Enable reassignment of work items not accepted or rejected by agents within the specified timeout period:
      • Timeout value (Days and Hours, Minutes, Seconds): Length of time allowed for an agent to accept or reject a work item before the assignment times out (ends) and is reassigned to another agent.
      • Timeout presence state: Agent availability state after the timeout occurs: Available, Away, or Offline.

    This tab isn't available when auto-assign handling is activated.
    Skill handling Skill-based work assignments.
    • Enable skills: Route work items to agents with the appropriate skills. When selected, the Evaluate skill level and Enforce mandatory skills check boxes appear cleared.
    • Evaluate skill level: Route work items to the most qualified agents based on their skill level.
    • Enforce mandatory skills: Route work items to agents with required skills.
    Shift handling Work items are assigned to agents based on shifts.
    • Enable-shift based assignment: Assign work items to agents based on time available in their shifts.
    • Add time constraints: Add the time required to complete work items in shifts and whether agents should be continuously available for the required time period.

      This field appears only when the Enable shift-based assignment option is selected.

    • Agent criteria: Select an agent based on the time left in the agent's shift.

      This field appears only when the Enable shift-based assignment option is selected.

      Available options:

      • Least time left in shift: Assign a work item to an agent from a group of available agents based on the least amount of time available in their shifts.
      • Most time left in shift: Assign a work item to an agent from a group of available agents based on the maximum time available in their shifts.
    • Time required: Time required to complete a work item.
    • Available continuously for the required time: Assign work items to agents who are continuously available for the required time period without any breaks in a shift. Agents who don’t have the minimum time required in their shifts aren’t considered for work item assignments.
      Note:
      The Shift handling field is available only if the Advanced Work Assignment plugin (com.glide.awa) is activated and the Workforce Optimization for Customer Service plugin (com.snc.wfo.csm) or the Workforce Optimization for ITSM plugin (com.snc.wfo_itsm) plugin, or both, is activated. As a manager, you must have planned schedules for agents to assign them shifts. For more information, seeScheduling in Workforce Optimization for Customer Service andScheduling in Workforce Optimization for ITSM.

    This field appears only when the Add time constraints option is selected.