When an inquiry comes in, you don't have to struggle to find the person in charge. Now just assign a team. All members of the team will receive a notification, and members who can respond can start the chat quickly.
ContentsWhat is chat auto-assignment?
chat auto-assignment feature is that the chat is distributed according to the manager(assignee)’s ability. If you set the maximum number of auto-assignments, Channel.io automatically distributes chats according to the real-time response volume.
In order to find the most suitable person in charge, Channel.io approached it as a 'Team'rather than an individual. If you assign the team in charge that is most knowledgeable about customer’s inquiries, the system finds and automatically assigns one person in the team who can respond in real-time to engage with customer’s inquiries immediately.
The manager who handles chat consultations quickly will receive more chats, and new employees who need more time, they will be assigned to fewer chat consultations so that they can take their time in responding. This feature helps you to increase your work efficiency and save customer's time.
Step 1. Set up a team
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Team settings
You can customize your team settings. If you want the system to assign the chat automatically among team members, turn the “Assign chats automatically” on.
◦How to set: [Channel settings > Teammates > Team > Assign chats automatically]
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Setting the maximum capacity of auto-assignments per person
The maximum number of auto-assignments (Capacity) is the number of ongoing(opened) chats that can be handled by a team member. If you set the number of automatic assignments according to each manager's capacity, the chat will be automatically distributed without exceeding the maximum limit. You can set the limit up to 100.
◦How to set: [Personal settings > Manager settings > Inbox > Auto-assign limit]
◦If the number of chats in progress is exceeding or equal to the limit, the number of chats in progress is displayed in orange numbers in the inbox. In this status, the system no longer assigns a new chat, but you can manually assign a new chat by clicking the ‘Assign to me’ button. Or you will still receive new user chats that meet the requirements set by the chat automation rule/support bot action.
Step 2. Assign a team to the chat
The team assignment can be done in two ways.
1.
Manually assign a team
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When a new chat comes in, you can manually assign the team who knows best about the customer’s inquiries.
2.
Automatically assign a team
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If you are subscribing to an operation add-on, you can set the chat automation rule to assign a team in charge of an inquiry.
[Examples]
a.
By setting a chat automation rule, you can assign a ‘Personal Shoppers’ team to a chat when the message contains the word ‘recommendation’ ([→ Learn more about chat automation rules])
b.
By setting the action in the Support bot step, you can assign a ‘Personal Shoppers’ team to a chat when the customer leaves an inquiry after clicking the [Speak to a representative] button ([→Learn more about the Support bot)]
Step 3. Automatically assign an assignee
An assignee is automatically assigned from the team members.
Chat auto-assignment Criteria
Chat is automatically assigned to the manager when (1) the maximum number of automatic assignments is within the limit, (2) is not in Do Not Disturb mode, and (3) has the fewest number of ongoing chats.
1.
Chat auto-assignment works when the number of ongoing chats is less than the maximum auto-assign limit. ([→ How to set the maximum auto-assign limit?]
2.
Managers who have turned on Do Not Disturb mode are excluded from chat auto-assignment. ([→ What is Do Not Disturb?]
3.
The chat will be given to the manager with the fewest number of ongoing chats. If the number of ongoing chats is the same among the members, the system will randomly pick one manager. (Ongoing chats do not include chats in Snoozed or Closed statuses)
[Example]
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In the following situations, when a new chat comes in, the system will automatically assign it to Manager A:
Manager name | Number of ongoing chats | Maximum auto-assignment limit | Do Not Disturb mode | Result |
A | 6 | 15 | OFF | →Chat is assigned to manager A |
B | 8 | 10 | OFF | → Number of ongoing chats is higher than Manager A |
C | 3 | 12 | ON | →Exclude from auto-assignment as Do Not Disturb mode is on |
D | 6 | 4 | OFF | → Number of ongoing chats are higher than maximum auto-assign limit |
Cases where chats are not automatically assigned
If the chat auto-assignment does not work even if you assign a team to the chat, please check whether the following apply:
1 When all team members exceed the maximum auto-assignment limit
→ Increase the maximum auto-assignment limits for team members, or update chat status to “Closed” for ended chats to free up the number of ongoing chats.
2 When all team members are in Do Not Disturb mode
→ Turn off the Do Not Disturb mode to secure a team member who will be available to accept chats.
3If the team's auto-assignment setting is off
Check the status of each manager(individual team member)
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In [Channel Settings > Chat> Chat manager], you can check the auto-assignment limit, notification settings for unassigned chats, and Do Not Disturb mode status for each manager(individual team member).
FAQ
Can each manager be assigned the same number of chats?
I want to automatically assign to all members of the company, not to a specific team.
Are “Snoozed” and “Closed” chats included in counting the chat auto-assignment limit?
If both managers are in the same conditions, who will be assigned for the new user chat?
What if I don't set a maximum number of auto-assignments?
I received a new user chat through auto-assignment function but I want to change the assignee to someone else
What happens if I change the assigned team for the chat?
