Omni-queue setup

You can combine your available channels into a single queue. Depending on how you set up Omni-queue, your agents can receive work items from the chat, email, and messaging channels in one queue.

Important: You must have the Account settings > Access Omni-queue settings permission to see the Channels > Omni-queue menu in the Admin Center.

At admin.bold360.com, go to Channels > Omni-queue > Channel setup.
Select the channels that want to include in Omni-queue.

Agents will receive work items from these channels as soon as they change their status to Available in Omni-queue.
Save your changes.

Remember:

Omni-queue is an account-level feature. When enabled, you cannot override it at agent or department level.
When an agent does not have access to a channel that is included in the Omni-queue, they will not be assigned work items on that channel.

Why would you use Omni-queue?

Agent availability in Omni-queue is controlled by a separate status button in Agent Workspace. Agents can make themselves available on multiple channels by a single click.
Concurrent workload limit applies to the combined channels. For example, when agents have a limit of three concurrent work items (and Automatic Distribution is enabled), they can start conversations with three customers, regardless of which channels the customers use. In this case, an agent may work on, say, two active chats and a Facebook Messenger conversation simultaneously.
An agent's settings for channel availability override Omni-queue settings. When a channel is disabled for a specific agent but is part of the Omni-queue, that agent does not receive work items from the channel. For example, if the SMS channel is disabled for the agent but is part of the Omni-queue, the agent will not get text messages.

Automatic Distribution for Omni-queue

Use Automatic Distribution to automatically place agents in an active sessions without agent interaction.

Remember: Automatic Distribution applies to all channels included in Omni-queue. Work items will be assigned to your agents, regardless of which channel they come from.

Go to Channels > Omni-queue > Automatic Distribution.
Select Enable automatic distribution.
Result: This activates Automatic Distribution at the account level.

Select the following options:

Option	Description
Reassign unanswered messages (seconds)	When selected, work items are reassigned to another agent when the originally assigned agent does not answer the work item within the specified period. In practice this means that a work item is answered by another agent when the originally assigned agent fails to respond. An agent who fails to answer in time is set to Away status to prevent new work items from being assigned. The agent must then explicitly set their status to Available.
Concurrent item limit	When selected, the number of work items that can be assigned to each agent is limited. When an agent reaches the limit, they are no longer assigned new work items. This limit setting can be overridden at an individual agent level. Chat and discussion difficulty affects this limit.

Option

Description

Reassign unanswered messages (seconds)

When selected, work items are reassigned to another agent when the originally assigned agent does not answer the work item within the specified period. In practice this means that a work item is answered by another agent when the originally assigned agent fails to respond.

An agent who fails to answer in time is set to Away status to prevent new work items from being assigned. The agent must then explicitly set their status to Available.

Concurrent item limit

When selected, the number of work items that can be assigned to each agent is limited. When an agent reaches the limit, they are no longer assigned new work items. This limit setting can be overridden at an individual agent level. Chat and discussion difficulty affects this limit.

When there are fewer incoming work items than what agents could handle, some agents will be waiting for an assignment. Work items are assigned to highest ranked agents first, but you can choose an assignment method for agents of the same rank. See How to assign chats to certain agents before others (ranking within department).

Option	Description
Agents waiting for assignment	To determine which waiting same-rank agent gets the next chat, choose an assignment method: Least Busy. Assign the next incoming work item to the agent who has the fewest active sessions and has waited the longest. This naturally means that if you have multiple agents available with no work items, Automatic Distribution will assign the next incoming item to the agent who has been in Available status for the longest period of time. Choose this to balance the workload between agents. Most Busy. Assign work items to your busiest agents. The next incoming work item is assigned to the agent who is handling the most work items until their limit is reached, and thereafter to the agent who has been idle for the shortest period of time. Choose this option if your agents must manage non-work item tasks along with their regular work. Those who are working on customer issues will stay busy, while others can stay focused on tasks not related to work items. To prevent overload on a single agent, make sure concurrent chat limits are set. Round Robin Rotate work item assignment among all available agents regardless of waiting time or number of active work items (until their concurrent limit is reached). Choose this option to balance the number of work items assigned per agent. Lower ranked agents will only be assigned a work item if all higher ranked agents have reached their limit. Note: If you are using difficulty-based distribution, work items are assigned to the agent within the same rank who has work items with the lowest total relative difficulty. For example, an incoming chat will be assigned to an agent handling one difficulty 3 chat before an agent who is handling four difficulty 1 chats.

Option

Description

Agents waiting for assignment

To determine which waiting same-rank agent gets the next chat, choose an assignment method:

Least Busy. Assign the next incoming work item to the agent who has the fewest active sessions and has waited the longest. This naturally means that if you have multiple agents available with no work items, Automatic Distribution will assign the next incoming item to the agent who has been in Available status for the longest period of time.
Choose this to balance the workload between agents.
Most Busy. Assign work items to your busiest agents. The next incoming work item is assigned to the agent who is handling the most work items until their limit is reached, and thereafter to the agent who has been idle for the shortest period of time. Choose this option if your agents must manage non-work item tasks along with their regular work. Those who are working on customer issues will stay busy, while others can stay focused on tasks not related to work items. To prevent overload on a single agent, make sure concurrent chat limits are set.
Round Robin Rotate work item assignment among all available agents regardless of waiting time or number of active work items (until their concurrent limit is reached). Choose this option to balance the number of work items assigned per agent. Lower ranked agents will only be assigned a work item if all higher ranked agents have reached their limit.

Note: If you are using difficulty-based distribution, work items are assigned to the agent within the same rank who has work items with the lowest total relative difficulty. For example, an incoming chat will be assigned to an agent handling one difficulty 3 chat before an agent who is handling four difficulty 1 chats.

Under Manual reassignment, tell Bold360 how to place customers into the queue when they are reassigned by an agent rather than Automatic Distribution.
You can set this option independently for customers reassigned within a department (From same department) as opposed to between departments (From other departments).

Note: For answered work items that are manually reassigned, queue time is always reset. For automatically assigned items, customers always maintain their place in the queue.
- To place customers at the end of the queue regardless of how long they have been waiting, select Move to end of queue (time is reset)
- To place customers in the queue based on time already spent waiting, select Maintain place in queue (time is preserved)
Save your changes.
Result: Settings are applied to your entire account except where overridden at the department or agent level.

Frequently Asked Questions about Omni-queue

How does Automatic Distribution for Omni-queue influence other channels?

Omni-queue settings override Automatic Distribution for other channels and thereby simplifies admins' work. When a channel is part of Omni-queue, you can no longer modify its Automatic Distribution settings, even if Automatic Distribution is not enabled for Omni-queue.

What about department-level Automatic Distribution settings?

You cannot modify Automatic Distribution for chat, email, and messaging channels at the department level, even if Automatic Distribution is disabled for Omni-queue. However, you can define Automatic Distribution for Omni-queue at the department level. This will override account-level Omni-queue settings.

Can agents receive work items on all Omni-queue channels?

No. Agent-specific channel settings override Omni-queue settings. When a channel is disabled for agents, they do not receive items on that channel, even if the channel is included in Omni-queue.