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Auto-Assignment & Conversation Routing

Summary​

The Auto-Assignment Engine automatically distributes incoming customer conversations across your active human team members. By eliminating manual chat selection, enforcing Round-Robin distribution, capping Agent Capacity limits, and automatically reallocating unattended conversations, Wabixo ensures balanced workloads, rapid initial response times, and consistent customer service quality.

Auto-Assignment rules are managed under Settings → Auto Assignment (/dashboard/settings/autoAssignment).

The Routing Decision Flow​

When a new customer inquiry arrives or is transferred to a human team, Wabixo processes the conversation through a sequence of checks before assigning it:

  1. Business Hours Verification:
    • If Check Business Hours is active and the message arrives outside your configured schedule, routing is paused and the customer receives an automated closed-hours notice.
  2. Agent Presence Evaluation:
    • The engine filters your team to identify members whose status is currently Online and not marked Busy.
  3. Capacity Threshold Check:
    • The engine checks each online agent's current active chat volume against their assigned Max Capacity limit (e.g., 5 concurrent chats). Agents who have reached their ceiling are temporarily bypassed.
  4. Round-Robin Fair Allocation:
    • Among eligible online agents below their capacity limit, the engine assigns the conversation to the agent who has been idle the longest or holds the fewest active chats.
  5. Fallback Handling (If All Agents are Unavailable):
    • If all agents in the assigned group are offline or at capacity, the conversation is routed to a secondary fallback group, returned to the automated bot, or placed in the Open Queue with an automated waiting notice sent to the customer.

Configuring Auto-Assignment​

1. General Routing Settings​

  1. In the top navigation bar, click Setting (/dashboard/settings).
  2. In the left navigation menu under Routing & Automation, select Auto Assignment.
  3. Configure the baseline settings:
    • Enable Auto Assignment: Turn this toggle ON to activate automated conversation routing across your active WhatsApp line.
    • Check Business Hours: When enabled, routing operates strictly within your operating hours. Inbound chats outside working hours bypass human assignment, preventing off-duty team notifications.
    • Max Capacity per Agent: Set the maximum number of concurrent open chats any individual agent can handle simultaneously (e.g., 3, 5, or 10 chats). Once an agent reaches this ceiling, the engine skips them until they mark conversations as Solved.

2. Multi-Group Department Escalation Chains​

You can organize assignment into an ordered chain of specialized team groups:

  1. Under Assignment Groups, click + Add Group.
  2. Select your primary target Team Group (e.g., Frontline Support).
  3. Timeout Duration (Minutes): Define how long a conversation can sit unattended in this group before escalating (e.g., 5 minutes).
  4. Timeout Fallback Target:
    • Choose a secondary escalation group (e.g., Tier-2 Support or Escalation Desk).
    • Alternatively, choose Bot to return the customer to automated self-service options.
  5. Drag and re-order group rules to establish your organization's tiered escalation hierarchy.

3. Inactive Agent Auto-Reassignment​

If an assigned team member steps away from their desk without marking themselves Busy or Offline, conversations can sit stalled. Wabixo's automated inactivity monitor rescues idle chats:

  • Enable Auto-Reassign: Turn this toggle ON to activate real-time monitoring of assigned conversations.
  • Auto-Reassign Within Group: When enabled, reallocates stalled conversations to another active online colleague within the same department group.
  • Inactivity Threshold: The number of minutes an assigned conversation can remain unanswered after a customer message arrives (e.g., 10 or 15 minutes).
  • Check Interval: How frequently the system scans for idle conversations (e.g., every 5 minutes).
  • Action Taken: When an agent breaches the inactivity threshold, the system automatically unassigns the idle agent, transfers the thread to the next available online teammate, and sends an optional transfer notice to the customer.

4. Automated Scenario Status Messages & Dynamic Variables​

Keep customers informed at every stage of their routing journey by linking pre-saved reply materials to assignment events.

Using Dynamic Personalization Variables​

You can enrich all automated assignment messages using dynamic curly-bracket variables that automatically resolve in real time:

  • {{assigned_agent}} — Resolves to the full name or display name of the assigned team member.
  • {{customer_name}} or {{name}} — Resolves to the customer's contact name.
  • {{group_name}} — Resolves to the target department or team group name.
Routing ScenarioOperational EventExample Message with Dynamic Variables
Assignment ConfirmationSent immediately when an agent is assigned to the chat."Hello {{name}}! You are now chatting with {{assigned_agent}}. How can we help you today?"
All Agents BusySent when all online agents have reached their maximum chat capacity."Currently {{assigned_agent}} is assisting other customers. You are in queue and an agent will assist you shortly."
All Agents OfflineSent when no team members in the target group are currently marked Online."Our {{group_name}} team is currently offline. Please leave your inquiry and we will reply as soon as our team logs on."
Chat TransferredSent when an inquiry is transferred between departments or agents."Your conversation has been transferred to {{assigned_agent}} in our technical team for specialized assistance."
Closed Operating HoursSent when a customer reaches out outside active business hours."Our office is currently closed. Our team will respond promptly during our working hours (Mon–Sat, 9 AM to 7 PM)."

Customer Troubleshooting & FAQs​

Problem: Inbound customer conversations remain unassigned in the Open Queue​

  • Why it happens:
    1. All team members in the target group are currently marked as Offline or Busy.
    2. Every online agent has reached their Max Capacity limit.
    3. The message arrived outside business hours while Check Business Hours is active.
  • How to fix it:
    • Verify that team members are logged in and marked Online in the workspace header.
    • In the Team Inbox, have agents mark resolved conversations as Solved to free up capacity.
    • Review your operating schedule under Settings → Business Hours.

Problem: A conversation was unexpectedly transferred away from an agent​

  • Why it happens: Inactive Agent Auto-Reassignment was triggered because the customer sent a message and the assigned agent did not reply within the configured inactivity threshold.
  • How to fix it: If agents require longer to investigate complex issues, increase the Inactivity Threshold under Auto Assignment settings (e.g., from 10 minutes to 30 minutes).

Problem: Can an Administrator manually assign or transfer chats when auto-assignment is enabled?​

  • Yes. Auto-assignment handles initial message distribution, but authorized team members can reassign, take over, or transfer conversations manually at any time directly within the Team Inbox conversation header.