About Queues

Queues hold incoming customer service activities such as emails and chat sessions that are waiting to be assigned to agents. There is no limit to the number of queues that can be created in a department.

A single queue can hold multiple activity types like email, task, chat etc. Agent access to queues is controlled through permissions.

For example, assume that a sports goods company receives email queries that can be categorized into one of the following: Orders, Replacements, Billing details, or Shipment details. The administrator for that company can create four queues - Orders, Replacements, Billing, and Shipment, and using workflows, route each type of query to its respective queue. Agents with expertise in a particular area are given permissions to access the appropriate queue. In this example, an agent may have access to the Shipment queue, but not the Replacements one.

It is recommended to create different queues for each type of activity that is processed by the system. If the system is being used to handle email and chat type activities, create two independent queues, one for email, and one for chat, and configure permissions as required.

Routing Options

Activities are either "pushed to" or "pulled by" agents.

Push routing: Activities are assigned from queues to specific agents on the basis of either of the following routing rules:
- Load balanced: Activities are routed from the queue to available agents, who have the least number of activities in their inbox.
- Round robin: Activities are routed from the queue to all agents alternatively, irrespective of the number of activities in their inbox.
Pull routing: Agents get activities from queues (and users) that they are permitted to pull from.

Queues Created by the System

Default Exception Queue

By default, an exception queue is created in every department. Activities are routed to the exception queue when:

There are no active inbound workflows in the department.
A workflow faces an error while processing activities.
The queue used in a workflow is made inactive. All the activities coming to the inactive queue are routed to the exception queue.
Emails are bounced back.
Emails are not parsed by the application. If the email subject contains a closed case ID, the case matching the ID is reopened and the activity is associated with it. If the ID matches an open case, the email activity is associated with it. If the ID does not match any cases, a new case is created and associated with the activity.

The default exception queue cannot be deleted or made inactive.

Call Queue

A system provided queue for calltrack activities.

Chat Queue

A system provided queue for chat activities.

Email Queue

A system provided queue for email activities.

Social Queue

A system provided queue for social activities.