How to Setup Queue Based Routing in Salesforce?

🔄 How Queue-Based Routing Works in Salesforce

Queue-Based Routing in Salesforce is a powerful way to manage workload distribution across support teams. It ensures that records like Cases or Leads are efficiently assigned to available agents based on their capacity, availability, and expertise.

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📥 1. Create a Queue

A Queue is a group of users who can own records of a specific object.

• Define the object (e.g., Case, Lead, or custom object)
• Add users or public groups as queue members
• Navigate to: Setup → Quick Find → Queues → New

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📌 2. Assign Records to the Queue

Records can be routed to queues in several ways:

• Manually
• Assignment Rules
• Automation (e.g., Flow, Apex)

Once assigned, the record is unowned but visible to all queue members, allowing any member to claim and work on it.

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🚀 3. Omni-Channel Integration (Optional but Powerful)

Omni-Channel enhances queue-based routing by automatically distributing work items to agents.

• Uses Routing Configurations to determine how work is assigned
• Factors include agent availability, capacity, and skills

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⚙️ 4. Routing Configurations

Routing configurations define how work is prioritized and distributed.

• Least Active: Assigns work to the agent with the fewest active items
• Most Available: Assigns based on agent capacity
• Custom Logic: Tailored routing based on business rules

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👤 5. Presence Configuration

A Presence Configuration controls how agents interact with incoming work and defines their workload capacity.

Key features:

• Set agent capacity limits (e.g., max 10 work items)
• Choose between manual or automatic acceptance
• Enable/disable decline options
• Configure status updates and wrap-up time
• Play notification sounds for incoming work
• Assign configurations to users or profiles
• Allow session transfers across queues and flows

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🔔 6. Presence Status

Presence Status indicates an agent’s availability to receive work.

• Examples: Available for Cases, Busy, Offline
• Each status is linked to one or more Service Channels
• Agents must select a presence status to be eligible for routing

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How to enable queue-based routing?

Step 1: Enable Omni Channel

1. Go to Setup in your Salesforce org.
2. In the Quick Find box, type “Omni-Channel.”
3. Click on Omni-Channel Settings.
4. Check the box that says Enable Omni-Channel and leave other boxes as is.
5. Click Save.

Step 2: Next Step is to create a Service Channel

In Salesforce Omni-Channel, a Service Channel is a key component that defines the type of work that can be routed to agents. It acts as a bridge between your Salesforce records (like Cases, Leads, Chats, or custom objects) and the Omni-Channel routing engine.

What Does a Service Channel Do?

A Service Channel tells Omni-Channel what kind of work is coming in (e.g., a Case).

How to treat that work? as something that needs to be routed to an agent.

How It Works:

You create a Service Channel for each object you want to route (like Case, Lead, or a custom object).

Then, you link this Service Channel to a Routing Configuration, which defines how the work is prioritized and assigned.

Finally, you associate it with a Queue, which holds the work items until they are routed to agents.

Example:

If you want to route incoming support cases:

Create a Service Channel for the Case object as shown below.

Step 3: Setup Routing Configuration

A Routing Configuration in Salesforce Omni-Channel defines how work items are assigned to agents. It controls the logic for prioritizing and distributing tasks.

Key Elements of a Routing Configuration:

• Routing Priority: Determines the order in which work items are assigned. Lower numbers mean higher priority.
• Routing Model:
• Least Active: Sends work to the agent with the fewest open tasks.
• Most Available: Sends work to the agent with the most free capacity.
• External Routing: Uses an external system to decide routing.

Units of Capacity: Defines how much of an agent’s workload a task consumes. For example, a chat might take 1 unit, while a case might take 3.

Push Time-Out: Sets how long a work item stays in an agent’s console before being reassigned if not accepted.

Why It Matters:

Routing Configurations help ensure:

Fair distribution of work.

High-priority tasks are handled first.

Agents are not overloaded.

To setup Routing Configuration Go to > Setup > Routing Configuration and create as shown below.

Step 4: Next Step is to create Queue and associate the Routing Configuration created above to it.

Step 5: Setup Presence Configuration

A Presence Configuration in Salesforce Omni-Channel helps define how much work a service agent can handle and how they interact with incoming work. It also controls agent behavior when accepting, declining, or missing work items.

Why Use Presence Configurations?

Presence Configurations allow you to:

• Set agent capacity limits.
• Automatically accept or allow agents to decline work.
• Assign specific Omni-Channel statuses when work is missed or declined.
• Customize settings for different groups of agents.

Steps to Create a Presence Configuration:

1. Go to Setup in Salesforce.
2. In the Quick Find box, type “Presence Configurations” and select it.
3. Click New to create a new configuration.
4. Fill in the required fields:
• Name and Developer Name
• Capacity (how much work an agent can handle)
• Optional: Enable Auto-Accept, Decline Options, and After Conversation Work Time
5. Assign users or profiles to the configuration.
6. Click Save.

Salesforce automatically creates a Default Presence Configuration when Omni-Channel is enabled. You can create custom configurations to tailor settings for specific teams or roles.

Step 6: Configure Presence Statuses

A Presence Status shows whether an agent is available to receive work. It also defines which Service Channels (like Chat, Case, or Email) the agent can handle while in that status.

How to Create a Presence Status:

1. Go to Setup.
2. Search for Presence Statuses in the Quick Find box.
3. Click New.
4. Enter a Status Name (e.g., "Available for Chat").
5. Choose whether the status is Online (can receive work) or Busy (cannot receive work).
6. Assign one or more Service Channels.
7. Click Save.

Next you would need to assign this to your agent profile as shown below:

Step 7: Add the Omni Channel utility item to Service Console app as shown below.

Go To Setup > App Manager> Click Edit on Service Console App.

Step 8: Testing.

Open the Service Console App from App launcher.

Create a Case and change the owner to “Queue Based Routing” queue manually(this can be automated using case escalation rule). Now, you will be able to see the Case pop up under “New” tab as highlighted below.