You can automatically reserve unassigned interactions for users at the Team level. If the Reserve unassigned Interactions option is enabled, Open and Unassigned (assigned to None) interactions are assigned to a user after logging into the CRM system. The reserved Interactions are however not assigned to until users perform specific operations on them such as Reply, Consult Specialist, Assign, Transfer, Add Message, Delete, Split, and Merge. When these users sign off, all unassigned interactions become unreserved, and are returned to the general pool of interactions for other signed-in users to work on them.
To receive reserved interactions, the User requires the Can get Reserved Interactions Permission, which is a Team Level Permission.
In addition, you need to specify the maximum number of Interactions that can be reserved for a User. The number of Interactions that can be reserved for a User takes into account the current load of the User. User load is the sum of all Interactions in the Open state that are assigned to the User, all Interactions reserved for the User, and all Interactions received by the User for review.
When the Reserve unassigned Interactions option is selected, the following points must be noted:
• When a User with the Can get Reserved Interactions Permission logs on to Desktop Client, either 20% of unassigned Interactions are reserved, or the maximum number of interactions that can be reserved for the user, whichever is less.
Example
If the number of unassigned Interactions is 20, and if the maximum number of Interactions that can be reserved for a User is 5, 4 Interactions (20% of 20) are assigned to the user.
The remaining open and unassigned Interactions are reserved for currently logged on Users every 15 minutes, based on either the Round Robin Reservation, or the Load balance reservation option, depending on the option specified for the Team.
• When a User logs out, or is no longer available in a Team, new Interactions are not reserved for the User, and all reserved and unassigned Interactions are no longer reserved for the User. In addition, these Interactions are reserved for other Users who are currently logged on.
Round Robin Reservation
When the Round Robin Reservation option is selected, interactions are automatically reserved in a cyclic order for signed in users who are members of a specific team.
Example
There are 5 Interactions in the Marketing Team’s general pool (unassigned Interactions). 3 Users (John, Suzie, and Jane) are logged on. In this scenario, the 5 unassigned Interactions are distributed among the 3 Users as follows:
• The first Interaction is reserved for John.
• The second Interaction is reserved for Suzie.
• The third Interaction is reserved for Jane.
• The fourth Interaction is reserved for John.
• The fifth Interaction is reserved for Suzie.
Load Balance Reservation
When the Load Balance Reservation option is selected at the Team level, unassigned Interactions are balanced among Users who are logged on and who have the Can get reserved Interactions Permission in the Team.
Example
If 5 new messages arrive into a Team where the Load Balance Reservation option is selected and where the maximum load is set to 5, by default, these Interactions are reserved for None. Assume that 3 Users are logged on:
• John has 4 Interactions (3 open Interactions and 1 reserved Interaction). John therefore has four Interactions out of a maximum of five.
• Suzie has 2 Interactions (1 pending Interaction and 1 reserved Interaction). Suzie therefore has two Interactions out of a maximum of 5.
• Jane has 1 Interaction (0 pending or open Interactions and 1 reserved Interaction). Jane therefore has 1 Interaction out of a maximum of 5.
When the new messages are processed every 15 minutes for load balance, the results are as follows:
• Jane is reserved the first Interaction, taking her load to 2 out of a maximum of 5. Her load now matches Suzie's.
• Suzie is reserved the second Interaction, taking her load to 3, out of a maximum of 5. Jane is reserved the third Interaction, taking her load to 3 Interactions, which is the same as Suzie's.
• Suzie is reserved the fourth Interaction, taking her load to 4 out of a maximum of 5, which is now equal to that of John.
• Jane is reserved the fifth Interaction, taking her load to 4, which is equal to that of John and Suzie.
In this way, the User with the least number of Interactions is selected, and new Interactions are reserved for the User until the limit reaches the total number of Interactions of the User with the next lowest number.
User Reservation Rule
You can define a User Reservation Rule to reserve Interactions for Users in the Team you are creating. The Rule is triggered when the User's load reaches a specified value.
Interactions are reserved for Users with the Can get reserved Interactions Permission, only if they are available for the email Medium in the Teams where the Rule is created, and the status of the User is set to Active in Desktop Client.
Example
12 new mail messages arrive in a Team where the User Reservation Rules option is selected, and the maximum number of Interactions that can be reserved for a User in the Team is set to 5.
You can specify that:
• The minimum User Load is 3 after which the User Reservation Rule is fired.
• The User Reservation Rule is configured to reserve 2 Interactions.
As long as the minimum User load is less than or equal to 3 Interactions for a User, the User Reservation Rule configured for the Team is fired, and 2 Interactions are reserved for the User.
In this example, assume that there are 3 Users in a Team:
a. John is the first to log on to the CRM system. The system reserves 2 new Interactions to John = 2/5 or maximum load.
b. Suzie is the next to log on, and the system reserves 2 new Interactions to Suzie = 2/5 or maximum load
c. Jane is the last to log on, and the system reserves 2 new Interactions to Jane = 2/5 or maximum load.
When a User performs an action on reserved Interactions that will reduce the Interaction load, the User Reservation Rule is triggered again for that User. The results will be as follows:
◦ John has resolved 1 Interaction: John is reserved 2 new Interactions because his load is below 3 (John's load is 3/5)
◦ Suzie has assigned 1 Interaction: Suzie is reserved 2 Interactions because her load is below 3 (Suzie's load is now 3/5)
◦ Jane has not performed any action on her reserved Interactions, and is not be reserved any additional Interactions.
In the above example, if there is one remaining unreserved Interaction, it is not reserved for any of the Users, because the Rule has been configured to reserve 2 Interactions every time it is triggered.
The following table lists the implications of a User's status and availability for different Media on the Interaction Reservation process:
| Status | Availability | Interaction Reservation Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Available for E-mail | Interactions are reserved for the User. |
| Any state other than Active | Available for E-mail |
Reserved Interactions remain reserved for the User. New Interactions are not reserved for the User. |
| Active | Not Available for E-mail |
New Interactions are not reserved for the User. Interactions already reserved for the User, are no longer reserved. |
Custom Reservation
When the Custom Reservation option is selected at the Team level, stored procedures configured with logic specific to the business needs of your institution are executed. Unassigned Interactions are reserved to Users based on the logic configured by you in the stored procedures.
Example
You can implement code in the stored procedure to mark unassigned Interactions that have been in the queue for a duration exceeding 4 hours as High Priority. These High Priority Interactions must now be assigned to logged in Users. If you select Custom Reservation, these custom stored procedures are executed to route the Interactions as configured by you.