Skills-Based Routing
Every Caller Reaches Someone Who Can Help.Skills-based routing that only rings agents with the right skill and level.
Give each agent named skills at a level from 1 to 10. Each queue says which skills its calls need and how good is good enough. Agents who fall short never see the call, and if nobody on shift qualifies, it goes to the specialist backup you chose.
- Skill levels 1 to 10
- Match all or any
- Failover when nobody qualifies
How a call moves through it
- A call reaches a queueThe queue lists the skills it needs
- Agents are filteredOnly those at the minimum level stay
- Nobody qualifiesSent to your skill failoverA match is foundRung in your usual ring order
Calls Go to People Who Can Actually Help.
Agents without the skill never see the call, so nobody answers one they can’t handle.
Rate each skill from 1 to 10 and set the minimum each queue needs.
When nobody qualifies, the call takes its own failover route, separate from your nobody-available exit.
Add a skill to a queue and it counts from the next call, with no restart.
Skills Set Up in Three Steps.
Create Your Skills
Name a skill for each product, language or license, and give agents a level from 1 to 10 on a slider.
Set What Each Queue Needs
List the skills a queue requires, the minimum level for each, and whether agents need all or any.
Choose a Skill Failover
Pick where calls go when nobody on shift qualifies, such as a specialist queue.
Match All Skills, or Any One.
Agents must clear every listed skill at its minimum level, for calls that need product and language together.
Clearing one listed skill is enough, so more agents can take the call.
What Is Skills-Based Routing, and How Does It Work?
Skills-based routing is a way to route calls by skill: a call only rings agents who have the skills it needs, at the level it needs. Everyone else is left out before a single phone rings.
In Adoptiv, a skill is anything you name: a product, a language, a license. Each agent gets a level from 1 to 10 for every skill they hold, and an assignment can be switched off without deleting it. Each call queue lists the skills its calls need and a minimum level, and whether agents must match all of them or any one.
Skill-based call routing filters; it doesn’t order. Once the list is cut to the agents who qualify, your ring strategy decides who rings first, with rank and wrap-up time applied as usual. An agent with no level recorded for a required skill never makes it through.
When nobody on shift qualifies, the call takes the skill failover destination, separate from the nobody-available exit, because a gap in one specialty usually wants a specialist queue rather than a voicemail box. In a skills-based routing call center, requirements belong to the queue, so give different needs their own queues, often behind an IVR menu.
Skill-Based Call Routing, Set Up on the Queues You Have.
Each agent holds skills at a level from 1 to 10, set on a slider.
Each queue lists the skills its calls need and the minimum level for each.
Require every listed skill, or just one of them.
Calls nobody qualifies for go to their own destination, apart from the no-agent exit.
Requirements are read at call time, so a change counts from the next call.
Switch an agent’s skill off without deleting it. They drop out of matches that need it.
For Teams Where Not Everyone Can Take Every Call.
Skills-Based Routing vs Ringing Everyone.
| What | Ringing every agent the same | With Adoptiv |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets the call | Ringing every agent the same: Whoever is free | With Adoptiv: Only agents with the skills, at the level required |
| A call nobody free can handle | Ringing every agent the same: Answered, then transferred | With Adoptiv: Sent to the skill failover before anyone answers |
| Partial expertise | Ringing every agent the same: All or nothing | With Adoptiv: Levels from 1 to 10, with a minimum per queue |
| Changing requirements | Ringing every agent the same: Rebuild the routing | With Adoptiv: Edit the queue; it counts from the next call |
Skills-Based Routing Questions, Answered.
What is skills-based routing?
Skills-based routing sends a call only to agents who have the skills it needs. In Adoptiv each agent holds skills at a level from 1 to 10, and each queue sets the skills and minimum level its calls require.
What happens if no agent has the right skills?
The call takes the queue’s skill failover destination, which is separate from its nobody-available exit, so you can send it to a specialist queue rather than voicemail.
Can a call need more than one skill?
Yes. A queue can require all of its listed skills, or any one of them.
Does skills-based routing decide who rings first?
No. It decides who is allowed to answer. Your ring strategy still decides the order among the agents who qualify.
Can I route calls by language?
Yes, by making the language a skill. Requirements belong to the queue, so give those callers their own queue, for example from a menu key, and require the skill there.
What are agent skill levels?
A score from 1 to 10 for how well an agent handles a skill. Each queue sets the minimum level it accepts, 0 by default.
Can skill requirements be set per caller?
No. Requirements belong to the queue. To treat callers differently, send them to different queues, for example from a menu or a call flow.
Does skills-based routing work with ring strategies?
Yes. Skills decide who qualifies, then the ring strategy, rank and wrap-up time decide the order among them.
What if a queue has skill matching on but no skills listed?
Then nobody is filtered out, and the queue rings all its members as usual.
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