All campaigns have one of two available Call Distribution Types: Rank Based Routing* and Skills Based Routing. Below are the step-by-step instructions for configuring SBR on an existing inbound campaign.

*For information on Rank Based Routing, click here.

1. Verify Campaign Type
2. Create\Edit Agent Ability
3. Add Agents to Ability
4. Create Skill
5. Add Ability to Skill
6. Add Skill to Campaign

1. Verify Campaign Type

Skills Based Routing can only be used on inbound campaigns. To check the type of campaign being used:

• Browse to Programs / Program Name / Campaigns, and click on the Campaign Name that will be configured
• On the Details tab:
  
  
  • Type should be set to Inbound

 Keep this is mind during campaign creation!
When a campaign is created, the following four options are available:

Inbound Only: creates a single IB campaign that can use Skills Based or Rank Based Routing
Inbound with Outbound Followup: creates an IB campaign that can use SBR or RBR and an associated OB (followup) campaign that can only use RBR
Outbound with Callback Followup: creates an OB campaign that can only use RBR, and an associated IB campaign which can use either.
Outbound Only: creates a single OB campaign that can only use RBR

2. Create\Edit Agent Ability

• Click Agent Management in the left-hand navigation bar
  
  
  
• Click Ability Management in the list of options
  
  For complete details of the Ability Management page, click here.
  
  
• Create a new ability:
  
  • Click +New Ability 
    
    
    
  • On the Ability Details tab:
    
    
    • Name
    • Description [optional]
    • Suspended: [defaults to No] leave as-is, this option is used to take the ability out of service
    • Click Update to save the ability
      
      

3. Add Agents to Ability

• On the Agents tab:
  (Here, agents can be added to the ability as soon as it is created. Agents can also be added at a later time, either individually or in bulk)
  
  
  • Choose an Agent from the dropdown to assign them this ability
  • Assign a Weight
    • The higher the weight, the more this ability will factor for the agent when they are part of a Skills Based campaign that utilizes this ability
  • Click Update to save the Agent assignment
  • Repeat the steps above until all agents are assigned.

The above steps outline how to add agents to an ability. That method is useful when a single ability is created and needs to be assigned to multiple agents.

This process can also be done in reverse, allowing for a single agent to be assigned multiple abilities:

• From Agent Management \ Manage Agents:
  • Click the Agent number to access their settings
    
    
    
  • Click the Abilities tab
    
    
    • Choose an ability from the dropdown to assign it to the agent
    • Assign a Weight
      • The higher the weight, the more this ability will factor for the agent when they are part of a Skills Based campaign that utilizes this ability
    • Click Update to save the Ability assignment
    • Repeat the steps above until all abilities are assigned.

4. Create Skill

Once abilities are created and configured, they must be added to a skill before they can be used in a campaign.

• From the Agent Management node, click Skill Management in the list of options
  
  For complete details of the Skill Management page, click here.
  
  
• Create a new skill:
  • Click +New Skill
    
    
    
• On the Skill Details tab:
  
  
  • Name
  • Description [optional]
  • Suspended: [defaults to No] leave as-is, this option is used to take the skill out of service
  • Click Update to save the skill

5. Add Ability to Skill

Now that abilities have been configured, agents have been assigned, and skills have been created, the abilities must now be added to a skill.

What is the difference between an ability and a skill?
Think of it this way: Cooking a lasagna is a skill. Food shopping, boiling pasta, chopping vegetables, and assembling the ingredients are some of the abilities that make up that skill.

• On the Abilities tab:
  
  
  • Choose an Ability from the dropdown to assign it to this skill
  • Assign a Minimum Weight
    • Agents who have this assigned skill must meet this minimum requirement to receive calls.
  • Click Update to save the Ability assignment
  • Repeat the steps above until all abilities are assigned.
    

6. Add Skill to Campaign

When all of the above steps are completed, the configured skill is ready to be added to a campaign.

This article assumes that a campaign already exists. For more information on how to create a new campaign, click here.

Browse to Programs / Program Name / Campaigns and click on the Campaign Name that will be configured with the above skill.

On the Details tab:

• Scroll down and set the Call Distribution type to Skills Based Routing
  
  *By default, all campaigns are set as Rank Based Routing
  
• Scroll down and click Update to save the change
  
• Once you update the campaign to Skills Based Routing, a new option will appear in the middle of the page:
  
  
  • Skills Based Routing Sub Type
    • CAT: (Cascaded Ability Telemetry) employs an alternate type of skill hierarchy that utilizes a top-tier skill and tiebreakers
      *For details on configuring CAT, click here.
    • SBR [default]: (Skills Based Routing) calls are distributed based on the weight values that are assigned to agents when they are added to an ability

On the Skills tab:

• Choose a Skill from the dropdown to assign it to this campaign
• Assign a Weight to the completed skill
• Click Update to save the campaign settings

Now that the skill is assigned to the campaign, calls will be routed only to the agents that have the abilities that make up the skill. It is a good idea to verify that the proper agents are assigned to the campaign. This can be done in the Agent Management Panel.