QuackbackRound-Robin Assignment
Round-robin assignment hands new support conversations to each available agent in turn, so work is spread evenly across the team. Load-balanced assignment is a variant that gives the next conversation to whoever has the fewest open ones.
What is round-robin assignment?
Round robin takes turns. The first new conversation goes to the first agent, the next to the second, and so on around the team. It is simple, predictable and fair when conversations take similar effort.
Round robin vs load-balanced
Conversations aren't equal. One agent can be stuck on three long threads while another has cleared their queue. Load-balanced, or least-loaded, assignment gives the next conversation to whoever has the fewest open ones. It adapts to uneven work, at the cost of being harder to predict.
Respecting availability
Either method should skip people who are away, in a meeting or off shift. Assigning to someone who is offline just hides the conversation for longer.
Assignment in Quackback
Teammates in Quackback set themselves online or away, and auto-assign only picks people who are online. On Business and up, teams distribute their conversations manually, by round robin among online members, or balanced to the least-loaded teammate.
Common questions
What is round-robin assignment?
Round-robin assignment gives new support conversations to each available agent in turn, so work is spread evenly across the team.
Is round robin or load balancing better for support?
Round robin is fair when conversations take similar effort. Load balancing, which assigns to whoever has the fewest open conversations, copes better when some threads take much longer than others.
Have another question? Talk to the team.