How Routing works in Gladly

Customer contacts in

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Gladly inbound routing runs

Checks:

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Channel

Gladly checks

Is Threaded Email?

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Use Conversation Inbox

Lookup Adapter runs

Custom attributes pulled in from Lookup Adapter ensures there are important details about the customer available to use in Rules.If no Lookup Adapter is setup, this step will be skipped.

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Rules run

Rules run in sequence based on the sort order priority.If a Rule runs that results in an Agent assignment, then routing ends. If not, routing steps run.

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Routing runs

Check to see if Agent is already assigned

Check Dedicated Hero

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Assign next available agent in the Inbox assigned by the Channel, Rules or Dedicated Hero routing

Is Contact an email?

Checks email assignment settings

*Routing stops if a Contact is assigned to an Agent by a Rule.

If configured.

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Routed to an Agent!

That's it! The Routing Engine has found the right Agent to help the Customer. While a lot goes into routing, this process happens in a split second.

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Restart

Rules are assessed after the Lookup Adaptor runs. Depending on the Rules configured, it can move Contacts to a different Inbox or assign a Contact to an Agent.

• Rules always run before routing for incoming Contacts. In all other cases, it’s not guaranteed that Rules will run before routing. For example, when an assigned Agent’s status changes or the Conversation’s due date changes.

• Rules continue to execute until they are completed based on Rule status (i.e., if Rule active or not) and sort order. Also, Rules are only evaluated once.

• Routing ends if a Rule runs, resulting in an Agent assignment. Otherwise, routing continues to route the Contact to an Agent or Inbox.

Note – Rules before routing do not apply to the Voice Channel/phone calls and may route ahead before Rules execute.

1. The Customer reaches out using their preferred Channel.
2. Gladly checks the Channel that the inbound Contact (e.g., a phone call, an SMS, a chat, etc.) came from.
1. If applicable, Dedicated Hero logic and People Match boost runs.

The Lookup Adaptor runs and retrieves custom attributes from external systems (e.g., Shopify). This can be used in Rules to route Customers to a specific Inbox or Agent based on the custom attribute.

• Lookup before Rules is the default routing behavior where the Lookup Adaptor pulls Customer custom attributes from an external system (like Shopify) to Gladly to use with Rules with a custom attribute Condition.
• Expect an increase in queued-to-fulfilled time reporting with Lookup before Rules activate. The increase depends on how fast your Lookup Adaptor retrieves custom attributes.
• If there are multiple Lookup Adaptors, a lookup for each instance occurs within the timeout period, and it’s possible for the lookup to timeout before all attributes are retrieved. See Lookup before Rules for more information.

• This process is skipped if there’s no Lookup Adaptor.

Note – This behavior can be deactivated so Rules can run without waiting for a lookup to occur. Note – Voice Contacts (i.e., a phone call) can route anytime and before Rules run if there are Agents available, meaning a custom attribute may not always be ready when Customers are routed — otherwise, any Rules for phone calls run after the lookup. Data dips can be implemented if you want custom attributes to be retrieved before lookup and routing.

1. The Customer reaches out using their preferred Channel.
2. Gladly checks the Channel that the inbound Contact (e.g., a phone call, an SMS, a chat, etc.) came from.

Rules are assessed after the Lookup Adaptor runs. Depending on the Rules configured, it can move Contacts to a different Inbox or assign a Contact to an Agent.

• Rules always run before routing for incoming Contacts. In all other cases, it’s not guaranteed that Rules will run before routing. For example, when an assigned Agent’s status changes or the Conversation’s due date changes.

• Rules continue to execute until they are completed based on Rule status (i.e., if Rule active or not) and sort order. Also, Rules are only evaluated once.

• Routing ends if a Rule runs, resulting in an Agent assignment. Otherwise, routing continues to route the Contact to an Agent or Inbox.

Note – Rules before routing do not apply to the Voice Channel/phone calls and may route ahead before Rules execute.

If an Agent is available and assigned to the same Inbox, the Customer is routed after Rules run. Once the Routing Engine selects an available Agent, they are either offered (pushed) the Conversation (meaning the Agent still needs to accept the assignment) or automatically assigned. At this point, the Customer is now considered “routed.”

• An Agent must be assigned and available in the Inbox to receive Customers from said Inbox.

• Sometimes, after a Contact is routed/assigned to an Agent, it may need to be reassigned, which is a manual transfer of Contact from one Agent to another that bypasses the Routing Engine. In this case, the assigning Agent performs the act of routing.
• When a Customer is reassigned to another Inbox (when the current Agent is “unassigned”), manually or automatically, the routing process begins again. The Routing Engine will begin looking for an Agent to assign the Customer to.

Rules are assessed after the Lookup Adaptor runs. Depending on the Rules configured, it can move Contacts to a different Inbox or assign a Contact to an Agent.

• Rules always run before routing for incoming Contacts. In all other cases, it’s not guaranteed that Rules will run before routing. For example, when an assigned Agent’s status changes or the Conversation’s due date changes.

• Rules continue to execute until they are completed based on Rule status (i.e., if Rule active or not) and sort order. Also, Rules are only evaluated once.

• Routing ends if a Rule runs, resulting in an Agent assignment. Otherwise, routing continues to route the Contact to an Agent or Inbox.

Note – Rules before routing do not apply to the Voice Channel/phone calls and may route ahead before Rules execute.

If the Contact is an email that is a reply to an existing thread (set by a In-Reply-To: header), Gladly routes it to the Inbox of the existing Conversation.

The Lookup Adaptor runs and retrieves custom attributes from external systems (e.g., Shopify). This can be used in Rules to route Customers to a specific Inbox or Agent based on the custom attribute.

• Lookup before Rules is the default routing behavior where the Lookup Adaptor pulls Customer custom attributes from an external system (like Shopify) to Gladly to use with Rules with a custom attribute Condition.
• Expect an increase in queued-to-fulfilled time reporting with Lookup before Rules activate. The increase depends on how fast your Lookup Adaptor retrieves custom attributes.
• If there are multiple Lookup Adaptors, a lookup for each instance occurs within the timeout period, and it’s possible for the lookup to timeout before all attributes are retrieved. See Lookup before Rules for more information.

• This process is skipped if there’s no Lookup Adaptor.

Note – This behavior can be deactivated so Rules can run without waiting for a lookup to occur. Note – Voice Contacts (i.e., a phone call) can route anytime and before Rules run if there are Agents available, meaning a custom attribute may not always be ready when Customers are routed — otherwise, any Rules for phone calls run after the lookup. Data dips can be implemented if you want custom attributes to be retrieved before lookup and routing.

Rules are assessed after the Lookup Adaptor runs. Depending on the Rules configured, it can move Contacts to a different Inbox or assign a Contact to an Agent.

• Rules always run before routing for incoming Contacts. In all other cases, it’s not guaranteed that Rules will run before routing. For example, when an assigned Agent’s status changes or the Conversation’s due date changes.

• Rules continue to execute until they are completed based on Rule status (i.e., if Rule active or not) and sort order. Also, Rules are only evaluated once.

• Routing ends if a Rule runs, resulting in an Agent assignment. Otherwise, routing continues to route the Contact to an Agent or Inbox.

Note – Rules before routing do not apply to the Voice Channel/phone calls and may route ahead before Rules execute.

1. The Customer reaches out using their preferred Channel.
2. Gladly checks the Channel that the inbound Contact (e.g., a phone call, an SMS, a chat, etc.) came from.
1. If applicable, Dedicated Hero logic and People Match boost runs.