Assignment

Assignment decides who takes a conversation, when, and what happens while it waits. It works the same on every channel. Everything here lives in Settings → Assignment; the sentence at the top of that page says, in plain words, what happens to a new conversation under the settings as they stand.

Modes

Mode	What happens
Off	One shared inbox. Nobody owns a conversation unless someone assigns it by hand. There is no assignment queue and no unassigned badge; the "Needs a person" view still shows handovers and open conversations no AI is answering.
Pool (new workspaces start here)	Conversations wait in a shared pool and agents take them (Take it). You can still let chosen moments route automatically — for example handovers from the AI.
Automatic	Each conversation goes straight to an available agent, using the distribution you choose.
Supervisor assigns	Conversations wait until a supervisor hands them out.

Who can be picked

Automatic distribution only picks an active member who receives routed work, is not on leave, can open the conversation's channel, is online (unless you switch the presence check off), is within their working hours (when you ask for it) and has a free slot (open conversations below their cap). Admins are candidates only if you say so.

Distribution chooses among them: least busy, in turn (round robin) or random. With Keep conversations within their department on, only the conversation's department is considered; Overflow says what happens when nobody there is available.

Departments

Each department can distribute its work its own way — Settings → Departments → Manage agents:

• Distribution: as the workspace, pool, a supervisor assigns, or automatic (least busy / in turn / random) — the latter routes inside the department whatever the workspace mode.
• Escalate if nobody takes it within: the department's own waiting SLA, or none.
• Wait for this department before overflowing: its own overflow wait.
• Leads: mark members as leads. Leads are told first when the department's work waits too long.

An untouched department follows the workspace.

Members

Settings → Team → Assignment for each member: whether they receive routed work, their own cap on open conversations, and leave — a date range and a stand-in who takes their customers meanwhile. Members on leave carry a badge everywhere. Each member can also book their own leave from the status picker in the sidebar (I'm on leave…), which also shows their load (e.g. 3/5).

Rules

Settings → Assignment → Assignment rules (when your plan includes them): an ordered list, first match wins. A rule is conditions (channel, channel type, contact tag, language, priority, working hours, new contact, contact has an agent) → a target (a department, a person, and/or how to distribute). Each rule shows how often it decided in the last 7 days. Try with a conversation shows which rule would match a conversation and why, without changing anything.

The customer's own agent

In the contact panel, Customer's agent gives a customer one general agent and, optionally, an agent per department. Their conversations from any channel go to that agent first (or the stand-in while they are away).

Waiting for assignment

Supervisors get a Waiting for assignment page (badged in the sidebar): everything nobody owns yet, oldest first, coloured against its department's SLA, with why it waits. Select several to assign them to someone, send them to a department or let the distribution place them; drop one on a team card to give it to that person. Tabs show transfer requests and conversations past their SLA. The team board shows who is online, their load against their cap, leave and working hours.

In the inbox

• Ready views: All · Assigned to me · Needs a person · With Wiz · My department. Needs a person holds every conversation nobody owns that is waiting for a person: a handover was requested, it is in the assignment queue, or it is open and no AI is answering it. With Wiz holds the ownerless ones the AI is answering (shown only where the AI can answer). Both cover open, pending and on-hold conversations together, so the folder picker reads Active folders while one is on; choosing a folder leaves the view.
• Completing a conversation clears its handover request and its place in the queue.
• Take it on an unowned conversation (when agents may claim). If somebody was faster, you are told who took it — nothing is overwritten.
• Why is it here? next to the owner lists the latest assignments: the rule, the distribution, the moment, and any transfer note.
• Transfers ask for a short note (required if your workspace says so) and can target a department.

AI-assisted assignment

Optional and off by default: the AI can choose a department for conversations that have none, and suggest — or, when confident enough, choose — who takes a conversation. It only ranks people the rules above already allow, and each call counts on its own usage meter with a daily limit.

On the phone

The mobile app has Take it, the Needs a person view, your status, load and leave in Settings, and — for supervisors — a simple waiting list. Tapping an "assigned to you" notification opens the conversation.