Dynamics 365 case routing feature is the extension of the abilities of Dynamics 365 in the sphere of customer service. Routing Rules, also known as derivation rules are a set of rules and performance metrics used in the routing methodologies.
All networks in the world are kept separated by certain hosts known as routers. These consist of special software that is designed for routing. The routers examine the data packets arriving at their interface using the set of rules or metrics known as Routing rules.
This set of metrics controls the flow of work between a set of tasks in a process. The understanding can be simplified in the sense that these rules decide the sequence of tasks in a process. It is possible to keep the workflow restricted to a single path or it can be divided into multiple threads.
These rules are also capable of evaluating and designing a proper sequence of the tasks in the workflow. The routing rules can be categorized in the following manner:-
- Sequential Routing Rule
- Selection Routing Rule
- Evaluation Routing Rule
- Parallel (Fork) Routing Rule
- Parallel by Evaluation Routing Rule
- Parallel (Join) Routing Rule
- End of Process Routing Rule
- Starting Task Routing Rule
In the contemporary business world, intelligent customer service methods are essential for the reputation of the company. Organizations need to smartly and adeptly handle queries and resolve the issues faced by the customers. The routing rules come into function in this arena.
In Microsoft Dynamics 365, these routing rules can be designed in a calculated way. This will subsequently direct the queries raised by the customers to the correct person. The metrics quickly perform the work of directing queries and do not need any manual intervention.
Secondly, these rules can be used to guide Dynamics 365 regarding the use and direct intervention. Finally, these metrics can be used for routine certain cases from the case records that have been put in the specific queues.
Process of creating Routing Routes:
The method of creating routing rules begins with the selection of a workflow. This can be done by opening the work distribution management tab and selecting the workstream. After this, the description of a new rule has to be completed in the routing rule items tab. Then, add has to be selected from the tab.
In this page certain grounds have to be filled, they are as follows :-
- In the general information portion within the general tab, the name of the rule item, the workstream, and the queue need to be filled.
- Then the description needs to contain a short description of the rule item.
- The condition needs to mention the specific conditions for the rule. This is done because based on the provided conditions the conversations or customer queries are routed to the right queues. These conditions are usually defined on the basis of entity, related entity, attribute, operator & value.
Finally, the save option must be selected in order to create a new routing rule. But it must be noted that the creation of a routing rule can be possible only by creating workstreams. So, a clear understanding of creating workstreams is also necessary. The Dynamics 365 expands its capacity in the system of the user organization using Omnichannel for customer service.
The following steps must be followed in order to create workstreams within the Omnichannel for customer service:-
- Open the Omnichannel site map. Select work distribution management. Then click on workstreams. This displays the workstreams already active.
- Next, click on new from the command bar in order to create a workstream.
- The work distribution tab opens. After this in the general information portion certain data needs to be filled as below :
● Name of the stream
● Channel through which the customer raises the queries.
● Capacity needed to perform a single conversation.
● The portion of time after which the conversation has to be moved from the waiting state to the closed state. - Finally, click on Save. The workstream is thus saved.
The company creating the workstream can join it with the channel artifacts. This will additionally help in assigning conversations to the customer service agents seamlessly.
Understanding the Routing Rules in Microsoft Dynamics CRM:
Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a software package recently released by Microsoft. The software centers around functions related to managing the customer relations of a company. This product is widely used in the spheres of sales, marketing, and service-providing sectors. The application is based on the concept of the server-client relationship. It is basically a web application supporting many web service interfaces. The service is a part of the Dynamics 365 version.
Omnichannel for customer service helps in expanding the existing abilities of Dynamics 365. The user organizations can directly engage themselves with the customers across multiple digital platforms. But, it must be remembered that an additional license is needed to use the Omnichannel for Dynamics 365 customer service.
In this context, it must be noted that routing rules form the basis of the capacities of the Omnichannel. The rules, in reality, are a set of metrics that define the process of diverting the conversations into various queues.
Among the set of rules, each routing rule consists of a specific condition and a destination queue. In a given situation, if the condition of the rule is true, the conversation gets directed to the destination queue. But, the routing rules for an entity record are defined at the entity recording level.
Also, the method of creating routing rules and workstreams go together. The term ‘work stream’ is defined as a unification of routing rules and work distribution settings. A single workstream has the capacity of holding multiple routing rules.
Workstreams are generally of three kinds namely –
- Live chat workstream
- SMS workstream
- Work Stream for social channels.
The user organization can define several routing rules for performance purposes but only the first 100 are applied. In the performing system, this set of rules are evaluated from the beginning till the end. The evaluation of rule sets is done on the basis of conditions.
If a rule condition is True then it is directed to the queue, but if false, it is further evaluated. After a condition is evaluated as False, it is directed into the Default queue for further evaluation. These conditions may differ on the basis of channel contexts, contact account, case context, and others.
Method of applying a Routing Rule:
The application of a routing rule is the second step in the process. Firstly, the routing rule has to be created carefully. This will also create a workstream in the background. The activation of the rule has to be chosen before the routing rule is created and saved. After the rule is activated, the application of it’s automated with regards to the cases created automatically. But, a manually created case needs the routing rule to be applied manually.
This is done in the following manner –
- Click on the Command bar.
- Choose the cases that are to be routed using the rule.
- Select apply routing rule.
Points to Note:
There are certain points to be remembered in the context of using routing rules. These are as follows:-
- A workflow is created in the background during the press of creating a routing rule. This means that to create and subsequently use a routing rule, the user organization must have the benefits related to the use of workflows.
- Only an activated routing rule is capable of routing cases to Dynamics 365.
- If a case is created manually then the routing rule will have to be applied to it manually. This can be done by selecting “Apply Routing Rule” from the command bar. The process will be completed based on the kind of routing rules that apply to the case.
- There is the provision of creating several sets of routing rules. But, it has to be noted that only one set of metrics can be active at a time. This means that if a certain rule is activated while another rule is already active, the first rule will be deactivated by the system.
- The destination of rules can be possible only for the one that is owned by the company. This means that the company cannot deactivate the rules that it does not own.
- An organization cannot edit a routing rule that is already active in its system.
- If a user or team is configured with a case routing rule, they must own the privilege of using that case.
- The decision of applying routing rules to cases can be made by creating cases using records in bulk.
- The user organization should have access to the existing routing rule sets to create a new routing rule.
- The process of automated case routing aids organizations to improve their customer service patterns.
- A user should have direct access to the routing rule set to apply these rules to cases.
