Task Distribution

Every incoming call in Nimbus is considered a task to be distributed via queue. This view can look different depending on how your Nimbus service is configured.

"Tasks" Queue as shown in the Dashboard, A "Pickup" distribution type was configured, so corresponding "Pickup" Buttons are shown.

Queue Distribution Type

The "Distribution Type" setting in your Workflows > Queue Activities determine how incoming tasks are distributed.

Distribution Type	Description	When to Pick
Broadcast	Rings users simultaneously, selected in a batch size of 10 longest-idle users. The first user to pick up the call via Microsoft Teams will handle the task. Does not apply RONA status as it would otherwise flag the entire user batch size.	Achieves a higher visibility, but the ringing call sets 10 selected agents as "Not Available", not allowing further calls to be distributed to them in the meantime. Makes little sense in high-speed scenarios when the agents are dedicated only to the client to accept calls within a few seconds. Situationally for very large teams where high-volume call handling is more important than equal work distribution.
Direct	Will distribute tasks directly to team members, prioritizing the longest idle (active) team member. RONA time is adjustable. No further actions are necessary aside from accepting the call via Microsoft Teams.	The call with the selected team member is first established via a Teams peer-to-peer call, before it gets escalated to the regular Nimbus conference session. Useful if you have "Busy on Busy" features enabled for your users. Otherwise slower than "Direct Conference" and generally not recommended.
Direct Conference	Same distribution as "Direct", but in this mode, the selected team member is directly invited to the Nimbus conference session, allowing them to join much faster and be able to talk to the original caller sooner.	Our General recommendation for most services. Ensures faster handling of calls without blocking too many users at once for the same ringing call. Conference invitations get cancelled if a task was aborted (e.g. Hangup by User, Queue left, Max Wait Timeout Reached ). → See Nimbus Reporting Model.
Pickup	Will show extra "Pickup" controls in the Tasks list of the called team. A call session will be directly established without further intervention, and no further call reporting is possible after this point. If the Nimbus user is unavailable or the session is otherwise ended the call will be lost.	In small teams (e.g. volunteers) where it's acceptable to lose a call and reporting data isn't as important. Pickup by itself does not allow call transfers as Nimbus has no further control over the session.→ If you want to use Pickup with transfer, use "Pickup with Adjustable RONA" or "Pickup Conference" instead. KNOWN ISSUE When any "Pickup" type is selected, skill-based Contact Center Service types may still show the call in a queue, however without a pickup button. → We recommend not using any "Pickup" distribution type in a skill-based distribution scenario.
Pickup with Adjustable RONA	Same as Pickup, but with adjustable RONA. A call session that is not accepted (after "Pickup" is clicked) within the given RONA time can be re-inserted into the task queue or handled otherwise.
Pickup Conference	Same as "Pickup with Adjustable RONA", but will directly invite the agent to the Nimbus conference session, allowing them to join much faster and be able to talk to the original caller sooner.	Best performance of all "Pickup" types. Unanswered calls can be re-inserted into the queue and no reporting data is lost. Suitable for scenarios in which the agents can keep an eye on the app. Or to "park" calls in a queue so that other calls can be answered first and then the parked call can be retrieved from the waiting queue. Conference invitations get cancelled if a task was aborted (e.g. Hangup by User, Queue left, Max Wait Timeout Reached ). → See Nimbus Reporting Model.

Related Topics:

The "Distribution Type" settings can be configured via Workflows. Consult our Workflow Activities for a full set of call "Queue" distribution options.
Team Owners can switch between workflows at any time using the Service Settings.

Combine Distribution Types in flexible Opening Hour Workflows

An effective way to manage your call distribution is to combine different "Queue" steps with "Opening Hours" activity in your workflow. Note that workflows need to be assigned to your service (done via Service Settings).

Here is a possible scenario on how to individually configure the task distribution:

Go to your Workflows and add a new activity "Check Opening Hours".
Templates using this activity are available for you to build upon.
Within the "Queue" Steps you may now configure the distribution type as you need to for each working hours.
When satisfied with your workflow, go to the Service Settings and apply it to your service.
Note that changes to workflows and opening hours are applied immediately.

Why switch between Distribution Types? Here are some examples:

Depending on your daily workload or available team members you might want to switch the distribution to:

Improve the customer experience by already establishing conferences that a Nimbus user can quickly join into.
Handle more tasks with direct distribution (but at the risk of potentially lost calls).
Give your team members more flexibility in taking calls actively or leave it to Nimbus to completely automate the distribution with the "longest-idle-user-first" approach.
Follow the concept of Teams history-based chat communication by enabling Nimbus Adaptive Cards. This eases team members into the new concept without having to install extra tabs or apps.
Stay within the same type of distribution, but Individually configure RONA times, wait music or other parameters depending on opening hours.

Advanced Task Handling with Distribution Profiles

Contact Center distribution feature.

As your service increases in size, your requirements in call distribution may as well. Switching your Service Type to a Contact Center license enables additional and granular queue handling via an Distribution Order algorithm. The configuration steps and concepts behind them are explained in the following example:

Distribution Order

Click on the tabs learn more.

Skills / Responsibilities

Skill / Responsibility Definition

The first step before using skill and responsibility based-routing should always be a look at your organizational structure. Ask: what kind of expertise is important when handling incoming calls? How should our users (Agents) be categorized accordingly? Then go ahead and do the following:

Define Skill Categories - such as "Language Skills" or "Product Expertise". You may also define soft-skills or adjectives without levels, such as "First-Responder".
Optionally define Skill Levels according to your chosen category. This allows for escalation levels so you can require certain skills or widen the user pool by gradually lowering skill requirements of long-waiting calls.
Optionally define Responsibilities to apply to any category of skills. Responsibility levels can be used to distinguish skill importance, e.g. based on on time of day, workload, out-of-office status or for "high-demand" situations where users with certain skills are more responsible than others.
Optionally define Responsibility Profiles for your users to select from. A profile automatically groups skills and responsibility levels together and lets you define corresponding levels for each profile and user.

In our example we defined 2 skill categories with levels. Responsibility is enabled for the "Expertise" skill which will be explained further below.

Information on this configuration can be found on Skills and Responsibilities .

We recommend to coordinate this with your (future) Service Team owners and their respective Organization Units, so avoid unnecessary duplicates of skills, categories and profiles within your Nimbus Tenant.

User Definition

After setting defining all your skills and responsibilities you want to define your individual Contact Center users (Agents).

Optionally assign the additional responsibility profiles for each user where needed. By default each user has two system profiles: Duty (which considers all skills) and Off Duty. Users will able to select further responsibility profiles you defined from the Nimbus frontend (based on their respective Organization Units).
Define skill and responsibility levels for each user. With further profiles you can define these levels individually for each user.

In our example we defined two users with varying levels of skill and expertise. A highly skilled user (e.g. a programming expert) may be busy with other tasks during the day, but shall answer questions while being "On Call" at weekends.

Usually you do not change skills on users very often, as they remain consistent. Skill-based responsibility however may be a different for each user depending on their selected profile. Make sure that the naming and meaning of your profiles is clear and understandable for your users (examples could be: "Night Shift, Weekend Duty", "High Load").

Service Configuration

After defining your Agents it's time to apply policies to your services. These policies define, how Agents are pooled and selected during an incoming call.

Rules for the selection order algorithm

In order to be selected, defined Nimbus Contact Center users must fullfill all the required criteria

Users must have the all required skills.
(Of the required skills) one skill level must match for the user to be selectable.
(When responsibility is enabled for a skill), one of the required responsibility levels must match as well.
The user must be available (e.g. not in RONA state, Busy in another call)
If multiple available users match the requirements above, the order algorithm defines the priority as follows:
1. Best Qualified: Prefers highest skill qualification (even if higher respond
2. Longest Idle: Prefers longest idle team over both responsibility and skill level.

Define a distribution policy with a clear name (e.g. Regular day service policy) and an order algorithm (see info above).
1. Define the distribution levels with one or more profiles of escalation.
2. Each profile determines the required skills AND their required responsibility ranged.
Assign the policy within your Service Settings so it takes effect immediately on the next call.

In our example we defined a policy with two levels, both excluding the "Junior" expertise level, but lowering the responsibility and language requirements on the 2nd level at the 30 second mark.

Call Evaluation

Once assigned to your Contact Center service the call will be distributed according to the order algorithm.

All skill-defined users are pooled. Users must be available (not in other calls, not busy in meetings, etc.)
The rules of selection are applied (MUST have all skills, MUST be in any allowed responsibility level)
On equal match the users are selected based on the order algorithm setting (Longest Idle, Best Qualified)

In our example we explain the algorithm via the two levels defined in our distribution profile earlier:

Level	Selection Criteria
1	The Expert is not selected because language skills and responsibility level do not match. Even while "On Call" the language proficiency "Native" prevents distribution. The Support has the required skills. They get the call in either profile.
2	The Expert can now be selected because language skills and responsivity criteria are softened. Either profile will suffice for the call to be distributed. The Support has the required skills as well. They get the call in either profile. However, depending on the order algorithm (Longest Idle, Best Qualified) the Expert might get the call first.

Learnings

By applying Skills and Responsibilities you can define your users and the call escalation.
By applying Distribution Policies on your Contact Center services you determine, how these skillsets are used in call escalation.