When you create an assignment rule, there is always a primary team that receives tickets first. If the primary team is full and you don't want customers to wait, you can set a backup team to handle overflowed tickets.

Note: Before you begin, make sure you understand Assignment rules.

This page covers the following information:

• How it works
• Set up a backup team
• Language-based overflow example

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When the primary team is full, the system automatically assigns new tickets to the backup team.

Assume you have set up an assignment rule with the following configuration:

• Team A as the primary team, selected in Assign to.
• Team B as the backup team, selected in Assign overflowed ticket to.

The ticket assignment flow is as follows:

To view the image in full screen, click on the

1. New tickets matching the rule's conditions go to available agents in Team A.
2. Tickets continue going to Team A until all agents in Team A have full queues.
3. Once Team A is full, new tickets automatically go to Team B.
4. When Team B is also full, new tickets wait in Team B's queue until a Team B agent becomes available.

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1. Go to Settings > Desk > Rules > Assignment.
2. Click Create+ in the top right corner of the page.
3. Set the conditions for the tickets that this rule should cover.
4. Select the primary team in the Assign to field.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

5. Select the backup team in the Assign overflowed ticket to field.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

6. Click Save and then enable the rule.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

New tickets matching this rule now go to the backup team whenever the primary team is full.

Note: Backup teams can only be set up in team-based rules. Bot-dedicated assignment rules don't support this feature.

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The following scenario uses a language-based assignment rule to handle French-language tickets.

In this scenario, customers speak English or French. The French Team is the primary team, specialized for French-speaking customers. The English Team is the backup team for French tickets.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

1. French-language tickets go to the French Team first.
2. When an agent in the French Team is available, the ticket is assigned immediately.
3. When the French Team is full, the ticket is assigned to an available agent in the English Team.
4. When both teams are full, the ticket waits in the English Team's queue until an agent becomes available.