Virtual Agent Timeout issue – Call not transferring to another agent in Service Operations Work

DurgeshMunne
Tera Contributor

an hour ago

Hi Community,

 

I am facing an issue with ServiceNow Virtual Agent call routing.

 

When a call is made to a Service Desk agent via Virtual Agent, the call is not automatically getting routed/transferred to another available agent when required.

From initial analysis, the issue appears to be related to Service Operations Workspace, but the exact root cause is unclear.

 

Details:

  • Call is initiated via Virtual Agent
  • Expected behavior: Call should automatically route to another available agent (based on availability/assignment rules)
  • Actual behavior: Call is not transferring to another agent

 

Observed scenarios:

  • Case 1: The call is routed to another agent only when the current agent manually declines the call.
  • Case 2: If the agent does not decline the call, even after the timeout of 30 seconds, the call is not routing to another available agent.

 

Questions:

  1. Are there any specific configurations in Service Operations Workspace that control call routing/transfer?
  2. Could this be related to assignment rules, agent availability, or AWA (Advanced Work Assignment)?
  3. Are there any known issues or configurations that might prevent automatic routing after timeout?

 

Any guidance or suggested checks would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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vaishali231
Kilo Sage

a minute ago

Hey @DurgeshMunne 

Based on the behavior you've described, the issue is unlikely to be caused directly by Service Operations Workspace. In most Virtual Agent-to-Agent handoff scenarios, the routing and reassignment logic is managed by Advanced Work Assignment (AWA), agent presence, queue configuration, and any integrated telephony solution.

Analysis of Observed Behavior

Case 1 – Agent manually declines the call

This indicates that the routing configuration is functioning correctly to some extent. When the agent explicitly declines the interaction, AWA recognizes the work item as unavailable for that agent and successfully requeues or reassigns it to another eligible agent.

Case 2 – Agent does not respond and call times out after 30 seconds

This suggests that the timeout event is not triggering the same reassignment logic as a manual decline. As a result, the work item may remain assigned to the original agent, preventing AWA from offering it to another available agent.

Areas to Validate

1. Advanced Work Assignment (AWA) Configuration

Review the AWA queue and routing settings to determine how unanswered work offers are handled.

Check the following:

Offer timeout configuration

Requeue behavior after timeout

Auto-decline settings for unanswered work offers

Assignment method configured on the queue

If a timeout is configured but no requeue action is defined, the interaction may remain assigned to the original agent.

2. Agent Availability and Presence States

Verify that agent presence is being updated correctly.

Review:

Presence States

Presence Rules

Agent Availability

Capacity Profiles

In some implementations, an agent who does not answer may still remain in an "Available" state, causing AWA to continue treating the agent as eligible.

3. Agent Capacity Configuration

Ensure other agents are available and have remaining capacity when reassignment is attempted.

Validate:

Capacity Profiles

Maximum Capacity

Current Workload

Queue Membership

If all other agents have reached capacity, AWA may not find an eligible agent for reassignment.

4. Agent Work Record State

Review the associated Agent Work record during a failed routing attempt.

Key fields to inspect:

State

Assigned To

Assignment Group

Queue

After timeout, determine whether:

The record remains assigned to the original agent, or

The record is returned to the queue for reassignment

This can help identify whether the issue is occurring at the routing level or during queue processing.

5. Telephony Integration Behavior

If your implementation uses a telephony provider such as Amazon Connect, Genesys, Cisco, Twilio, or Five9, unanswered-call behavior may be controlled by the telephony platform rather than ServiceNow.

Review:

Ring timeout settings

No-answer handling

Failover routing rules

Agent availability synchronization

A missed call may need to be explicitly mapped to a decline or rejection event before ServiceNow can trigger reassignment.

Recommended Troubleshooting Steps

  1. Review the affected Agent Work record during a timeout scenario.
  2. Confirm whether the work item is requeued after the timeout expires.
  3. Validate AWA queue timeout and reassignment settings.
  4. Verify that alternative agents are available and below capacity.
  5. Check telephony provider configurations for no-answer handling.
  6. Enable AWA debug logging and review assignment decisions during the routing attempt.

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If this response helps, please mark it as Accept as Solution and Helpful.

Doing so helps others in the community and encourages me to keep contributing.

Regards

Vaishali Singh

Servicenow Developer
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaishali-singh-2273361bb










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