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Daniel Hills
ServiceNow Employee
ServiceNow Employee

Efficiency and precision in task assignment can significantly impact overall productivity. One of the key challenges dispatchers face is determining the most suitable agent for a specific work order task. This is where assignment assistance comes into play, streamlining task assignment and enhancing operational efficiency.

 

Increased efficiency

Using assignment assistance to suggests agents for tasks can significantly speed up the dispatching process. Dispatchers can quickly view a ranked list of agents based on predefined criteria such as skills, distance, best match, and more. This not only speeds up the assignment process but also frees up time for dispatchers to focus on more strategic tasks.

 

Improved agent satisfaction

When agents are matched with tasks that don't align with their skills, they are can experience lower job satisfaction. Over time, this can lead to decreased retention rates as agents feel less competent in their roles. Assignment assistance avoids this by showing dispatchers what tasks best match agents based on agent skills.

 

Scalable and flexible

As businesses grow, the volume of work orders typically increases, which can overwhelm traditional dispatch methods. An automated system that suggests agents for tasks can scale more effectively, and handle a higher number of assignments more easily.

 

Using assignment assistance not only enhances the efficiency of the dispatch process but also contributes to higher agent and customer satisfaction. By integrating such an advanced tool, businesses can ensure that they remain competitive and capable of meeting the evolving expectations of both their workforce and their customers.

 

For more information, see the product documentation on assignment assistance.

Comments
Francisco javi2
Giga Guru

Hello Daniel,

We have noticed with Assignment Assistance that the travel time and distance calculation is always the same (1hr/0mi). Is this the expected behavior?

Daniel Hills
ServiceNow Employee
ServiceNow Employee

Hi @Francisco javi2, that is not the expected behavior. It is a little difficult to suggest a resolution without access to the instance or data. I asked a developer about this and they suggested to verify that the locations that you have set are valid. If they're invalid locations then that might cause the issue. If you're still having this problem after validating the locations, I'd suggest opening a case tasks so support can look into it further. Hope this helps.

Joshua Chen FX
Mega Sage

@Daniel Hills  

from an operational perspective, if we have dynamic scheduling, shouldnt we encourage the use of DS instead of assignment assistance?

is the ''plus value'' of assignment assistance for customers that are not set up with DS or even SO?

Daniel Hills
ServiceNow Employee
ServiceNow Employee

Hi @Joshua Chen FX 

 

Dynamic scheduling must be installed to use assignment assistance.

 

Dynamic scheduling can run in one of two modes: manually or automatically. For manual operation, dispatchers select a set of tasks and then click Auto Assign to prioritize and assign the tasks. They can also use the Assignment assistance button in Dispatcher Workspace. For automatic operation, dispatchers can choose to run dynamic scheduling immediately upon task creation or at a specified interval.

 

If an organization has the manual process configured, Assignment assistance lets them choose the assignment criteria based on the factors dynamic scheduling considers. This can be done on a task-by-task basis. Additionally, if an organization has the manual process configured, using the Assignment assistance UI buttons can be easier for some than dragging and dropping tasks from the task pane into the calendar. 

Joshua Chen FX
Mega Sage

@Daniel Hills  

 i am still not sure why a Dispatcher would select ''assignment assistance > sort by best match'' if your DS config is properly configured, dispatcher should just click on ''auto-assign'' no? I cant think of any use case where I would use assignment assistance isntead of auto-assign (DS)

the main difference is that using assignment assistance, it sorts the agents based on the selected criteria, and then return results (ranking) and you have to select the agent (manual) from the returned results. whereas DS, it will auto assign (automated) based on the DS config

DS= automated (using auto-assign) or using (schedule job, interval config)

Assignmetn assistance = manual (sort via best match (DS) or other criteria such as skill)

JoshuaChenFX_0-1743458482580.png

 

Daniel Hills
ServiceNow Employee
ServiceNow Employee

Hi @Joshua Chen FX, I understand what you're saying. I am not a developer so can't speak to the reasoning made at the time. I would say that many applications, including ServiceNow, have more than one way of accomplishing the same thing. One thing Assignment assistance allows you to do is see the ranking of Best Match, but that is at the cost of more clicks. If you just select Auto Assign then you can't see who is next in line.

 

I can ask the team in stand up what the thought process was behind this and reply back. I am going to be off for a while though so my reply might take some time, but I'll add a note to my calendar to follow up with you.

Joshua Chen FX
Mega Sage

@Daniel Hills  enjoy your time off 🙂

I guess it's just another tool in the toolbox!

Daniel Hills
ServiceNow Employee
ServiceNow Employee

Hi @Joshua Chen FX, I just asked the dev team and they confirmed what I thought- that the main benefit is to see the rankings for best matched agent. Hope that helps a bit, and please let me know if you have other questions, I'll do my best to answer ðŸ˜€

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Last update:
‎08-27-2024 03:23 PM
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