Improving efficiency with assignment assistance

[Daniel Hills]

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.

[Francisco javi2]

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]

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 MTL]

@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]

Hi @Joshua Chen MTL 

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 MTL]

@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)

[Daniel Hills]

Hi @Joshua Chen MTL, 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 MTL]

@Daniel Hills  enjoy your time off 🙂

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

[Daniel Hills]

Hi @Joshua Chen MTL, 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 😀

[shrikanthG]

Hi team ,can i have steps or any documentation to configure the assignment assistance ,as im getting the error- No agents were available during the specified time frame. Change the task assignment window or manually assign ,even i changed the availble agent timing ,territory and the location ,still im facing the issue to setup .can any one suggest me the exact way or any documentation to achieve this.

[Skylar_Barth]

@shrikanthG I would suggest starting a new thread and providing more context. Check lat/lon on cmn_location on sys_user for all wm_agent as well as Agent Schedules.

[Joshua Chen MTL]

@Daniel Hills  @Skylar_Barth  

i just realized that the results "match" % in the assignment workbench is != to the rating provided in the dynamic scheduling log. I thought using filter "best match" meant that it would use the DS config to rank the agent... 

Suggest agents to assign to a work order task

how is "match"? calculated when filter = best match? Is it a defect in my instance?

Assignment assitance result

DS log

[Daniel Hills]

Hi @Joshua Chen MTL best match is calculated the same way that Dynamic Scheduling calculates agents to assign tasks to. Matching criteria for assigning tasks has more information on the matching criteria. Hope this helps, please let me know if you have more questions 🙂

[Joshua Chen MTL]

@Daniel Hills  okay i will open a case, it returns the same technician but the RATING (dyanmics schduling log ) and the MATCH (assignment assitance) is different ( 75% vs 85%)

[Joshua Chen MTL]

Update: it's not a defect.
see difference.

The rating from the Assignment Assistance is retrieved based on the agent rating from the matching rules engine. So it is summarized rating for each qualified agent based on the calculation for each dynamic scheduling matching criteria. This rating is tied for each agent after the matching rule engine calculation.

The rating from dynamic scheduling log indicates the rating for each qualified work block. For example, one agent could have 3 workblocks available for this task and due to the travel time before and after, there would be a rating generated for each workblock. The log from dynamic scheduling would use the workblock rating to show why the best workblock based on rating is selected.

[Joshua Chen MTL]

Hi @Daniel Hills  

Can you use assignment assistance  for contractor technicians (wm_ext_agent) vs internal users (wm_agent). I tested in PDI, and it's not returning any score for contractor agents - only for my internal wm_agent. Can you pls confirm?

UPDATE: 

Dynamic scheduling/Assignment assistance does not consider contractors. This is because we would not expect to have all the details like the capabilities, skills, parts, schedules of the external agents present on the internal system and they might be handled in a different or external system.

[Daniel Hills]

Hi @Joshua Chen MTL, I didn't see the update you posted, but yes you're correct. Assignment assistance only considers internal agents, and not contractors. Dynamic scheduling works the same way too.

[Joshua Chen MTL]

@Daniel Hills  minor correction,

Assignment assistance (feature part of dynamicschduling) does not work with contractors, but dynamic scheduling does work with contractor but with it is limited (task filter is added for contractor ootb)