Channel Management in Workforce Optimization for Customer Service

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Channel Management in Workforce Optimization for Customer Service

    Channel Management in Workforce Optimization for Customer Service empowers ServiceNow customers to monitor and manage the real-time performance of customer service teams across multiple communication channels and queues. This capability enables supervisors and managers to track key performance indicators (KPIs), oversee agent availability and workload, and collaborate with agents to resolve complex customer issues more efficiently.

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    Key Features

    • Real-Time Monitoring: View live data on waiting customers, agent availability, ongoing work, and queue status across various service channels including WhatsApp, Facebook, LINE, Amazon Connect, and SMS.
    • Performance Tracking and Analysis: Use KPI reports to evaluate team performance continuously and drill down into work items for detailed insights.
    • Collaboration Tools: Assist agents directly by joining chat conversations, whisper coaching, or adding work notes to tasks to expedite issue resolution.
    • Manual Work Assignment: Assign pending work items to agents manually to optimize workload distribution and improve response times.
    • Filter and Customize Views: Utilize filters such as Assignment Group to focus on specific channels, KPIs, work items, and agents for targeted management.
    • Supervisor Capabilities: Create and configure service channels, queues, assignment rules, and KPIs; customize the channel management interface using UI Builder for tailored operational oversight.
    • Help Request Functionality: Enable agents to raise help requests via chat or voice directly on the Channel Overview page, with supervisors able to monitor, coach, or intervene in live calls to support agents effectively. This requires CCaaS integration and appropriate permissions.

    Practical Use Case

    For example, a customer service manager overseeing multiple teams can configure Advanced Work Assignment (AWA) to route incoming work effectively across channels. By setting KPIs in channels and queues, the manager can monitor team performance in real time, manually assign work, and join conversations to assist agents, ensuring efficient handling of customer interactions and improved service quality.

    Key Outcomes

    • Improved visibility into operational health across multiple communication channels and queues.
    • Enhanced ability to proactively manage agent workload and performance.
    • Faster resolution of customer issues through direct supervisor collaboration and intervention.
    • Consistent and unified agent support experience across voice and chat channels.
    • Customizable channel management interface to align with organizational workflows and reporting needs.

    Channel management lets you monitor important metrics across different channels and queues, manage the work being done by your team members, and collaborate with them to solve complex issues for your end-customers.

    Monitor the real-time health of your channels and queues by reviewing waiting customers, available agents, the work being done by your team members (or agents in your teams) and collaborate with them to solve complex issues faster.

    The following channel management snapshots provide you with a quick overview of the real-time performance monitoring and drill-down capabilities.

    GIF displaying various pages in Channel Management Drill Down Metrics and real-time performance monitoring capabilities.

    As a channel management user, you can:
    • Track real-time performance of your teams using key performance indicator reports in service channels and queues.
    • Review real-time performance as the team is actively working on tasks across channels and queues.
    • Drill down on work items and jump in to provide timely help to team members via chat whisper or by adding work notes to a task.
    • View agents' availability and their workload.​
    • Monitor pending work items in the queue and act when required.​
    • Assign work items manually to agents.
    • Filter the applicable channels, KPIs, work items, queued work, and agents using the Assignment Group filter functionality.
    • Track real-time performance of customer service on consumer messaging channels including WhatsApp, Facebook, LINE, Amazon Connect, and SMS.
    • Track and change real-time presence of agents so that work items are routed more efficiently.
    • Drill down the channel specific KPIs for further analysis.
    As a channel management administrator, you can:
    • Create service channels and queues.
    • Associate assignment rules to queues.
    • Configure KPIs for service channels and queues.
    • Configure the supervisor lists.
    • Customize the channel management page according to your requirements using the UI Builder.

    Help Request on the Channel Overview page

    Help Request on the Channel Overview page helps the agents to raise requests both via chat and voice interactions directly. Display voice‑based escalations from the NVC Active Call Component alongside chat requests to give supervisors a unified, real‑time view of agent needs.

    Supervisors can open any active voice request to review context and take action, including:

    • Monitoring the live call
    • Coaching the agent privately
    • Barging in to speak with both the agent and customer

    Each help request includes metadata such as agent name, interaction type, and duration, and updates automatically as new requests are raised. This capability requires CCaaS integration, appropriate supervisor permissions, and access to real‑time interaction data, enabling faster response times, consistent support across channels, and an improved agent experience.

    Example

    Understand how you can monitor important metrics (or key process indicators) across different channels and queues. Manage the work being done by your team members (or agents in your teams) and collaborate with them to solve complex issues for your end-customers.

    The example employee manages Customer Service operations for a large organization and has 12 teams. Each team has anywhere from 8 through 15 agents. The employee must ensure that incoming work gets effectively routed to the right groups across all channels. This can be done by setting up Advanced Work Assignment as per the business requirement.

    Once the employee has configured Advanced Work Assignment (AWA) appropriately, they can add key performance indicators (KPIs) to the channels and queues, and monitor the operational performance of the teams in real time.

    The employee in this example can then keep a track the teams' ongoing work, assign pending work items manually to agents, and join chat conversations to assist agents.

    Get an overview on how you can monitor teams by looking at the real-time data in service channels and queues.

    Get an overview on how you can manually assign work items, monitor ongoing cases, and join the chat conversations.

    Get an overview on how managers can add service channels, queues, and configure KPIs.