Why does the bot assign conversations to an "offline" agent or a test agent?
In this article, you will learn why the Atom assignment bot may send conversations to offline or test agents, and how to prevent it.
📌 Frequently asked question or initial context
Some customers have noticed that the conversation assignment bot assigns chats to an agent who was "offline" or to a test agent. This can be confusing, as conversations were expected to be assigned to active and available agents within the group. In this article, we explain how this behavior works and what measures you can take to avoid it.
🛠️ Troubleshooting section (step by step)
Check the status of the initially assigned agent. Check in the Users panel if the agent is really in the "offline" or "not assignable" state. You can do this by checking the connection history in the reports section.
Check the status of the initially assigned agent. Check in the Users panel if the agent is really in the "offline" or "not assignable" state. You can do this by checking the connection history in the reports section.
Check the configuration of automatic conversation assignment. Check the chat assignment configuration and verify if the system is configured to assign conversations only to available agents. Also, verify which agents of that group are in an assignable state to send them a conversation.
Check the chat assignment configuration and verify if the system is configured to assign conversations only to available agents.
Also, verify which agents of that group are in an assignable state to send them a conversation.
Check if there are unwanted groups assigned to the test agent. Make sure that there are no groups assigned to the test user that could be causing conversations to be assigned to them automatically. If detected, remove or deactivate these groups to prevent them from receiving those chats.
Make sure that there are no groups assigned to the test user that could be causing conversations to be assigned to them automatically.
If detected, remove or deactivate these groups to prevent them from receiving those chats.
View the bot logs. Check the Agent Status Reports to determine how the bot assigned the conversations in the particular case and what conditions occurred (for example, the number of available agents and the status of each).
Check the Agent Status Reports to determine how the bot assigned the conversations in the particular case and what conditions occurred (for example, the number of available agents and the status of each).
✅ Possible solutions
Delete or deactivate test users: Make sure that test agents are not associated with any group in production or are deleted to avoid unwanted automatic assignments.
Delete or deactivate test users:
Make sure that test agents are not associated with any group in production or are deleted to avoid unwanted automatic assignments.
Manually reassign conversations: If a conversation was incorrectly assigned, administrators can manually reassign conversations to the appropriate agents from the inbox.
Manually reassign conversations:
If a conversation was incorrectly assigned, administrators can manually reassign conversations to the appropriate agents from the inbox.
🗒️ Additional notes
Bot priority: The assignment bot prioritizes assigning conversations within the same group. This means that if the previously assigned agent is offline, the bot will automatically select an agent within that group to maintain the continuity of the interaction, even if that agent is "offline" or has a test profile.
Bot priority:
The assignment bot prioritizes assigning conversations within the same group. This means that if the previously assigned agent is offline, the bot will automatically select an agent within that group to maintain the continuity of the interaction, even if that agent is "offline" or has a test profile.
Monitoring and adjustments: It is advisable to periodically review the conversation assignment configuration and the status of the agents to avoid assignment problems in the future.
Monitoring and adjustments:
It is advisable to periodically review the conversation assignment configuration and the status of the agents to avoid assignment problems in the future.
🧩 Practical example or use case
Scenario:
Marta López, an agent, was offline from Friday to Tuesday. During that time, the system assigned all conversations to a test agent because there were no other agents available in the group. This resulted in the test user handling conversations that would normally have been assigned to Marta.
Result:
The behavior is expected, as the bot prioritized maintaining continuity in the assignment. The solution was to remove the test user to prevent them from being assigned future conversations.
📞 When to contact support?
Contact the Atom support team if:
Active and available agents are not receiving conversations despite being connected.