❓ Context: Assignments to Offline Agents
In certain operational situations, administrators or supervisors notice that new conversations are automatically assigned to agents who are offline (disconnected) or in non-assignable states (such as "Lunch", "Training" or "Coaching").
This usually creates confusion, especially if it appears that there are available agents who are not receiving interactions, while inactive ones are.
⚠️ Why does this happen?
The system's behavior obeys the business rules configured in your groups. You should keep in mind the following key points:
Schedule takes precedence over status: A user's "offline" or "non-assignable" status does not block assignment if that agent belongs to a group that is currently within its active work schedule.
The order of priority: When a chat arrives, Atom searches for and prioritizes agents who are in "Online" status. However, if all agents in the group are Offline or in non-assignable states, the system does not reject the chat; instead, it performs the assignment equitably using the Round Robin method.
No wait times: The assignment logic does not wait for an agent to change their status. If at the time the conversation arrives there is no one available, the system will assign the chat immediately, even if an agent changes to "available" seconds later.
🏢 Practical example: An agent was on vacation and left her profile in "non-assignable". Nevertheless, she received a chat. Upon investigation, it was detected that the group she belonged to did have an active work schedule. Due to the lack of online agents in that group, the system distributed the chat within the schedule, ignoring the agent's individual status.
🛠️ Step by step: How to disable off-schedule assignment
One of the most common reasons this occurs is having the "Assign off-schedule" function enabled or having a custom schedule active. If you do not want offline agents to receive chats, you must adjust your settings:
Go to the side menu and access Settings.
Enter User Management and then select Groups.
Locate the group involved in the list.
On the right side of the group name, click on the three vertical dots.
Select the Edit option.
Disable the "Assign off-schedule" option and save the changes.
✅ Additional Best Practices
To optimize your conversation routing, we recommend applying these solutions:
Remove test agents: If the bot is assigning chats to profiles like "Atom test" or test users, make sure to remove them from real support groups to avoid "garbage" assignments.
Adjust customizable states: Make sure your team understands which states (created by the company) are truly assignable and which are not. Providing an internal guide with this information prevents operational misunderstandings.
Schedule Review: Remember that if you have a custom schedule enabled at the general level, but your agents disconnect before it ends, conversations will continue to be assigned.
📞 When to contact Support?
You should open a ticket with our technical team in the following scenarios:
If you notice that conversations are assigned outside the expected logic (for example, to an offline agent when there are indeed available online agents in the same group).
If assignments occur to agents who have been deleted or who should not be active on the platform.
If you need advanced support to integrate assignment exceptions according to rotating shifts or business priorities.
Take control of your assignments! 🚀
Understanding Atom's routing logic and correctly adjusting your groups' schedules will allow you to ensure that no customer is left waiting in limbo and that your team receives chats fairly, organized and only when they are ready to assist. ✅