How to Get Started with Omni-Channel in Salesforce: A Step-by-Step Guide
Salesforce Omni-Channel is a game-changing feature that enables businesses to route work items—such as cases, chats, leads, and more—to the right agents at the right time. By automating the process of assigning tasks based on agent availability, skill sets, and capacity, Omni-Channel ensures that work is distributed efficiently and effectively.
Implementing Omni-Channel in Salesforce can greatly improve customer service performance and agent productivity, but it requires proper setup to ensure everything runs smoothly. In this guide, we’ll walk through the key steps to get you started with Omni-Channel.
1. Enable Omni-Channel
The first step in setting up Omni-Channel is to enable it in Salesforce. This feature is available for Salesforce organizations with Service Cloud licenses, but you need to activate it through the Setup menu.
How to Enable Omni-Channel:
Navigate to Setup in Salesforce.
In the Quick Find box, search for "Omni-Channel."
Select Omni-Channel Settings.
Click Enable Omni-Channel.
Once Omni-Channel is enabled, you’ll have access to its configuration settings, allowing you to begin customizing how work is routed in your organization.
2. Create Presence Configurations
Presence configurations determine when agents are available to handle work. By setting up presence statuses, agents can indicate their availability in real time, whether they are ready to take on tasks, are busy, or are on a break.
Steps to Create Presence Configurations:
In Setup, search for Presence Configurations.
Click New to create a new presence configuration.
Define the settings for your presence configuration, such as whether agents can receive work items while in a specific status.
You can also specify maximum capacity for each presence configuration, limiting how much work agents can handle at one time.
For example, you might create a configuration where agents marked as “Available” can receive new cases and chats, while those marked as “On Break” will not be assigned any new tasks.
3. Define Work Capacity
One of Omni-Channel’s key features is the ability to manage agent workload through capacity limits. This ensures that agents aren’t overwhelmed with too many tasks at once, which can help maintain quality and prevent burnout.
How to Define Work Capacity:
In Setup, search for Presence Configurations again.
For each presence configuration, specify the total capacity—this represents the amount of work an agent can handle at a given time.
Work capacity is based on points, and each work item type (such as a case or chat) can be assigned a specific point value. For instance, you might assign a case 5 points and a chat 2 points, depending on how complex each type of task is.
Capacity ensures that agents are only assigned the amount of work they can realistically manage. Once their capacity is reached, no additional tasks will be routed to them until they complete their current workload.
4. Assign Agent Skills
To take full advantage of Omni-Channel’s intelligent routing capabilities, you’ll need to define the skill sets of your agents. By doing this, Omni-Channel can assign work to the most qualified person, ensuring that tasks are handled efficiently and accurately.
How to Assign Skills:
In Setup, search for Skills and click New to define new skills.
Define the skill categories that apply to your organization. For instance, you might create skills for "Billing Support," "Technical Issues," or "Product Knowledge."
Once your skills are defined, assign them to agents based on their expertise. This will allow Omni-Channel to match incoming tasks with agents who possess the necessary skill set.
Skill-based routing is essential for making sure the right work is assigned to the right people. This not only improves response times but also increases the likelihood that tasks are resolved correctly on the first attempt.
5. Set Up Routing Rules
Routing rules are the heart of Omni-Channel, determining how work items are assigned to agents. These rules define the criteria that dictate which tasks go to which agents, based on factors like skill set, task priority, or case type.
Steps to Set Up Routing Rules:
In Setup, search for Routing Configurations.
Click New to create a new routing configuration.
Define the parameters for routing work. You can set up rules based on:
Priority: You can prioritize high-value cases or customers, ensuring these tasks are handled first.
Skill Requirements: Tasks can be routed to agents with specific skills (e.g., all technical support cases go to agents with a "Technical Issues" skill).
Workload: Ensure that agents are only assigned tasks if they have the capacity to handle them.
You can customize routing rules to match your business needs. For instance, you could set a rule to prioritize urgent customer cases, ensuring that critical issues are addressed as quickly as possible. Routing rules ensure that the right work is always handled by the right person, minimizing delays and maximizing efficiency.
6. (Optional) Integrate with Other Channels
Salesforce Omni-Channel can handle work from various sources, including emails, web-to-case forms, live chat, and even phone calls. If your organization manages multiple service channels, you can integrate these into Omni-Channel to create a unified customer service experience.
How to Integrate Other Channels:
To integrate live chat, you’ll need to configure Salesforce Chat (formerly known as Live Agent).
For email and web-based cases, ensure that your Email-to-Case and Web-to-Case settings are properly configured.
Salesforce also offers integrations with phone systems through Service Cloud Voice, which can further enhance your Omni-Channel setup.
With these integrations, work from multiple channels can be routed seamlessly through Omni-Channel, ensuring that all tasks—regardless of their origin—are managed efficiently.
Conclusion
Getting started with Omni-Channel in Salesforce involves a few key configuration steps, but once it’s set up, it can dramatically improve the efficiency of your customer service operations. By automating work distribution, defining agent availability, managing workload, and routing tasks based on skills, Omni-Channel ensures that your team is working at peak productivity.
If you’re ready to streamline your service operations with Omni-Channel but need assistance with implementation, contact us today. We’re here to help you maximize your Salesforce investment and improve your customer service outcomes.
Ready to optimize your case routing?
Setting up Omni-Channel in Salesforce helps your team work smarter, not harder. By automating essential support functions, your organization can handle higher case volumes, deliver better customer service, and gain actionable insights to improve operations.
Want to learn more about how to leverage Salesforce support settings for your business? Schedule a free consultation to see how I can help you implement these powerful features to optimize your service processes!
