Step-by-Step Guide to Routing Cases Automatically in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

You can set up case routing in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to make your support faster and more correct. When you use automation, your team sees cases go to the right agents. This helps solve problems on the first try and makes customers happier. You also help your agents do their jobs better and spend less money on support. Real-time analytics and AI insights give you better information to make good business choices.

Key Takeaways

• Set up security roles and system settings first. This helps automatic case routing work without mistakes. Use queues to sort cases by team, privacy, or person. This makes handling cases faster and easier to understand.

• Make routing rule sets with easy conditions. These rules send cases to the right queues or agents by themselves.

• Turn on and test your routing rules carefully. This makes sure cases go to the right place and helps service get faster.

• Use automation tools like Power Automate and Unified Routing.

• These tools help you work better and watch how things are going with dashboards.

Prerequisites

You need to check some things before you start automatic case routing. Doing these steps helps you avoid mistakes and makes setup easy.

Security Roles

You need special security roles to set up routing rules and workflows. If you do not have these roles, you cannot make or turn on routing rules. Remember these main ideas:

• The Admin persona controls all workflows, like routing and assignment rules.

• The System Administrator can manage personas and role mappings.

• CSR Manager and Omnichannel Administrator are default roles for the Admin persona.

• You can make your own security roles by copying roles like Omnichannel Administrator, CSR Manager, or Customer Service Representative. Then, map them to the right personas.

• Give roles straight to users. Being on a team does not give the right permissions.

• You can change role-to-persona mapping in the Copilot Service admin center.

• Only users who can see routing rule sets can make or use routing rules.

• Only the owner of a routing rule can turn it on or off.

• Users or teams in routing rules must have enough rights to own cases.

Tip: To make routing rules, you need one of these roles: Customer Service Manager, System Administrator, or System Customizer. You also need rights to run workflows because routing rules use background workflows.

System Settings

You need to turn on some system settings for automatic case routing. Follow these steps to get your system ready:

1. Turn on "Automatically create records in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement" in your personal settings.

2. Make case creation rules and link them to queues with good email addresses. This is important for turning emails into cases.

3. Set up rules for making cases. For example, let cases be made from unknown senders or only if the customer has a valid entitlement.

4. Turn on the case creation rule. Only rules that are on will make cases automatically.

5. Pick extra options, like making cases for activities linked to solved cases or sending automatic emails when a case is made.

6. Make sure you have the right permissions and security roles to change these settings.

Here is a simple table for automatic record creation:

Note: Always check your permissions before you start. If you do not have the right permissions, you cannot set up or turn on rules.

Queues in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Queues help you keep cases organized in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. You can put cases into queues for teams or people. This helps you track, give out, and solve cases faster. Queues are like boxes that hold work items, such as cases or activities. Using queues makes sure the right person gets the right case at the right time.

Queue Types

There are different types of queues you can use. Each type has its own job:

• Public Queues: Everyone with the right security roles can see these queues. Use public queues when you want many agents or teams to work together.

• Private Queues: Only certain people can use these queues. Pick private queues if you want to keep some cases private or for special teams.

• Personal Queues: The system makes these for each user or team. Only the owner can see and use their personal queue.

Note: People can pick items from public and private queues. When you pick an item, it moves to your personal queue. You can also put items back or remove them from queues. This helps you share work and keep track of who owns what.

Create a Queue

You can make a new queue in Dynamics 365 Customer Service by doing these steps:

1. Log in to the Microsoft Exchange admin center as a Global Admin.

2. Make a shared mailbox for the queue’s email address.

3. Open Dynamics 365 Customer Service and go to the Customer Service Hub.

4. Go to the queue setup area and click "New Queue."

5. Type the queue name and add the shared mailbox email address.

6. Choose who owns the queue, like a team.

7. Save the queue. The system will make a new mailbox for the queue.

8. Go to Advanced Settings and open the Mailboxes area.

9. Find the new mailbox, approve the email, and test and enable it.

10. Watch for alerts and wait a few minutes. Send a test email to the queue address to check if cases show up in the queue.

Tip: Always check that emails sent to the queue work right. This helps you know your setup is correct.

Configure Members

You need to add the right people to each queue so cases go to the right agents. Follow these steps and ideas:

1. Choose if the queue should be public or private. Public queues are good for big teams. Private queues are better for small or special groups.

2. Sort queues by what you need. You can group them by product, service, customer type, or region.

3. Set up routing rules to send cases to queues by hand or automatically. This helps you give out cases by priority, type, or other things.

4. Give agents or teams the right access. Only people with the right permissions can see and work on cases in the queue.

5. Use queues to share work. Agents can pick cases from their queues. This helps manage what is most important and makes work faster.

When you use queues and routing rules together, you work better. Dynamics 365 Customer Service can use automatic ways to give out cases, like the "least active" method. This gives cases to the agent with the smallest workload and the right skills. You do not have to give out cases by hand, which can be slow and messy. Agents can also pick cases, put them back, or supervisors can give out cases. This makes your team faster and keeps customers happy.

Remember: Good queues and members help you send cases quickly and correctly. You stop delays and make sure every case gets the care it needs.

Routing Rules

Routing rules help you send cases to the right place without extra work. You set up rules that tell the system where to send each case. This makes your team faster and helps customers get answers quickly. You can use routing rules to send cases to a queue or a person based on what the case is about.

Create Rule Set

Start by making a new routing rule set. A rule set is a group of rules that work together. Each rule in the set checks for certain things in a case, like the type or who sent it.

Follow these steps to create a rule set:

1. Open Dynamics 365 Customer Service and go to the Customer Service Hub.

2. In the site map, select "Service Management."

3. Click on "Routing Rule Sets."

4. Select "New" to make a new rule set.

5. Give your rule set a clear name, like "Product Support Routing."

6. Add a short description so others know what the rule set does.

7. Save your new rule set.

Tip: Use names that show what the rule set does. This helps you find the right rule set later.

Add Conditions

After you make a rule set, you add rules to it. Each rule has conditions. A condition checks something about the case, like the subject, priority, or customer.

To add conditions:

1. Open your rule set and click "Add Rule Item."

2. Give the rule a name, such as "High Priority Cases."

3. Set the conditions. For example, you can set "Priority equals High" or "Case Type equals Billing."

4. You can add more than one condition to a rule. The system checks all the conditions before it sends the case.

5. Save the rule item.

Here are some examples of conditions you might use:

Note: You can use many fields in a case to set up your conditions. Try to keep your rules simple at first. You can always add more later.

Assign to Queue

Once you set the conditions, you tell the system what to do with the case. Most of the time, you want to send the case to a queue. You can also assign it to a person.

To assign a case to a queue:

1. In the rule item, look for the "Route To" field.

2. Choose "Queue" as the target.

3. Pick the right queue from the list. For example, you might pick "Technical Support Queue" or "Billing Queue."

4. Save your changes.

Routing rules in Dynamics 365 Customer Service work with queues to send cases to the right place. The system checks each new case and matches it to your rules. If a case matches a rule, the system puts it in the right queue or sends it to the right agent. This setup helps you organize and prioritize cases. You can group cases by urgency or by what they are about. Your team can handle cases faster and give better service.

Pro Tip: Use background workflows to make routing automatic. The system will check your rules every time a new case comes in. You do not need to move cases by hand.

When you use routing rules and queues together, you make sure each case goes to the best team or person. This reduces wait times and helps your team solve problems quickly.

Activate and Test

Activate Rules

You need to activate your routing rules before they start working. Follow these steps to make sure your rules run smoothly:

1. Open your routing rule set in the Customer Service Hub.

2. Click "Activate" at the top of the page.

3. Confirm your choice when the system asks.

To avoid errors, follow these best practices:

• Set up users in a specific order. First, create or import users, then add them to queues, create bookable resources, add skills, assign capacity profiles, and finally assign roles.

• Limit bulk changes. When using Dataverse API calls, keep requests under 500 every 15 minutes to prevent system slowdowns.

• Use skill-based routing. Assign cases to agents with the right skills by setting up queues with skill matching.

• Monitor agent capacity. Use reports to track agent workload and reset capacity if needed.

• Set up assignment rules based on work shifts. This keeps cases from going to agents who are not on duty.

• Keep classification rules simple. Simple rules work faster and reduce mistakes.

Tip: Always check agent presence settings. Avoid manual changes to presence status to keep assignments running without interruption.

Test Routing

Testing your routing setup helps you catch problems early. Use these steps to test your rules:

• Train agents and admins on how routing works.

• Test the system before you go live. Create sample cases and watch where they go.

• Ask agents and customers for feedback after you start using the rules.

• Watch key metrics like resolution times, case volumes, and SLA compliance.

• Use dashboards and analytics to see how well your routing works.

• Try new rules in small steps. Measure their impact on service speed and customer satisfaction.

Note: Involve end-users early. Their feedback helps you fine-tune your routing setup.

Troubleshoot

If you see issues with case routing, try these steps:

• Check if your routing rules are active and set up correctly.

• Review agent skills, capacity, and presence status.

• Look for errors in the queue or rule configuration.

• Monitor for system throttling if you made many changes at once.

• Use analytics to spot patterns in missed or delayed assignments.

• Update training for agents and admins as your rules change.

If problems continue, simplify your rules and test again. Small changes can fix big issues.

Automation Enhancements

Power Automate

Power Automate helps you make case routing better. You can build flows that do things like create, assign, or move cases. These flows can read emails and pick out key details. Then, they help decide where each case should go. Power Automate uses AI Builder to look at case data and sort cases. You can add business rules or use custom GPT prompts to get more info from messages.

With Power Automate, you can set up follow-ups and start SLA timers. It also sends hard cases to the right teams. The tool works with Microsoft 365 and Power Platform. This keeps your data up to date everywhere. Automation saves time and cuts down on mistakes. Copilot in the admin center helps you set up smart routing and multi-channel support. This makes case management easier.

Unified Routing

Unified Routing makes automation even stronger in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. It uses AI to match cases to agents by skills and workload. You can set rules for skills-based routing and multi-level sorting. You can also make urgent cases go first or help special customers. The system checks if agents are free and gives cases to the best person. This keeps work fair and stops agents from getting too busy.

Unified Routing lets you:

• Route by skills and how good agents are

• Share work across chat, email, and more

• Manage agent presence and workload in real time

• Put cases in order by customer, SLA, or time

• Sort cases in steps for better results

• Find and fix slow spots with diagnostics

You can change rules and workloads as things change. This helps you keep service good and agents happy.

Monitor Cases

You need to watch how well your automation works. Dynamics 365 Customer Service gives you dashboards and live reports. Supervisors can see reports on queues, agents, and case status. You can check summary reports, queue reports, agent scores, and backlog trends. These dashboards help you spot slowdowns and keep work balanced. They also help you meet SLAs.

Important things to watch are:

• How fast you answer

• How fast you solve cases

• How many cases you have

• How happy customers are

• How much agents get done

• If you meet SLA rules

Tip: Use dashboards you can change to see what matters most. You can save views and track cases even after they move.

You will notice big improvements in how fast you work. Many groups see case times drop by up to 40% with automation. Some see even bigger drops, especially with self-service and AI.

Remember: Automation helps you follow rules and stay safe. The system logs actions, warns you about missed SLAs, and keeps customer data safe.

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You can set up automatic case routing by doing these steps: First, log in and open the Customer Service admin center. Next, make routing rule sets and turn them on. Then, add rule items with easy-to-understand rules. After that, send cases to the right queues or agents. Try out your routing by making test cases.

To keep your system working well, watch case status, use SLAs, and ask for feedback. Check your rules often and help your team learn. If you want more automation, look at Microsoft Learn, join groups, and try AI features.

FAQ

How do you know if your routing rules work?

You can create test cases and watch where they go. Use dashboards to track case movement. Ask agents for feedback. If cases reach the right queues, your rules work.

Can you change routing rules after setup?

Yes, you can edit or add new rules anytime. Open the rule set, make changes, and save. Always test changes with sample cases before using them live.

What happens if a case does not match any rule?

Dynamics 365 sends the case to the default queue. You can set this queue in your system settings. Review unmatched cases often to improve your rules.

Do you need special licenses for Unified Routing?

Yes, Unified Routing needs an Omnichannel for Customer Service license. Check your subscription before you turn on advanced routing features.

Can Power Automate handle complex routing?

Power Automate can manage advanced routing. You can build flows with multiple steps, use AI, and connect to other apps. This helps you automate even the most complex case assignments.