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Assign Technician Oversee Board - Medium

This recipe demonstrates how to use a scheduled workflow to continuously monitor specific boards for unassigned tickets and automatically assign them to appropriate technicians. This serves as a safety net to catch tickets that may have been created outside of business hours, missed by triggered workflows, or left unassigned due to system issues.

Overview​

Scheduled board oversight helps you:

  • Catch tickets that were created when no one was available to assign them
  • Provide backup assignment for tickets missed by triggered workflows
  • Ensure no tickets remain unassigned for extended periods
  • Maintain consistent service levels regardless of when tickets arrive
  • Monitor specific boards that require dedicated attention
  • Implement fail-safe assignment processes

Prerequisites​

For this recipe to work effectively, you need:

  • Board Identification: Clear understanding of which boards need oversight
  • Technician Pool: Defined list of technicians who can handle tickets from monitored boards
  • Assignment Policies: Guidelines for how unassigned tickets should be handled
  • Escalation Procedures: Processes for tickets that can't be automatically assigned
info

This is a Scheduled workflow that runs at regular intervals to proactively identify and assign unassigned tickets. It complements triggered assignment workflows by providing continuous oversight.

How It Works​

This recipe uses a Scheduled Workflow that runs every hour to scan designated boards for unassigned tickets. When found, it applies the same intelligent assignment logic as triggered workflows, considering technician workload, skills, and availability to assign tickets to the most appropriate team member.

Workflow: Scheduled Board Oversight​

Basic Configuration​

  1. Type: Scheduled
  2. Schedule: Every 1 hour (adjust based on your service level requirements)
  3. Find Entities: Identify unassigned tickets in specific boards
  4. Dispatch Ticket: Assign using standard assignment criteria
  5. Add Ticket Note: Document the automatic assignment for audit purposes
  6. Assign Ticket: Complete the assignment process

Detailed Setup​

Step 1: Create the Workflow​

  • Name: "Assign Technician Oversee Board"
  • Type: Scheduled
  • Schedule: Every 1 hour
  • Active Hours: Configure based on your support hours (24/7 or business hours only)

Step 2: Configure Entity Filters (Find Entities Action)​

Ticket Conditions:

  • Board.Name = "Professional Services" (or your target board)
  • Owner.Name = null (unassigned tickets)
Board Selection Strategy

Start with one critical board and expand gradually. Consider boards that handle customer-facing work, high-priority issues, or areas where assignment gaps have the biggest impact.

Step 3: Add Actions​

Action 1: Dispatch Ticket

Technician Pool:

  • Select technicians who can handle tickets from the monitored board
  • Include team members with appropriate skills and availability for this type of work

Key Settings:

  • ✅ Consider Technician Calendar: Checks for availability and avoids assigning to unavailable technicians
  • ✅ Consider Technician Workload: Ensures fair distribution of work
  • ✅ Consider Technician Profile: Matches tickets to technicians with appropriate skills

Calendar Settings:

  • ❌ Add Schedule Entry: Typically disabled for oversight workflows (focus on assignment, not scheduling)
  • Consider US Holidays: Optional based on your support model

Workload Settings:

  • Criteria: "Number of Tickets Assigned"
  • Workload Difference Threshold: 3 (standard balancing)
  • Consider Tickets: "Ticket Last Update"
  • Include Tickets Worked in Last N Days: 2

Action 2: Add Ticket Note

  • Note Type: Internal Note
  • Purpose: Documents that the ticket was caught and assigned by oversight workflow

Action 3: Assign Ticket

  • Send Email to Owner: Consider enabling to notify technician of new assignment
  • Update Ticket Status: Optional (may want to update status to reflect assignment)

Advanced Variations​

Multi-Board Oversight​

Create separate workflows for different board categories:

Critical Services Board:

  • Schedule: Every 30 minutes (more frequent monitoring)
  • Board: "Emergency Response", "VIP Support"
  • Technician Pool: Senior technicians and escalation specialists
  • Priority: Immediate assignment for any unassigned tickets

Standard Services Board:

  • Schedule: Every 1 hour
  • Board: "General Support", "Maintenance Requests"
  • Technician Pool: General support team
  • Priority: Regular assignment with standard criteria

Project Work Board:

  • Schedule: Every 4 hours (less urgent monitoring)
  • Board: "Project Implementation", "Professional Services"
  • Technician Pool: Project specialists and consultants
  • Priority: Skill-based assignment with longer acceptable delays

Time-Based Assignment Rules​

Business Hours Oversight:

  • Active Hours: 8 AM - 6 PM, Monday-Friday
  • Schedule: Every 30 minutes (aggressive oversight during business hours)
  • Technician Pool: Full team availability

After-Hours Oversight:

  • Active Hours: 6 PM - 8 AM, weekends
  • Schedule: Every 2 hours (reduced frequency)
  • Technician Pool: On-call technicians only
  • Filter Addition: Priority level filters to focus on urgent tickets only

Escalation Integration​

Two-Tier Oversight Workflow:

Tier 1 - Standard Assignment:

  • Schedule: Every 1 hour
  • Action: Assign unassigned tickets normally

Tier 2 - Escalation Alert:

  • Schedule: Every 4 hours
  • Filter: Tickets unassigned for more than 4 hours
  • Action: Assign + notify management of prolonged unassigned state

Best Practices​

Scheduling Optimization​

  • Frequency Balance: More frequent monitoring for critical boards, less for routine work
  • Business Hours Alignment: Adjust monitoring frequency based on support hours and team availability
  • Holiday Considerations: Modify schedules during holidays or reduced staffing periods

Board Management​

  • Clear Ownership: Ensure each monitored board has a clear responsible team
  • Regular Review: Periodically review which boards need oversight and adjust as needed
  • Scope Limitation: Don't monitor boards where unassigned tickets are normal (like parking or completed work boards)

Integration with Triggered Workflows​

  • Complementary Design: Ensure oversight workflows complement rather than conflict with triggered assignment
  • Avoid Duplication: Configure triggers and oversight to work together without double-assignment
  • Gap Analysis: Use oversight data to identify and fix gaps in triggered workflows

Performance Monitoring​

  • Assignment Metrics: Track how many tickets are caught by oversight vs. triggered workflows
  • Response Times: Monitor how quickly oversight catches and assigns unassigned tickets
  • Pattern Analysis: Identify common reasons why tickets go unassigned initially
Start Simple

Begin with a single critical board and basic assignment criteria. Add complexity gradually as you understand the patterns of unassigned tickets in your environment.

Avoid Over-Assignment

Ensure your oversight workflow doesn't conflict with legitimate reasons for tickets to remain unassigned (such as pending customer information or planned assignment delays).

Monitoring and Optimization​

Key Oversight Metrics​

  • Tickets Caught: Number of unassigned tickets found and assigned by oversight
  • Assignment Success Rate: Percentage of found tickets successfully assigned
  • Time to Assignment: How long tickets remain unassigned before oversight catches them
  • False Positives: Tickets inappropriately assigned by oversight

Workflow Effectiveness Analysis​

  • Coverage Gaps: Identify time periods or conditions where tickets slip through
  • Assignment Quality: Review whether oversight assignments are appropriate and effective
  • Team Workload Impact: Monitor how oversight assignments affect overall workload distribution

Continuous Improvement​

  • Schedule Optimization: Adjust monitoring frequency based on ticket arrival patterns
  • Board Scope Refinement: Add or remove boards based on oversight effectiveness
  • Criteria Tuning: Refine assignment criteria based on outcomes and team feedback

Using Event History​

  • Use Event History to analyze oversight workflow performance
  • Track patterns in when and why tickets go unassigned
  • Identify opportunities to improve triggered workflows to reduce oversight workload
  • Monitor the relationship between oversight frequency and assignment success
Complementary Approach

This oversight workflow works best in combination with triggered assignment workflows. Use Assign Technician - Basic for immediate assignment and this recipe as a safety net.

Escalation Planning

Consider creating escalation procedures for tickets that can't be assigned even by oversight workflows. This might include management notification or special handling procedures.