Outbound Skill-Based Routing Considerations & FAQ
This article covers key behaviours, edge cases, and limitations of Outbound Skill-Based Routing (OSBR) worth understanding once you've got the feature set up.
Dialling modes and skill routing accuracy
OSBR works with all outbound dialling modes, but how accurately it matches calls to the right skill varies by mode.
| Dialling mode | Accuracy |
|---|---|
| Preview | Routed with 100% accuracy, since agents preview and accept each call individually. |
| Progressive | Highly accurate, with a 0% drop rate. High volumes of inbound calls or mass user logout events can occasionally cause misallocated calls, since the system prioritises avoiding dropped calls. |
| Predictive | No guarantee of 100% accuracy. If there are more answered calls than available agents for a skill group, some calls are misrouted as the system works to avoid drops. |
In short, Preview and Progressive are the most accurate modes, while Predictive has the greatest potential for mismatch during fluctuating volumes. This means a call could occasionally be routed without an ideal agent available, though the system always aims for the best match it can make in the moment. Accuracy is highest when you use Preview or Progressive, have enough skilled agents to handle your volumes, and plan your skills, Skill Groups, and users carefully.
How calls are connected to agents
When an outbound call is answered, the system tries to connect it to an agent in this order:
- Originally assigned agent — the agent the call was originally matched to, based on skills and availability.
- Same Skill Group, highest proficiency — if the original agent is unavailable, the system looks for another match within the same Skill Group, prioritising higher proficiency levels.
- Same group, drop queue — next, agents from the same group who are in the drop queue due to undroppable calls.
- Any available agent — if no suitable match is found, the call goes to the longest available agent regardless of skill.
If no agent is available at all, the call enters the drop queue to wait for one.
Prioritising skills from plans and direct assignment
Each skill carries a proficiency score from 1 to 10, and higher scores take priority for routing. If a user has the same skill assigned both directly and via a User Plan, the higher of the two proficiency levels applies.
For example, Jane has the Apple skill directly assigned at proficiency 5. Her Tech Support user plan also gives her the Apple skill, at proficiency 8. Jane's effective proficiency for Apple calls is 8, since the higher value takes precedence.
To avoid confusion, use consistent proficiency levels across plans and direct assignments, consider treating one as your source of truth, and review skills and proficiencies if routing behaviour seems inconsistent.
Using the None option for result codes
Setting a result code's Skill Group to None means the lead's existing Skill Group is left unchanged when that result code is applied, rather than being cleared or replaced. For example, a lead holds the Sales Skill Group. An agent dispositions the call as Not Interested using a result code with its Skill Group set to None, and the lead keeps the Sales Skill Group rather than losing it. Use None where you want to apply a specific result code without affecting a lead's skill-based routing. See Assigning Skill Groups to Result Codes for how to configure this.
Removing a Skill Group from a lead
There's currently no way to fully remove a Skill Group from a lead once one has been applied — there's no "unassign" option. If you need leads to become available to any agent again, the recommended approach is to create a generic, catch-all Skill Group that every user is assigned. Reassigning a lead to this Skill Group, using List Data Manager or a result code, has the same practical effect as removing skill-based restrictions from it, since every user qualifies for it.
Routing when Skill Groups aren't assigned
| Scenario | What happens |
|---|---|
| Lead has no Skill Group | The lead routes to whichever available agent has been waiting longest, regardless of skills. |
| Skill-Based Routing not enabled | All leads route to the longest available agent. There's no skill matching, so any agent can receive any lead. |
Without skills involved, routing is purely time-based: leads go to whoever has been waiting longest. This ensures an even distribution of work, but isn't optimised for matching leads to the most capable agent. Outbound Skill-Based Routing is enabled at the campaign level — go to the CTU page, select your campaign, and select Enable Skill-Based Routing in the right-hand panel.
Ratios in Custom Data Fetching (CDF) with OSBR
OSBR operates on its own logic, built specifically for outbound call routing. When OSBR is active, ratios configured within Custom Data Fetching don't apply to outbound interactions routed through OSBR — the two operate independently of each other. This doesn't affect any other Custom Data Fetching functionality.
Changing a result code in Record History and Skill Group assignment
Changing a lead's result code via Record History to one associated with a different Skill Group doesn't reassign the lead's Skill Group to match. The lead keeps whatever Skill Group it had before the change.
For example, a lead has a result code associated with Group A. If you later change that lead's result code via Record History to one associated with Group B, the system doesn't automatically reassign the lead to Group B. The lead retains Group A.
Custom reporting options
A database table named skills_in_call_history connects to the existing history table, letting you build reports that assess the performance of specific Skill Groups and the overall effectiveness of OSBR, such as the percentage of calls successfully matched to users with the corresponding skill.
Skill Group ID is also available as a field within the Custom Report Builder for any reports you build yourself. Contact the MaxSupport team if you need help building a report around Skill-Based Routing.