How to Configure Skill Groups?

Skill groups define which dialogue topics each operator can handle. You assign topics and operators to skill groups so that incoming requests are routed to the right specialists.

When You'll Need This

  • You need to organize operators by areas of expertise (e.g. technical support, sales, billing).
  • You need to route dialogues to operators who work with specific topics.
  • You need to change which topics an operator can receive.

What's Important to Know

  • Skill group — a set of topics and operators. Operators in a skill group receive only dialogues for topics assigned to that group.
  • Topics — must be created first in Topics. Skill groups reference topics.
  • Automatic distribution — when a dialogue arrives, the system assigns it to an operator whose skill group includes the dialogue topic.
  • Normatives — for each group you can set the time to accept a new request and the time to respond to client messages. Group settings override global ones; if not set, the global setting is used.
  • Email for tickets — you can specify a default sender email for tickets assigned to this group.
  • Allowed sender email addresses — an extra list of addresses (choose several from mailboxes connected to the instance) from which operators in this skill group can send messages in Operator Line. This list is independent of Default sender email: both are stored separately. If the list is empty and unchanged, it may be omitted on save.

Before You Start

  • You are logged in with supervisor or administrator rights.
  • You have access to operator panel settings.
  • Topics are already created.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Open Skill Groups Settings

  1. Go to the Settings module through the menu or directly at /settings-page.
  2. In the sidebar, expand the Operator Panel group (labels may differ depending on UI language).
  3. Click on "Skill Groups" (/settings-page/skill_groups).
  4. A page with a list of existing skill groups opens.

2. Create New Skill Group

  1. On the skill groups page, click the "Create" or "Add" button.
  2. In the form:
    • Name — enter a descriptive name (e.g. "Technical Support", "Sales Team").
    • Topics — select one or more topics that operators in this group will handle.
    • Operators — select operators to add to this skill group.
    • Active — enable to make the group available for distribution.
    • Request acceptance normatives — maximum time (in seconds) for an operator to accept a new dialogue; warning threshold (in percent).
    • Response time normative — maximum time (in seconds) to respond to a client message; warning threshold (in percent).
    • Default sender email — email address for tickets assigned to this group (if not set, the global address is used).
    • Allowed sender email addresses — pick one or more addresses from connected mailboxes. Operators in this group will see them among outbound “From” options when working with email in Operator Line (together with the group's default address, if set). To remove all extra addresses, clear the field before saving.
  3. Click "Save" to create the skill group.

3. Edit Existing Skill Group

  1. In the list, find the skill group and click on it to open the edit form.
  2. Change the name, topics, operators, normatives, default sender, or Allowed sender email addresses as needed. The form has collapsible sections: basic parameters, acceptance and response normatives, topics, email for tickets (default sender and extra addresses), operators.
  3. Click "Save" to apply changes.

4. Delete Skill Group

  1. In the list, find the skill group.
  2. Use the delete action (if available).
  3. Confirm deletion. Operators will no longer receive dialogues for topics that were only in this group.

What Happens Next

  • New dialogues with a topic assigned to the skill group will be offered to operators in that group.
  • Operators can be in multiple skill groups.
  • If no operator in the matching skill group is available, the dialogue may wait in the queue or be distributed according to system rules.
  • Operators in this group see addresses from the default sender field and from Allowed sender email addresses in email “From” options (deduplicated for their skill groups). If an operator belongs to several groups, the list may combine addresses from all of them.

How to Verify Everything Worked

  • Create a skill group with a topic and operator.
  • Send a test message to a bot that uses that topic.
  • Check that the dialogue is assigned to an operator from the correct skill group.
  • Add test allowed addresses for the group, sign in as an operator in that group, and confirm they appear in the email “From” selector in a dialogue.