Architecting Intelligent Work Item Routing for Back-Office Case Management

How-To-Articles
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Architecting Intelligent Work Item Routing for Back-Office Case Management

What This Guide Covers

This masterclass details the implementation of Intelligent Work Automation for non-real-time tasks (Back-Office). By the end of this guide, you will be able to architect a system that routes complex work items (e.g., insurance claims, mortgage applications, or service tickets) to the right expert using Genesys Cloud’s Work Automation (Work Items) engine. You will learn how to define Work Types, implement Custom Attributes for prioritization, and architect a unified “Push-Based” workflow that eliminates “cherry-picking” and ensures strict SLA adherence across the entire enterprise.

Prerequisites, Roles & Licensing

Work item routing requires the Genesys Cloud CX 2 or 3 license and specific architect permissions.

  • Licensing: Genesys Cloud CX 2 or 3.
  • Permissions:
    • Task Management > Worktype > View/Add
    • Routing > Queue > View/Edit
  • OAuth Scopes: task_management, routing.
  • Infrastructure: A source of work (e.g., Salesforce, Jira, or a custom SQL database) that can trigger the creation of work items via API.

The Implementation Deep-Dive

1. Defining “Work Types” and Schema

A Work Type is the blueprint for a specific category of work (e.g., “Medical Claim Review”).

Implementation Step:

  1. Navigate to Admin > Task Management > Worktypes.
  2. Define the Schema: Add custom fields that the router needs to make decisions (e.g., Claim_Value, Policy_Type, Urgency_Score).
  3. Set the Default Queue: Choose the human expert pool that will handle these items.

2. Implementing “Push-Based” Routing Logic

The core benefit of using Genesys Cloud for back-office work is moving from “Pull” (agents picking items from a list) to “Push” (the system delivering the item to the best available agent).

Architectural Reasoning:
Use Predictive Routing or Bullseye Routing for work items.

  • Logic: If an insurance claim is > $100k, route it to a “Level 3 Adjuster” with a “Fraud Detection” skill. If no such adjuster is available for 30 minutes, expand the search to “Level 2 Adjusters.”

3. Architecting the “External Trigger” Pipeline

Work items rarely start in Genesys Cloud; they start in a CRM or ERP.

Implementation Pattern:

  1. The Trigger: A new claim is created in Salesforce.
  2. The Middleware: Salesforce triggers an AWS Lambda function.
  3. The API Call: The Lambda calls POST /api/v2/taskmanagement/workitems.
  4. Context Injection: The Lambda passes the Salesforce Case_ID as a custom attribute.
  5. The Pop: When the agent receives the work item, their Genesys Cloud UI automatically opens (Screen Pop) the specific Salesforce case.

4. Managing Back-Office SLAs

Unlike calls, work items can span days or weeks. You must configure SLA Targets and Escalations.

Implementation Step:

  1. In the Work Type configuration, set the Service Level Target (e.g., “Complete within 48 hours”).
  2. Set Expiration Policy: If the item is not handled within 72 hours, automatically change the status to Overdue and trigger a Webhook to alert a supervisor.

Validation, Edge Cases & Troubleshooting

Edge Case 1: “Work Item Abandonment”

  • The failure condition: A work item is assigned to an agent, but the agent goes on lunch or logs out without finishing it. The item stays “Reserved” for that agent, stalling the process.
  • The root cause: Misconfigured Assignment Timeout.
  • The solution: Set an Assignment Expiry (e.g., 5 minutes). If the agent does not “Accept” the work item within 5 minutes, the system automatically revokes the assignment and puts the item back at the top of the queue.

Edge Case 2: The “Infinite Loop” Escalation

  • The failure condition: A work item fails its SLA and triggers an escalation, but the escalation target is also full, triggering another escalation, eventually crashing the workflow.
  • The root cause: Recursive escalation logic.
  • The solution: Implement Max Escalation Depth. In your Architect flow, use a counter variable. If Escalation_Count > 3, move the item to a specialized “Emergency Backlog” queue and disable further automated escalations.

Official References