WhatsApp chat routing: queues, shifts and caps so work goes to whoever is there
How queue-based routing works for WhatsApp chats: sticky owners, who is eligible, shifts and time off, a cap per person, Get next, requeue and the log of why.
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- By WavesFlo team
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- 3 min read
Routing decides who gets a new chat, and the hard part is not the order but the exceptions: someone is off shift, someone is already full, a customer has spoken to someone before. A queue hands work to people in a team by the method it is set to, and only to someone who is signed in, on shift and under their cap. Anyone else is passed over, and the chat waits rather than piling up on them.
What decides who gets a chat?
- A customer who has written before goes back to whoever answered them last, if that person is eligible.
- Otherwise the queue picks by the method it is set to, such as taking turns within the team.
- The pick must be present: signed in, on shift and not on time off. A short grace period, about a minute and a half, stops a dropped connection looking like a departure.
- The pick must be under their cap on open chats. Over it, they are skipped.
- The assignment is recorded with what decided it.
What do agents and supervisors get?
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Get next | An agent asks for the next chat instead of picking the easy one |
| Why assigned? | Each assignment shows what decided it; a supervisor can read the log |
| Hours and shifts | Calendars, daily caps, shifts and time off |
| Cap per person | Work past it waits in the queue |
| Requeue | A supervisor puts a chat back in the queue |
| Backlog | What is waiting, and why nothing has taken it |
| Done and reopened | An agent marks their work done and can reopen it; a customer's next message on a chat its holder closed brings it back into the queue |
| Hand-off | To the person beside you, to another team, or back to the queue |
How should you set it up?
- One queue per team that answers the same kind of question. A queue spanning unrelated work hides the rule that matters.
- A cap you can defend: set it from how many chats a person can really hold, then watch the backlog.
- Shifts that match reality, including who covers a lunch break.
- A named supervisor for requeue, so waiting work has an owner.
What are the usual mistakes?
- A cap set too high, which hides the backlog behind one overloaded person.
- A cap set too low, which sends everything to the backlog and makes the queue look broken.
- Shifts that ignore breaks, so work lands on someone at lunch.
- One queue for unrelated work, which makes the rule meaningless for both.
- No named supervisor, so waiting work has no owner.
Where does it fit?
Queues draw on every linked number at once and feed the same tickets and pipeline as the rest of the workspace. The routing settings, from queues to shifts and caps, are listed in the features overview.
For the simpler case of taking turns, see round-robin assignment.
Questions
How are WhatsApp chats assigned to agents?
By a queue: first to the person who answered the customer last, otherwise by the queue's method, and only to someone present and under their cap.
What is Get next?
An agent asks the queue for the next chat instead of choosing from a list.
Can I see why a chat went to someone?
Yes. Each assignment records what decided it, and a supervisor can read the log.
What happens when nobody is available?
The chat waits in the queue and shows in the backlog until someone eligible can take it.