If your call center’s routing setup is a mess—agents taking the wrong calls, customers bouncing around, and nobody sure how to fix it—you’re not alone. Most “advanced” routing features sound great in a demo, but real-world setup is another story. This guide is for admins, ops folks, and anyone who actually wants to make Convoso’s advanced call routing work, not just tick a box. I’ll walk you through what matters, what to skip, and how to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.
1. Know What Advanced Call Routing Can (and Can’t) Do
Let’s be blunt: no amount of “AI-powered” routing fixes a bad process. Convoso’s advanced call routing features can help you get calls to the right agent faster, handle spikes in volume, and squeeze more out of your teams. But they won’t magically cure high turnover or misaligned queues.
What works well: - Sending VIPs to your best agents - Keeping agents in their wheelhouse (sales vs. support, language skills, etc.) - Handling after-hours calls with less chaos
What’s overhyped: - “AI matching” — mostly fancy rules with a shiny label - Endless “customization” — more rules usually means more headaches
Pro tip: Start simple. Nail down your main routing logic and only add complexity if you see a clear need.
2. Map Out Your Routing Needs First
Before you touch any settings, sketch out what you actually want to happen. Get on a whiteboard or a notepad—don’t wing it inside the software.
Ask yourself: - What types of calls do we get? (sales, support, billing, etc.) - Do we want certain agents or teams handling certain calls? - Should high-value customers skip the line? - What do we do after hours or when nobody’s available?
Quick exercise: - List your call types and the ideal team or agent for each. - Note any “VIP” rules, languages, or skills that matter. - Decide what happens if someone’s unavailable—overflow, voicemail, etc.
Why bother?
This 15-minute step saves you hours of “why isn’t this working?” later.
3. Set Up Teams, Queues, and Skills in Convoso
Now you’re ready to log into Convoso and start building.
Step 1: Create Agent Teams
- Go to Admin > Teams. Set up groups that match your call types (e.g., Sales, Support, Bilingual, etc.).
- Add agents to each team. Don’t overthink it—use what you have.
Step 2: Define Skills
- Hit Admin > Skills.
- Create skill tags for things like language (Spanish, French), technical ability, or seniority.
- Assign these to agents. Keep it tight—too many skills muddies the waters.
Step 3: Build Call Queues
- Go to Admin > Queues.
- Set up queues for each main call type or priority (e.g., Sales, Support, VIP).
- Link each queue to the right team and skills.
Got a small team?
Don’t go wild with queues and skills. It’s easy to create a Rube Goldberg machine that just frustrates everyone.
4. Configure Advanced Routing Rules
Here’s where most people get lost. Convoso offers several routing options—it’s tempting to turn everything on, but resist that urge.
Step 1: Set Queue Priorities
- Assign a “priority” to each queue. Higher numbers = higher priority.
- Example: VIP = 10, Sales = 8, Support = 5.
Step 2: Choose Your Routing Method
Convoso gives you a few main options:
- Round Robin: Calls go to agents in a set order. Fair, but not always efficient.
- Skills-Based: Calls route to agents with matching skills first.
- Priority Routing: Push certain calls (like VIPs) to the front of the line.
- Least Recent: Calls go to the agent who’s been idle longest.
What works in real life:
Skills-based routing for most teams, with priority routing on top for VIPs or urgent calls.
Step 3: Add Overflow Rules
- Decide what happens if no one is available in the queue.
- Overflow to another team?
- Send to voicemail?
- Route to an external number?
Set clear timeouts (e.g., after 30 seconds, overflow).
Step 4: Set Up After-Hours Routing
- Create a schedule for each queue or team (Admin > Schedules).
- Route after-hours calls to voicemail or an on-call agent.
Don’t:
Try to set up 10 levels of overflow or “if-this-then-that” logic unless you have a huge, complex shop.
5. Test Your Routing—Don’t Trust the Settings
Don’t assume it works just because you saved your changes. Run real tests:
- Call in as a customer and see where you land.
- Try different times, languages, and scenarios.
- Ask agents to call in and report what happens.
Common gotchas: - Agents missing skill tags (calls never reach them) - Overflow not working (calls get stuck) - After-hours rules not triggering
Pro tip:
Document your setup. Take screenshots or notes so you can fix things fast if someone changes a setting down the line.
6. Monitor and Tweak (But Don’t Obsess)
Convoso gives you plenty of reports on queue times, missed calls, and agent utilization. Use them, but don’t get lost in the weeds.
- Check weekly: Are calls hitting the right agents? Any weird bottlenecks?
- Listen to complaints: If agents or customers say routing stinks, dig in.
- Make small changes: Tweak one rule at a time, then retest.
Ignore:
Dashboard “vanity metrics” that don’t tie to real outcomes (like average ring time if nobody’s complaining).
7. When to Use (or Skip) IVR and Menus
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus—“press 1 for sales, 2 for support”—can help, but too many layers annoy customers.
Best uses: - Simple call sorting (sales vs. support) - Collecting info before an agent picks up
What to avoid: - Multi-level menus (“press 3, then 4, then 2…”) - Forcing every caller through a menu if 90% want the same thing
How to set up: - Go to Admin > IVR in Convoso. - Build your menu steps, linking each to the right queue. - Test it yourself—if you hate using it, customers will too.
8. Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Too many rules: The more layers, the more things break. Start with the basics.
- Ignoring agent feedback: If agents say the routing’s off, believe them.
- Not testing after changes: Always call in and see what really happens.
Pro tip:
When in doubt, simplify. Most teams need 2–3 queues, basic skills, and a single overflow rule. Add complexity only when the simple version clearly isn’t enough.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Advanced call routing in Convoso can absolutely make life better for your agents and customers—but only if you keep it grounded. Start with the basics, resist the urge to over-automate, and test everything yourself. Most of the time, the simplest setup is the one that actually works. Get it live, watch what happens, and tweak as you go. Don’t let the “advanced” features distract you from what actually makes calls smoother.