Exercise 04 - Configure queues and workstreams

Every customer interaction in Dynamics 365 Contact Center enters the system through a workstream and waits in a queue until it is assigned to an agent. Workstreams define the channel and distribution behavior; queues define the pool of agents and the rules for prioritizing and assigning work. In this exercise, you will build the queue and workstream infrastructure that Contoso Coffee's chat channel will use throughout the rest of the course.

This exercise should take approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Before you start

You must have completed Exercise 02. The Contoso Support Representatives capacity profile and your administrator account's queue assignment must exist before you begin.

Task 1 - Create a messaging workstream

A workstream is the entry point for a channel. It defines how incoming conversations are received, distributed to agents, and linked to a queue.

1. Open Copilot Service admin center from the Apps selector.

2. In Copilot Service admin center, in the left navigation under Customer support, select Workstreams.

3. Select + New workstream.

4. Select Inbound and then select Next.

5. Enter the following details:

   • Name: Contoso Chat Workstream
   • Type: Messaging
   • Channel: Chat
   • Do not check the Persistent chat checkbox.
   • Work distribution mode: Push
   • Fallback queue: Select Choose existing, then select Default messaging queue (All users)

6. Select Create.

   [!NOTE] Push distribution means the system automatically assigns conversations to available agents based on capacity. Persistent chat allows customers to continue a previous conversation if they return within the session timeout window.

7. Confirm the workstream is created and displayed with the option to configure the chat channel. You will configure the chat channel widget in Exercise 06.

Task 2 - Create an advanced queue

Advanced queues work with unified routing to apply prioritization and assignment rules. Contoso Coffee's support team handles chat conversations from a dedicated queue with defined working hours.

1. In the left navigation under Customer support, select Queues.

2. Select Manage next to Advanced queues.

3. Select + New queue to create a new queue.

4. Enter the following details:

   • Name: Contoso Support Queue
   • Type: Messaging
   • Queue priority: 1

5. Select Create.

   [!NOTE] Queue priority determines the order in which queues are considered when the routing engine assigns work items. Lower numbers indicate higher priority - a queue with priority 1 is evaluated before queues with priority 2 or higher.

6. On the Contoso Support Queue page, select Add users. Search for and add your administrator account.

7. In the Operating hours section, select +Set operating hours.

8. In the Set operation hours pane, select the Name drop-down and select +Create new.

9. Enter Contoso Business Hours for Name and select Save.

10. Select the Working Hours tab.

11. Select +New and select Working hours from the drop-down.

12. Create a schedule named Contoso Business Hours with the following settings:

    • Keep today's date as the date selected
    • Repeat: Select Mo, Tu, We, Th, Fr (you can either do this by selecting Every day and deselecting Su and Sa)
    • Start time: 8:00 AM
    • End time: 5:00 PM
    • Time zone: Select your local time zone

13. Select Save.

14. The calendar will update.

15. Select Save and Close to save the operating hours schedule and return to the queue.

Task 3 - Configure overflow handling

Overflow handling ensures that conversations are redirected when the queue cannot handle them - for example, when wait times are too long or the queue is outside operating hours.

1. On the Contoso Support Queue page, scroll to the Overflow handling section and select Add condition-action pair. Under When work items are queued, select Add condition-action pair.

2. Configure the following overflow condition:

   • Condition: Waiting time in queue exceeds 5 minutes
   • Action: Transfer to another queue
   • Select a queue: Default messaging queue (1 user)**

3. Select Save and close.

   [!NOTE] This overflow condition ensures that customers are not left waiting indefinitely if all Contoso agents are at capacity. In a production deployment, you might route to a fallback team or trigger a callback.

Task 4 - Configure the assignment method

The assignment method controls how conversations in the queue are distributed to available agents. Contoso Coffee uses Advanced Round Robin to distribute work evenly across the team.

1. On the Contoso Support Queue page, scroll to the Assignment method section.

2. Select See more.

3. Select Advanced round robin.

4. Select Save & close.

   [!NOTE] Advanced round robin distributes work items evenly across available agents in sequence, while still respecting agent capacity and skills. In a production deployment, you can also create a custom assignment method with prioritization rules to route conversations based on attributes such as escalation count or language.

Task 5 - Link the queue to the workstream

Now that the queue and workstream are configured, connect them so that conversations arriving through the Contoso Chat Workstream are routed to the Contoso Support Queue.

1. In the left navigation under Customer support, select Workstreams.

2. Select Contoso Chat Workstream.

3. Scroll to the Routing rules section. Next to Route to queues, select +Create ruleset.

4. On the Create ruleset dialog, enter:

   • Name: Default routing
   • Description: Default rule to route all chats to Contoso Support Queue
   • Select Create

5. On the Decision list page, select +Create rule.

6. In the Create route to queue rule dialog, enter:

   • Rule Name: Route to Contoso Support Queue

7. Leave the Conditions area empty so that all conversations are routed to this queue.

8. In the Route to queues section, select Contoso Support Queue.

9. Select Create.

10. Select the rule Route to Contoso Support Queue.

11. Select Save and close.

    [!NOTE] Because no conditions are defined, all incoming conversations on this workstream are routed to the Contoso Support Queue. In a production deployment, you would define conditions - for example, routing by language or customer type - to direct conversations to different queues.

Verification

This exercise is complete when:

• Contoso Chat Workstream exists as a push-mode messaging workstream with live chat enabled
• Contoso Support Queue exists as an advanced messaging queue with operating hours and overflow handling configured
• The Contoso Support Queue assignment method is set to Advanced round robin
• The workstream is linked to Contoso Support Queue