# Assignment rules
| Item | Details |
|—|—|
| Who it is for | Administrators |
| Menu location | **Settings → Agent assignment** (only when advanced assignment is on); inboxes also have an “Auto assignment” switch |
| Plan dependency | Basic auto-assignment can be enabled per inbox; round-robin / capacity need **Advanced Assignment** |
This decides **who gets new (or unassigned) conversations**. Without a policy, conversations stay unassigned until someone claims them under Unattended.
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## 1. Inbox-level auto-assignment
Each inbox can turn on **auto-assignment**: route among agents who belong to that inbox and are currently Online.
Suits small teams with similar skills. Confirm the member list first, or off-duty people will receive tickets.
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## 2. Assignment strategies (advanced)
Under **Settings → Agent assignment** you can create strategies and **attach them to inboxes**:
Common patterns:
| Strategy | Behaviour |
|—|—|
| Round robin | Rotate in order for even spread |
| Balanced | Prefer people with lower current load |
You may also sort by “whose conversation was created earlier / who has waited longer” (follow UI options).
The system periodically scans unassigned conversations (roughly every 30 minutes), not every second. For faster routing, use automation on “conversation created”.
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## 3. Agent capacity
Capacity policies limit how many Open conversations each person (or an inbox) may hold at once. When full, new tickets wait for a free slot.
Set this to real handling capacity — too high hurts quality. Busy / Offline agents are usually excluded from the pool.
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## 4. Stacking with teams and automation
Recommended order:
1. Automation: by language / label, assign to a **team** or a named person first
2. Assignment strategy: round-robin anything still unassigned
3. Agents manually claim leftovers
Avoid automation “assign to A” fighting a strategy “assign to B”.
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## 5. Frequently asked questions
**Always the same person?** Others are Offline, not inbox members, or at capacity.
**No Agent assignment menu?** Advanced assignment not enabled; use inbox auto-assignment + automation first.
**Already assigned then stolen?** Another rule reassigns on “conversation updated”. Check the automation list.
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## Related articles
– [Channels and inboxes](./12-channels-and-inboxes
– [Automation](./18-automation)
– [Agents](./13-agents)