If you’re using Salesforce Service Cloud, you’ve probably come across Omni-Channel. It’s one of those features that gets talked about a lot, but no one ever really knows what it actually is!
So what does it actually do, why should you care, and why is it such a game-changer for support teams?
At a high level, Salesforce Omni-Channel is a tool that automatically routes work. Think Cases, Chats, Messages, and even Voice Calls, to the right agents. Most people think of it as a “Case Pushing” or “Case Popping” system, and while that’s true, it’s just the beginning of its capabilities.
One of the biggest benefits of using Omni-Channel is that it removes the need for agents to manually search for work. Without it, agents often go into a queue and pick the Cases they want to work on. And let’s be honest, if they’re being measured on volume or SLAs, they’ll probably grab the quick wins and avoid the trickier ones.
Welcome to “cherry-picking”. As a way to resolve this, Omni-Channel distributes Cases (and other work) fairly, based on rules you set, so the next available agent gets the next most important task. No bias, no cherry-picking, just a smoother and faster service for everyone.
It’s called “Omni-Channel” because it is much more than just Case handling. It can intelligently route chats, phone calls, social media messages, and more. Whatever channel your customers use, it all comes into one system and gets sent to the right people in real time. That’s the “omni” in action, all channels, one unified routing solution. That kind of consistency is a huge win for both customers and support teams.
If you’re already using Service Cloud and not using Omni-Channel yet, you’re likely missing out on one of its most productivity-boosting features.
Let’s break down these powerful routing systems further.
There are two main ways to route work in Omni-Channel. The first is queue-based routing, which is simple and works well for many teams. You drop Cases or work items into a queue, assign agents to that queue, and the system pushes work to them based on things like availability and priority.
The second option is skill-based routing. This is more advanced and better suited for larger teams or more complex support setups. Each piece of work is tagged with the skills needed to handle it, and each agent is assigned the skills they’re trained in. Omni-Channel then matches them up automatically. It takes a bit more setup, but it pays off in efficiency and better customer outcomes.
Another important part of Omni-Channel is how it tracks what’s happening in real time. It monitors agent status, whether they’re online, away, on a call, etc. It also records key performance metrics, like how long it takes someone to complete a task once they receive it – your Average Handling Time (AHT). This is one of the core stats that most service teams keep a close eye on.
For supervisors and team leads, there’s even more power behind the scenes. Omni-Channel includes rich supervisor functionality, letting team leads and managers see how agents are doing, what queues or skills are getting backed up, and make adjustments on the fly. If someone’s overloaded or a queue is growing too fast, you can step in and reassign work in real time. This is an essential feature set for scaling service operations and maintaining SLA compliance.
All that said, this is really just the tip of the iceberg. Omni-channel is a big part of what makes Service Cloud so effective. If you’re not using it yet, and your team is still manually managing Cases or chats, it’s definitely worth exploring.
If you’re curious about how Salesforce Omni-Channel can transform your support operation, reach out to us here; we’d love to help you get started.
You can also view our OVO Energy Case Study to see how we helped transform their service team.
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