Configuring the automatic release of an agent’s messaging capacity lets admins specify how long a conversation can go without input from an end user before it’s considered inactive. Depending on your omnichannel routing configuration, this can remove the ticket from an agent’s capacity, allowing another conversation to be routed to them without requiring them to manually update the ticket status.

This article describes how admins can configure the auto-release capacity settings, including the inactivity period and the ticket status used for inactive messaging tickets.

This article contains the following topics:
  • About active and inactive messaging tickets
  • Considerations when using the capacity release settings
  • Configuring the auto-release capacity setting

About active and inactive messaging tickets

In conversational support, there’s a concept of active and inactive tickets.
  • Active tickets are those with recent responses from the end user.
  • Inactive tickets are those that haven’t had a response from the end user in a specified period of time, or that have a status other than New or Open. By default, Zendesk defines a messaging ticket as inactive when an end user hasn’t sent a reply in the last 10 minutes.
    Note: The capacity release settings, including the inactivity period, apply only to messaging conversations already assigned to agents. The default inactivity period of 10 minutes is used for all unassigned messaging conversations
The ticket’s activity classification, as well as the ticket status applied to it, can impact routing, business rules, and an agent’s capacity.

Considerations when using the capacity release settings

Consider the following when turning on and configuring the automatic release of agent capacity:

  • The improved messaging backend is required.
  • If you don’t configure the auto-release capacity settings, Zendesk uses a default inactivity period of 10 minutes without a response from the end user.
  • The auto-release capacity settings are applied to all open messaging tickets currently assigned to agents and to those that are created or re-opened after these settings are saved.
  • When using the default inactivity period and the messaging activity routing setting for omnichannel routing is turned off, messaging tickets no longer count towards an agent’s capacity when they become inactive, but the tickets' status doesn’t change.
  • The auto-release capacity setting provides a powerful way to manage agent capacity when used with omnichannel routing, but can also be used effectively with other business rules that rely on changes in ticket status.
  • You must be an admin to configure the auto-release capacity setting.
  • To avoid any unexpected behavior, we recommend turning on the auto-release capacity setting during a low-volume time.
  • It can take up to 10 minutes for the auto-release capacity setting to begin working.

Configuring the auto-release capacity setting

Admins can use the auto-release capacity setting to help agents manage their capacities. It can also help business rules, such as triggers, to run more effectively on tickets by altering the ticket status when a conversation becomes inactive. The change in ticket status is captured in the ticket’s audit events:

When using omnichannel routing without messaging activity routing, the capacity release settings can increase efficiency by automatically releasing an agent's capacity without requiring them to alter the ticket's status.

To customize messaging capacity release settings
  1. In Admin Center, click Channels in the sidebar, then select Messaging and social > Messaging.
  2. In the Advanced section, click Capacity release.

  3. Select Turn on auto-release capacity.
  4. Under Inactivity period, enter a whole number between 3 and 15. This is the time in minutes a conversation can go without a reply from an end user before being considered inactive. This time is measured from the agent’s last message.
  5. Under Ticket status for inactive conversations, select a status to automatically apply to inactive tickets. You can select Pending, On-hold, Solved, or a custom status mapped to these ticket status categories, but New and Open statuses can’t be used. Triggers using the selected status as a condition will fire when the new status is applied.
  6. Click Save settings.
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