Attribute-based routing
What is Attribute-based routing?
Attribute-based routing is a call-routing strategy that matches an inbound caller to a queue or agent using the caller's own data — CRM tags, contact attributes, or a numeric value like account tier — rather than a fixed IVR menu path alone. A rule set evaluates the caller's tags and attributes against configured conditions and, on a match, adds required skills and/or a priority boost before the call enters the queue, so VIP customers or specialty needs reach a qualified agent faster.
More detail
Rules typically support a few condition kinds — a caller tag match, an attribute-equals check against a CRM field, or an attribute-greater-than-or-equal threshold on a numeric value such as account tier or lifetime value — and every matching rule contributes: required skills are unioned and priority boosts are summed rather than only the first match applying.
Because rules run against the caller's resolved contact record before the call is enqueued, attribute-based routing composes with an ACD's existing skills-based and priority queue logic rather than replacing it — it adjusts which skills are required and how high in the queue a call sits, and the ACD still picks the specific agent.
Frequently asked
- How is attribute-based routing different from skills-based routing?
- Skills-based routing is the ACD's own strategy for picking an agent within a queue based on the skills that agent has. Attribute-based routing runs upstream of that: it inspects the caller's own tags and CRM attributes and can add extra required skills or a priority boost before the call is enqueued, so the downstream skills-based match considers criteria the IVR alone wouldn't capture.
- What counts as an "attribute" in attribute-based routing?
- Any tag or field already associated with the caller's contact record — a CRM tag, an account tier, a lifetime-value number, or a custom field — matched against configured rules such as an exact tag, an attribute-equals check, or an attribute-greater-than-or-equal threshold.
See also
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