> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://library.zoom.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://library.zoom.com/business-services/zoom-contact-center/expert-insights/agent-selection-using-skills-based-routing.md).
# Agent Selection Using Skills Based Routing
## Skills Based Routing in Zoom Contact Center
### Introduction
Skills-based routing (SBR) is a method used in contact centers to direct incoming consumer engagements to the most qualified agent based on specific skill sets. Unlike routing systems that assign engagements based on availability alone (longest idle being a commonly used method), SBR evaluates the nature of the consumer's query and matches it with an agent who has the right skills — whether that's a particular language, a product certification, a technical specialization, or some combination.
The goal is to connect the consumer with an agent who can handle their inquiry without needing to transfer. When routing decisions account for agent skills, the result is fewer transfers, faster resolutions, and a more efficient use of agent capacity.
Some common examples of skills used in SBR include:
* Language fluency
* Product or service certification
* Technical knowledge areas
* Customer tier or account type handling
Zoom Contact Center's SBR implementation is built around four core components — skills and skill categories, flows, queues, and Agent Routing Profiles — that work together to match consumers with the right agent. Agent Routing Profiles support time steps, default skills, and backup skills, giving administrators control over how routing criteria evolve as a consumer waits in the queue.
This article starts by explaining each of these components and how they interact. It then walks through a complete configuration example using a fictitious insurance company to demonstrate the setup end to end.
### Core Components
Skills Based Routing in Zoom Contact Center relies on four key components working together:
* Skills and skill categories
* Flows
* Queues
* Agent Routing Profiles
The following sections define each component and provide detailed guidance on configuring Agent Routing Profiles, including time steps, default skills, and backup skills.
#### Skills & Skill Categories
A Skill Category is a logical grouping of related skills. Each category can be configured as one of two types:
* **Text-based**: The agent either has the skill or does not. There is no proficiency level. For example, an "Insurance Products" category might contain skills like "Home" and "Motor" — an agent is either certified or they are not.
* **Proficiency-based**: Agents receive numeric proficiency ratings for each skill, allowing for precise capability matching. For example, within a "Languages" category containing "English" and "French," agents can be rated on their fluency level using a scale that supports up to 25 distinct proficiency levels.
Skills are assigned in two places: to agents (describing what they can do) and to engagements (describing what the consumer needs). The routing engine matches the two.
Skills and Skill Categories are configured in the Zoom admin portal under **Contact Center Management** > **Skills**.
#### Flows
A Flow is where the system identifies what the consumer needs before they enter a queue. Through IVR menus, variable logic, and other widgets, the Flow assigns the required skills to the engagement.
Skills are typically identified using either a combination of **Collect Input** and **Condition** or the **Set Skill** widgets:
* Collect Input widgets map a skill requirement to consumer input (for example, digit selection in an IVR menu).
* Condition widgets map a skill requirement to the contents of a variable
* Set Skill widget directly sets a skill
Once skill requirements have been identified, a Route To widget sends the engagement into a queue.
Flows are configured under **Contact Center Management** > **Flows**.
{% hint style="success" %}
**Key point**: The Flow is where skills get attached to the engagement. If the Flow does not assign a skill for a particular skill category, the Agent Routing Profile's default skill can fill the gap (covered below).
{% endhint %}
#### Queues
A Queue holds incoming engagements until an agent becomes available. Agents must be members of a queue to receive engagements from it — if an agent is not assigned to the queue, they will never receive an engagement from it regardless of their skills.
A queue can optionally have an Agent Routing Profile assigned to it:
* **Without an Agent Routing Profile**: The queue distributes engagements to available agents using its configured distribution method (e.g., Longest Idle).
* **With an Agent Routing Profile**: The queue evaluates each agent's skills against the profile's criteria to determine who is eligible for each engagement.
Queues are configured under **Contact Center Management** > **Queues**.
{% hint style="success" %}
**Key point**: Queue membership is the first gate. An agent must be a member of the queue before skill-based routing criteria are evaluated.
{% endhint %}
#### Agent Routing Profiles
An Agent Routing Profile defines the rules the system uses to match incoming engagements with agents. It specifies which skill categories matter, how they are prioritized, whether they are required or optional, and what proficiency thresholds apply. An Agent Routing Profile is assigned to a queue and works alongside the skills assigned to agents to control who is eligible for each engagement.
Agent Routing Profiles are configured under **Contact Center Management** > **Routing Profiles** > **Agent tab**.
The following diagram shows how these components connect:
An Agent Routing Profile contains several key configuration elements, each described in detail below.
**Time Steps**
Time steps allow administrators to define multiple sets of routing criteria within a single Agent Routing Profile, each tied to a time interval. As a consumer waits in the queue, the system progresses through the time steps in order, adjusting the routing criteria at each stage.
The idea is straightforward: start strict, then gradually relax. For the first few seconds, search for a perfect match. As more time passes, widen the pool of eligible agents so the consumer gets connected sooner.
For example, a profile might have four time steps:
| Time Step | Duration | Strategy |
| --------- | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Step 1 | 0 – 30 sec | Strict match — high proficiency, all skills required |
| Step 2 | 30 – 60 sec | Lower the proficiency threshold |
| Step 3 | 60 – 120 sec | Accept any proficiency level |
| Step 4 | After 120 sec | Drop optional skill requirements, activate backup skills |
Each time step independently defines its own proficiency thresholds, required/optional settings, default skills, and backup skills. This gives administrators full control at every stage of the consumer's wait.
Time steps are configured by clicking the **Manage Time Steps** button within the Agent Routing Profile. Administrators add the desired time boundaries (e.g., 30, 60, 120 seconds), and the system creates a tab for each step. The final tab is always the "after" step — the last fallback. Zoom Contact Center supports up to 10 time steps in a single Agent Routing Profile.
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important**: For all time steps except the last one, skills should generally be set to **Required**. If a skill is not required in an earlier step, the engagement may match an agent immediately — even if that agent is not the best fit — and the system will never progress to later time steps where a better match could have been found.
{% endhint %}
**Default Skill**
The default skill is an optional setting available within each time step. It tells the system which skill to use for a given skill category when the Flow does not explicitly assign one.
The logic follows a clear hierarchy:
* If a skill is set in the Flow for a skill category, that Flow-assigned skill is used — the default skill is ignored.
* If no skill is set in the Flow, and a default skill is configured, the default skill is applied.
This means administrators can enable skill-based routing even when the Flow does not set a skill. For example, if the default skill for a "Languages" category is set to "English," any engagement entering the queue without a Flow-assigned language skill will automatically route based on agents' English language proficiency.
The default skill can be configured independently on each time step. In most cases, administrators will set the same default skill across all steps for consistency, but the flexibility exists to vary it.
{% hint style="success" %}
**How this works in practice**: Default skills are particularly useful for transferred calls that bypass the IVR, consumers who skip or time out of menu selections, and new flows or channels where skill tagging has not yet been configured.
{% endhint %}
**Backup Skill**
The backup skill is an optional setting available within each time step. It enables tiered agent selection by providing a secondary skill lookup within the same time step — without waiting for the next step to begin.
Here is how it works:
1. The system first tries to find an agent with the primary skill (the skill set by the Flow, or the default skill if the Flow did not set one).
2. If no agent with the primary skill is available, the system immediately checks for agents with the backup skill — still within the same time step.
3. If a match is found with the backup skill, the engagement is offered to that agent. If not, the system continues waiting and progresses to the next time step when the timer expires.
The backup skill can have its own minimum proficiency threshold, independent of the primary skill.
{% hint style="success" %}
**How this works in practice**: The backup skill fires immediately — the system does not wait for the time step to expire before checking it. This means the backup expands the eligible agent pool as soon as the time step becomes active. For example, if the primary skill is "Billing" and the backup is "General," the system first looks for a billing-qualified agent. If none is available, it immediately looks for a general-qualified agent — all within the same time step, with no additional consumer wait time.
{% endhint %}
**Required vs. Not Required**
Each skill category in a time step has a **Required** toggle:
* **Required = Yes**: The agent must have this skill (and meet the minimum proficiency, if applicable) to receive the engagement. If no agent qualifies, the engagement remains in queue and progresses to the next time step.
* **Required = No**: The skill is preferred but not mandatory. An agent without this skill can still be offered the engagement.
The typical pattern is to set skills to *Required* in earlier time steps (prioritizing the best match) and relax to not Required in the final time step (ensuring the consumer gets connected).
**How It All Connects**
The end-to-end routing sequence works as follows:
1. A consumer contacts the organization and enters a Flow.
2. The Flow identifies the consumer's needs and assigns skills to the engagement (e.g., "French" + "Billing").
3. The Flow sends the consumer to a Queue using a Route To widget.
4. The Queue checks if an Agent Routing Profile is assigned.
* If no profile is assigned, the queue distributes the engagement using its standard distribution method.
* If a profile is assigned, the system evaluates agents against the profile's criteria for the current time step.
5. The system identifies eligible agents and offers the engagement to the best match. If no match is found, the system progresses through subsequent time steps, gradually expanding the pool of eligible agents.
{% hint style="success" %}
**Key consideration**: The combination of time steps, default skills, and backup skills creates a layered routing strategy. At each time step, the system checks for the primary skill first, then the backup skill (if configured). If neither produces a match, it waits for the next time step, which may have relaxed proficiency thresholds or fewer required skills. This approach routes the consumer to an eligible agent from the available pool at each point in their wait — without requiring manual intervention or static compromises in the routing configuration.
{% endhint %}
### Considerations for Configuring Agent Routing Profiles (ARP)
When configuring **Agent Routing Profiles (ARP)** within the Contact Center Management platform, there are two interrelated settings that must be taken into account that are applicable to transfer scenarios.
1. Ignore Skill Retention for Queue Transitions
2. Allow Agent to Specify Skills During the Transfer
#### Ignore Skill Retention for Queue Transitions
When the option "**Ignore skill retention for queue transitions**" is enabled on an Agent Routing Profile, any skills assigned to an interaction during the inbound flow will be removed when the interaction is transferred to a queue that has an ARP configured under its queue settings.
This configuration is typically appropriate when the destination queue requires a different set of skills than those associated with the original queue or interaction.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: It is the configuration of the *destination queue*—not the originating queue—that determines the behavior of this setting.
{% endhint %}
**Configuration Path**: Contact Center Management > Agent Routing Profile > \[Name of ARP]
#### Allow Agent to Specify Skills During the Transfer
The "**Allow agent to specify skills during the transfer**" option enables the transferring agent to assign additional skills to the interaction at the time of transfer. The available skills are determined by those configured for the target queue.
**Configuration Path**: Contact Center Management > Queue > \[Queue Name] > Agent RoutingWith this setting enabled, the agent initiating the transfer can specify the appropriate skills that the routing engine uses when selecting an agent from the queue receiving the transferred engagement.
The agent experience for the agent that is initiating the transfer depends on whether the selection of a skill is *mandatory* or *optional* within the ARP configuration:
* If the **Parameters** > **Required** option is enabled within the ARP, the transferring agent must select a skill, else the Transfer button will remain grayed out.
In the above Agent Routing Profile, the skill is required. An agent transferring a call to this queue must select a skill, as shown in the transfer dialog window below.
* If the *Required* option is not enabled, the agent has the flexibility to remove or omit a skill during the transfer process.
With the skill not required, the agent does not need to select a skill.
It is generally recommended that this setting remain enabled to ensure appropriate skill assignment during transfers.
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important**: Even if the "**Ignore skill retention for queue transitions**" option is enabled, any skill manually selected by the agent during transfer will be retained and not removed.
{% endhint %}
## Example: Configuring SBR for an Insurance Provider
To bring these concepts together, this section walks through a complete SBR configuration for a fictitious insurance provider using Zoom Contact Center's voice channel. The example covers skill setup, flow configuration, Agent Routing Profile creation (with time steps, default skills, and backup skills), and a series of test scenarios that demonstrate routing behavior across time steps.
### Outline
Some useful points to note about the provider:
* The services provided are Home Insurance and Motor Insurance.
* Agents must be certified to speak to consumers about these products.
* Services are provided in English or French based on the consumer's preference.
* Some agents are bi-lingual, others have varying levels of fluency.
* The provider wants routing criteria to progressively relax as consumers wait — starting with a strict match and widening the pool over time.
A flow has been built to deliver the following consumer experience:
1. Greet the consumer and ask them to select option 1 if they would prefer to talk to a French-speaking agent.
2. Select option 1 for Home Insurance or option 2 for Motor Insurance.
3. Regardless of the digit choice made by the consumer, they are sent into a single queue containing all agents.
Without SBR, all consumers are sent to the same group of agents regardless of their choices inside the flow. If a caller is answered by an agent who is not certified to speak about their product of choice or who does not speak their preferred language, they must be transferred to another member of the team.
The remaining sections will implement SBR to optimize this setup — routing the consumer to an agent who can speak about their product of choice in their preferred language, with progressive fallback if a perfect match is not immediately available.
### Defining Skills
Based on the provider's requirements, we define two skill categories:
| Category | Type | Skills |
| ------------------ | ----------------- | --------------- |
| Insurance Products | Text-based | Home, Motor |
| Languages | Proficiency-based | English, French |
#### Implementing Skill Categories and Skills
The Administrator navigates to **Contact Center Management** > **Skills** and clicks the **Add Skill Category** button to add the first category — *Insurance Products* — as a Text-based category.
After clicking **Save and Add Skills**, the Admin adds the individual skills (Home, Motor) in the **Skill Name** field.
The process is repeated for the **Languages** category, this time selecting Proficiency Based as the Skill Type.
The individual language skills (English, French) are then added.
The completed configuration in the Zoom Admin UI:
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: Skills have been defined but not yet allocated to agents. This is done in the next step.
{% endhint %}
### Allocating Skills to Agents
In this example, there are three agents handling incoming calls:
* **Amy Martin** — fluent French speaker, speaks a little English, certified in Motor Insurance
* **Bill Lee** — fluent English speaker, certified in Home Insurance
* **Sofia Jones** — fluent English speaker and fluent French speaker, certified in all Insurance Products
To assign skills, the Admin navigates to **Contact Center Management** > **Users**, selects a user, scrolls to the **Skills** section, clicks **Add Skill**, selects the relevant skills (specifying proficiency where applicable), and saves.
The resulting configurations:
**Amy Martin**:
**Bill Lee**:
**Sofia Jones**:
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: Proficiency levels can be adjusted from the user's configuration page after initial assignment. In this example, we demonstrate up to 10 proficiency levels. However, Zoom Contact Center supports up to 25 proficiency levels if desired.
{% endhint %}
### Identifying the Required Skills in the Flow
The flow must be configured to assign the correct skills to each engagement based on the consumer's choices. The Admin navigates to **Contact Center Management** > **Flows** and selects the flow.
Within each **Collect Input widget**, the **Exits** tab contains a **Map Exit to Skill** dropdown where the Skill Category and Skill are selected for each exit. The language selection widget maps exits to the Languages category, and the product selection widget maps exits to the Insurance Products category.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: In a multi-language setting you may also wish to set the Engagement Language variable (`global_system.Engagement.language`) so the consumer receives recorded assets in their preferred language. This is beyond the scope of this article.
{% endhint %}
The product selection widget is configured similarly:
After mapping all exits, click **Save Draft** and then **Publish** to commit the changes.
At this point, when a consumer selects French and Home Insurance in the flow, Zoom Contact Center knows it needs to find a French-speaking agent certified in Home Insurance.
### Configuring the Agent Routing Profile
Navigate to **Contact Center Management** > **Routing Profiles**, select the **Agent** tab, and click **Add** Agent Profile. Name the profile (e.g., "Insurance Skillsets").
#### Configure Time Steps
Click **Manage Time Steps** and add boundaries at 30, 60, and 120 seconds. This creates four tabs — one per time step.
#### Configure Each Time Step
**Step 1 (0 – 30 seconds) — Strict Match:**
| Skill Category | Required | Min Proficiency | Default Skill | Backup Skill |
| ------------------ | -------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------ |
| Languages | Yes | 8 | English | — |
| Insurance Products | Yes | — | — | — |
The system searches for an agent with a language proficiency of at least 8 and the correct insurance product certification. Both categories are Required. The default skill for Languages is set to English — if the Flow does not assign a language skill, the system routes based on English proficiency.
**Step 2 (30 – 60 seconds) — Relaxed Proficiency:**
| Skill Category | Required | Min Proficiency | Default Skill | Backup Skill |
| ------------------ | -------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------ |
| Languages | Yes | 5 | English | — |
| Insurance Products | Yes | — | — | — |
The minimum language proficiency drops from 8 to 5, expanding the pool to include agents with working-level fluency. Both skills remain Required.
**Step 3 (60 – 120 seconds) — Any Proficiency:**
| Skill Category | Required | Min Proficiency | Default Skill | Backup Skill |
| ------------------ | -------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------ |
| Languages | Yes | All | English | — |
| Insurance Products | Yes | — | — | — |
The proficiency threshold is dropped entirely — any agent with the required language skill is eligible. Insurance Products remains Required.
**Step 4 (After 120 seconds) — Widest Net:**
| Skill Category | Required | Min Proficiency | Default Skill | Backup Skill |
| ------------------ | -------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------ |
| Languages | Yes | All | English | English |
| Insurance Products | No | — | — | — |
Insurance Products is no longer Required — the system will prefer a product-certified agent but will accept any agent who meets the language criteria. A backup skill of English is configured on the Languages category: if no agent with the primary language skill (e.g., French) is available, the system immediately checks for an English-speaking agent.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: If an agent who only speaks English (assigned via the backup skill in the previous step) needs to communicate with a French-speaking consumer, they can use Zoom Contact Center's Live AI Interpreter feature. This feature is available with the AI Expert Assist license and enables real-time language translation during conversations.
{% endhint %}
#### Assign to the Queue
Navigate to Contact Center Management > Queues, select the queue, locate the Agent Routing setting, and click Add Agent Routing. Select the Insurance Skillsets profile from the list.
The routing profile configuration on the queue will appear as shown:
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: The Consumer Routing profile prioritizes specific consumers over others and is separate from skills-based routing.
{% endhint %}
### Testing & Validation
The following tests validate routing behavior across time steps. The agent skills are summarized below:
|
| English | French | Home Insurance | Motor Insurance |
| --------------- | ------- | ------ | -------------- | --------------- |
| Amy Martin | 5 | 10 | NO | YES |
| Bill Lee | 10 | — | YES | NO |
| Sofia Jones | 10 | 10 | YES | YES |
All tests assume: engagements received one at a time, all agents available unless otherwise stated, Longest Idle distribution, and Sofia Jones as the longest idle agent at the start.
**The Longest Idle agent is selected from the pool of agents with the best skill fit at the current time step.**
#### Tests 1–4: All Agents Available
These engagements are matched during Step 1 (0–30 seconds). A qualifying agent is immediately available at the strictest criteria.
|
| Language | Product | Step 1 Eligible Agents | Selected Agent |
| --------------- | -------- | --------------- | --------------------------------- | -------------- |
| Test 1 | English | Home Insurance | Bill Lee (10), Sofia Jones (10) | Sofia Jones |
| Test 2 | French | Home Insurance | Sofia Jones (10) | Sofia Jones |
| Test 3 | French | Motor Insurance | Amy Martin (10), Sofia Jones (10) | Amy Martin |
| Test 4 | English | Motor Insurance | Sofia Jones (10) | Sofia Jones |
In each case, the eligible agents have a language proficiency of 8+ and the correct product certification. Sofia Jones, as the longest idle agent, is selected in Tests 1, 2, and 4. In Test 3, Sofia Jones has been selected by a prior engagement, so Amy Martin (French 10, Motor YES) is next.
#### Test 5: Time Step Progression — English, Motor Insurance (Sofia Occupied)
Sofia Jones is occupied. Only Amy Martin and Bill Lee are available. The consumer selects English and Motor Insurance.
| Time Step | Duration | Criteria | Analysis | Outcome |
| --------- | ----------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Step 1 | 0 – 30 sec | English (prof 8+)Motor Ins | Bill Lee: English 10 but no Motor cert.Amy: English 5, below proficiency threshold. | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 2 | 30 – 60 sec | English (prof 5+)Motor Ins | Amy Martin: English 5 (meets relaxed proficiency threshold) + Motor YES. | Amy Martin |
Amy Martin becomes eligible when the proficiency threshold relaxes from 8 to 5 at the 30-second mark. She has a working level of English and holds the Motor Insurance certification.
#### Test 6: Time Step Progression — French, Home Insurance (Sofia Occupied)
Sofia Jones is occupied. The consumer selects French and Home Insurance.
| Time Step | Duration | Criteria | Analysis | Outcome |
| --------- | ------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Step 1 | 0 – 30 sec | French (prof 8+)Home Ins | Amy: French 10 but no Home cert.Bill: no French. | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 2 | 30 – 60 sec | French (prof 5+)Home Ins | Same — Amy has no Home certBill has no French. | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 3 | 60 – 120 sec | French (any prof)Home Ins | Same — Amy still has no Home cert.Bill still doesn't speak French | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 4 | After 120 sec | French (any prof)Home Ins (not required) | Amy Martin: French 10 — Home Insurance no longer required. | Amy Martin |
Amy Martin is a fluent French speaker but lacks Home Insurance certification. She is ineligible in Steps 1–3 where both skills are Required. Once Step 4 drops the Insurance Products requirement, Amy is matched on her French language skill alone.
The backup skill (English) was not needed here — Amy matched on the primary language. It would only activate if no French-speaking agent were available at all.
#### Test 7: Backup Skill in Action — French, Motor Insurance (Sofia and Amy Occupied)
Both Sofia Jones and Amy Martin are occupied. Only Bill Lee is available. The consumer selects French and Motor Insurance.
| Time Step | Duration | Criteria | Analysis | Outcome |
| --------- | ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| Step 1 | 0 – 30 sec | French (prof 8+)Motor Ins | Bill: no French, no Motor cert. | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 2 | 30 – 60 sec | French (prof 5+)Motor Ins | Bill: no French. | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 3 | 60 – 120 sec | French (any prof)Motor Ins | Bill: no French. | No match, call waits in queue |
| Step 4 | After 120 sec | French (any prof) with English as backupMotor Ins not required) | Primary (French): no matchBackup (English): Bill Lee (English 10)Motor Insurance not required | Bill Lee |
This is where the backup skill demonstrates its value. Bill Lee has no French skill, so he cannot match the primary language requirement in any time step. Once Step 4 activates with the English backup skill, the system immediately checks for English-speaking agents. Bill Lee, with English proficiency of 10, is selected. The consumer has waited over two minutes, and connecting them to an English-speaking agent is preferable to leaving them in the queue indefinitely.
---
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