Skills-Based Routing

Overview

Every call center agent has encountered irate customer situations. To reduce customer frustration, a contact center must resolve issues quickly and accurately. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is ensuring that calls are handled by agents with the right skills.

This is where skills-based routing becomes essential.

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What Is Skills-Based Routing?

Skills-based routing (also known as skill-based distribution) is a call routing strategy that assigns incoming calls to agents based on the skills most relevant to the customer’s needs.

Example: Spanish-speaking customers are routed to agents who speak Spanish.

PortSIP PBX supports Skills-Based Routing by automatically routing incoming queue calls to agents in the highest-skill group first. If no agents in that group are available (busy, unavailable, or logged out), the call is routed to agents in lower skill groups.

This ensures:

• Customers are handled by qualified agents

• Call resolution times are reduced

• Customer frustration is minimized

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Route Calls by Caller Language

You can route calls by language using Inbound Rules based on the caller ID (CID) mask.

Example Scenario

DID number: 00442012345670

Create two inbound rules using the same DID but different CID masks:

• Rule 1

  • CID mask: 0044**********

  • DID mask: 442012345670

  • Route to: English Support Queue (8000)

• Rule 2

  • CID mask: 0033*********

  • DID mask: 442012345670

  • Route to: French Support Queue (9000)

Assign English-speaking agents to queue 8000 and French-speaking agents to queue 9000.

Result:

• Calls from the UK are routed to English-speaking agents

• Calls from France are routed to French-speaking agents

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Route Calls by VIP Priority

PortSIP PBX provides a VIP Caller feature to prioritize high-value customers.

When a VIP call is detected:

• The caller is placed at the front of the queue

• The call is always handled with highest priority

Configure VIP Callers

1. Navigate to Contact Center > VIP Numbers.

2. Click Add.

3. Configure the following fields:

   • Enabled – Turn VIP handling on or off

   • VIP Number – Enter the customer phone number

   • Description – Friendly name (for example, Microsoft Team)

   • Validity Period – Define how long the VIP entry remains active

❗Note The VIP list applies globally to all queues within the tenant.

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Exclusive Agent Routing

Some callers—such as those from specialized industries—require agents with specific domain expertise.

The Exclusive Agent feature allows you to assign one or more agents as priority handlers for specific callers.

How Exclusive Agent Routing Works

• When a call arrives from a configured caller number:

  • The call is routed to an exclusive agent with highest priority

• If all exclusive agents are busy, not ready, or signed out:

  • The call is routed to other available agents in the queue

❗Limitation Exclusive Agent routing is not supported when the queue Ring Strategy is set to Ring Simultaneously.

Configure Exclusive Agents

1. Navigate to Contact Center > Exclusive Agent.

2. Click Add.

3. Configure the following:

   • Description – For example, XXX Bank

   • Caller Number – Caller numbers eligible for exclusive handling

   • Call Queue – Select the queue and assign exclusive agents

If the call does not match the configured caller numbers, the agent behaves as a normal queue agent.

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Route Calls by Agent Skill Level

PortSIP PBX supports multiple skill-based routing strategies within call queues:

• Skill-Based Routing – Prioritized Hunt Agents are rung serially in a configured order, starting with the highest skill group.

• Skill-Based Routing – Cyclic Hunt Agents are rung serially, prioritizing the agent who has not been rung for the longest time, starting with the highest skill group.

• Skill-Based Routing – Least Worked Hunt Agents are rung serially, prioritizing the agent who has answered the fewest calls, starting with the highest skill group.

When adding agents to a queue, you assign a skill level:

• Higher number = higher skill level

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Last Called Agent Routing (LCA)

Last Called Agent Routing routes repeat callers to the agent who last handled their call.

How It Works

1. A customer calls the contact center.

2. The PBX stores the agent ID and call time.

3. When the same customer calls again:

   • The call is routed to the same agent, if available

4. If the agent is unavailable:

   • The call is routed to another suitable agent

❗Limitation LCA routing is not supported when the queue Ring Strategy is set to Ring Simultaneously.

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Harass Numbers (Spam Call Protection)

Spam calls are a major issue for contact centers. PortSIP PBX provides two layers of protection.

Global Number Blacklist

• Calls from blacklisted numbers are silently rejected

• Configure under Blacklist and Codes > Number Blacklist

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Harass Number (Queue-Specific Protection)

Harass Numbers apply only to Call Queues and operate in two levels:

Level 1 Harass Number

• A warning prompt is played

• Caller options:

  • Press 1 – Hang up

  • Press 2 – Continue the call

Level 2 Harass Number

• A warning prompt is played

• The call is automatically disconnected after playback

Configure Harass Numbers

1. Navigate to:

   • Contact Center > Harass Number Level 1

   • Contact Center > Harass Number Level 2

2. Open Global Settings

3. Enable or disable:

   • Enable Level 1 Harass Number

   • Enable Level 2 Harass Number

4. Upload the corresponding prompt files

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Best Practices

• Use skills-based routing to reduce call transfers and improve first-call resolution

• Combine VIP routing with exclusive agents for premium customers

• Enable LCA routing to improve customer continuity

• Use harass number protection to reduce spam without blocking legitimate callers

• Avoid Ring Simultaneously when advanced routing logic is required