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Q Skills (Matching Interactions to Agents)

Q Skills (Matching Interactions to Agents)

Overview

Skills are tags assigned to agents or user groups that help Sharpen Q identify the best match for an incoming interaction, for example, routing to an agent who speaks a specific language or supports a specific product line. Skills can be applied to interactions through Logic+, Classic Logic, Inbound Routes, and Action Bots.

Skills-based routing is a core feature of the Sharpen platform that ensures interactions are directed to the most qualified available agent.

Before You Begin

Preference vs. Required skills: By default, skills are treated as a preference rather than a requirement. If no agent with the corresponding skill is available, the system will route the interaction as though the skill was not applied, ensuring the customer reaches an agent rather than waiting indefinitely.

How routing works with multiple skills: When multiple skills are assigned to an interaction, the system first attempts to route to an agent who possesses all of the assigned skills. If no such agent is available, the interaction is routed to the agent who matches the greatest number of those skills.

Skill weights: Each skill is assigned a weight of 1 or higher, with no upper limit. Weights allow the system to prioritize interactions by their cumulative skill score, ensuring higher-priority interactions are handled first.

For prioritizing interactions between multiple queues, refer to Q Weights under Admin > Configuration > Sharpen Q > [Queue Name] > Edit.

Example Use Cases

Language-Based Routing

A company serves both English and Spanish-speaking customers through the same phone number. By creating a Spanish skill and assigning it to bilingual agents, the IVR can prompt callers to select their preferred language. If Spanish is selected, the Spanish skill is applied to the interaction via a Set Variable panel in Logic+, and the system routes the call to the first available agent with that skill assigned. If no Spanish-speaking agent is available, the interaction is routed to the next available agent rather than leaving the customer waiting indefinitely.

Product Tier Support Routing

A software company offers both a standard and an enterprise product tier, each requiring different levels of technical knowledge. By creating a Enterprise_Support skill and assigning it to senior agents trained on the enterprise product, inbound calls from enterprise customers can be automatically tagged with that skill via the Inbound Route configuration. This ensures enterprise callers are always directed to qualified agents first, while standard support calls continue routing to the broader agent pool, all without any manual intervention.

The Sagent Skill

Every extension is automatically assigned a system skill known as a sagent skill. These appear in the format: sagent + [agent extension] + con[company identifier].

An agent must have the correct sagent skill assigned to their extension in order to receive interactions within a queue.

Do not delete sagent skills. Removing a sagent skill will prevent the associated agent from receiving interactions.

Creating a New Skill

  1. Navigate Admin → Configuration → Q Skills and click New Skill.

  2. Enter a name for the skill and assign a weighted point value.

  3. To assign the skill to an agent, check the box next to the agent's name.

  1. Enable Skills Routing in the corresponding queue under Admin > Configuration > Sharpen Q.

If Skill Routing is disabled for a queue, interactions will not be routed based on agent skills.

Creating Required Skills

Required skills route interactions exclusively to agents who have that skill assigned. This is useful when specific interactions must be handled by specific agents, though it may result in longer wait times if no qualified agent is available.

To create a required skill:

  1. When naming the skill, prefix the name with REQUIRED_ — for example: REQUIRED_Spanish.

  1. Enable Required Skill Routing in the queue settings under Admin > Configuration > Sharpen Q.

    1. The “Required Skill Routing“ toggle will appear once “Skill Routing“ has been enabled.

The prefix REQUIRED_ must be capitalized exactly as shown. If it is not, the system will not recognize it as a required skill.

Assigning Skills to Multiple Users

If you need to assign the same skill to multiple agents, it is strongly recommended to use a User Group. This allows you to manage skills and preferences for all group members in one place rather than updating each agent individually.

To assign an existing skill to multiple agents:

  1. Navigate Admin → Settings → User Groups, locating the skill in the skill section.

  1. Select the checkbox next to each skill you want to assign to the user group.

To assign multiple skills to a single user, navigate to Admin > Settings > Manage Users > [Agent Name], locating the Skill section at the bottom of the page.

Applying Skills to Interactions

Skills can be assigned to interactions through several methods depending on your configuration. The methods below cover each available approach.

Method 1: Logic+ (Inbound IVR)

There are two ways to assign skills within a Logic+ inbound IVR flow. Both methods apply the skill before the interaction enters the queue and are only available within an inbound IVR context.

Note: The methods below apply skills at the IVR stage. For adding skills while an interaction is already in queue, see Method 4: Logic+ with Webhooks.

Option A — Transfer to Queue Panel

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Logic+ and open the flow you want to configure.

  2. Open the Transfer to Queue panel you want to assign skills to.

  1. Locate the Skills field and enter or select the desired skill, and hit enter on the keyboard.

  1. Click Close, then click Save as New Draft and Save.

  2. Click the expand button next to Manage, then click Publish.

  3. Type PUBLISH in the confirmation field and click Publish.

Option B — Set Variable Panel

  1. Within your Logic+ inbound IVR flow, add or open a Set Variable panel at the point in the flow where you want the skill assigned.

  2. Set the variable name queueSkills.

  3. Set the value as required for your configuration.

  1. Save and publish the flow.

Method 2: Logic+ with Webhooks (In-Queue Skills)

If you need to assign a skill while an interaction is already waiting in queue, this requires a combination of Webhooks, a Logic+ flow, and the Update Queue Member API configured via an Integration panel.

Step 1: Create the Integration

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Integrations.

  2. Click Add Integration and select Generic as the integration type.

  3. Configure the integration with the following values:

    • Name: A descriptive name of your choice

    • Base URL: https://legacy-api.iz1.sharpencx.com

    • Protocol: REST

    • Authorization Type: None

  4. Click Save.

Step 2: Create the Logic+ Flow

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Logic+ and click Create in the upper-right corner.

  2. Select New Workflow, enter a name and description, then click Create.

Step 3: Configure the Integration Panel

  1. At the bottom center of the Logic+ canvas, click + and select an Integration panel.

  2. Set the panel role to Initiates Flow if this is the only panel in your flow.

  3. Configure the panel with the following values:

    • Integration: Select the integration you created in Step 1.

    • Path: queues/updateQueueMember/

    • Method: POST

    • Headers: Leave blank

    • Request Body:

{ "cKey1": "Your_cKey1_here", "cKey2": "Your_cKey2_here", "queueMember": { "queueCallManagerID": "$(queueCallManagerID)", "queueSkills": "your_skill_name_here" } }

  1. Replace Your_cKey1_here and Your_cKey2_here with your organization's API keys. These can be found by navigating to Admin > Developers — your keys are located in the bottom-right of that page.

  2. Replace your_skill_name_here with the exact name of the skill you want to assign to the interaction.

Step 4: Publish the Flow

  1. Once your integration panel is configured with your keys and skill name, click Publish in the upper-right corner.

  2. Type PUBLISH in the confirmation field and click Publish.

The flow is now saved and ready to be triggered by a Webhook.

Step 5: Configure the Webhook

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Webhooks and click + New Webhook in the upper-right corner.

  2. Configure the webhook with the following values:

    • Name: A descriptive name of your choice

    • Type: Logic+

    • Trigger: Select Enter Queue, or choose another trigger that best fits your needs

    • Logic Module: Select the Logic+ flow you created in Step 2

    • Assign Queues: Select the queue(s) where you want the skill applied

  1. Click Create Webhook.

A newly created Webhook may take up to 30 minutes to become active. Allow this time before testing.

For additional details on the Update Queue Member endpoint, navigate to Admin > Developers > Documentation, click Search, and type Update Queue Member.

Method 3: Inbound Routes

Use this method to assign a skill to all calls arriving through a specific phone number.

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Inbound Routes.

  2. Search for and select the number you want to configure, then click Edit.

  3. If not already enabled, turn on Advanced Options.

  4. Locate the Skills field and add the skill you want to assign.

  1. Click Save.

All subsequent calls arriving through that number will carry the configured skill.

Method 4: Classic Logic

Use this method to assign skills within a Classic Logic flow.

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Logic & Actions.

  2. Open the Classic Logic flow you want to edit.

  3. Double-click the node where you want to assign the skill.

  1. Click Select Variable and select Queue Skills.

  2. In the Value field, enter the skill name you want to assign.

  1. Click Save on the node, then click Save on the Classic Logic flow.

Method 5: Action Bots

Action Bots can be used to automatically assign skills to interactions as they enter a queue.

General Settings

  1. Navigate to Admin > Configuration > Logic & Actions and click New Action Bot.

  1. Enter a descriptive Name (for example, Assign Spanish Skill to Support Queue) and a Description of the bot's purpose.

Trigger

  1. Set Trigger Type to Event.

  2. Set Sub Type to Queue.

Event

  1. In the Queues field, select the queues you want this bot to apply to.

  2. In the Events field, select Enter Q.

Data Source

The Sharpen Queue Call Manager Activity data source is preselected by default for queue event triggers.

  1. Click Add to add a field to the data source.

  2. In the Field dropdown, select Queue Call Manager ID. No function selection is needed.

Filters

  1. Set the Filter Field to Queue Call Manager ID.

  2. Set the Operator to is not null.

  1. Set Order By to Queue Call Manager ID, with Sort set to Descending.

  2. Set Limit Results to 1.

 

Action

  1. In the Actions section, click Add Action and select Update Queue Member.

  1. The Queue Call Manager ID field should auto-populate.

  2. In the Skills field, enter the name of the skill you want to assign to interactions in the selected queues.

Do not add the Queue Name to the Actions section. Doing so will create an unintended transfer count on the interaction, which will skew reporting data.

Save and Activate

  1. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

  2. Reopen the Action Bot from the Logic & Actions main page.

  3. Click Activate in the upper-right corner.

  4. Scroll to the bottom and click Save.

Action Bot Caveats

  • The Action Bot method does not assign the skill at the exact moment of queue entry. Due to the nature of event-based processing, skill assignment typically takes 1–2 seconds.

  • Because of this delay, the skill may not appear in the queue display until the page is refreshed or the agent logs out and back in.

This article is part of a series on Admin Configuration topics.

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