To set up skill-based conversation assignment in Papo (https://papo.global/), create specialty teams — Sales, Technical Support, Finance — and use automation rules to route new conversations to the right team based on tag, source channel, or a combination of conditions.
Papo does not require a separate “skill” field: the agent's specialty is represented by the team they belong to. By combining well-defined teams with automation rules, you ensure that a billing question goes to the Finance team and an installation question goes to Technical Support, without manual triage.
Summary: ways to assign conversations by specialty
| Assignment method | How it works | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Team associated with inbox | All new conversations from a channel are directed to a fixed team. | When an entire channel belongs to a single specialty. |
| Automation rule | Upon receiving a new conversation, the rule checks conditions such as tag, source inbox, and time, and executes the action Assign a Team. | When the specialty depends on the demand or conversation context. |
| Manual transfer | An agent or supervisor moves an ongoing conversation to another agent or team. | For exceptions, continuity of service, or complex cases. |
Why organize agents into skill-based teams
Creating teams with clear names is the foundation for specialty routing. Instead of individually deciding who handles each conversation, the operation routes to a prepared group:
- Sales or Commercial: pricing questions, proposals, negotiation.
- Technical Support: installation, errors, configuration, integration.
- Finance or Billing: invoices, receipts, payments.
- Post-sale or Customer Success: onboarding, retention, follow-up.
In Papo, teams are created in the account settings area. After creating the team, add the agents who have that skill. An agent can be added to more than one team, as needed.
Preparing tags to indicate the required skill
For the rule to route by specialty, the conversation must contain some clue about the subject. Tags are the most direct way to mark the demand. Examples:
| Customer demand | Suggested tag | Destination team |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing or proposal question | sales |
Commercial |
| Malfunction issue | support |
Technical Support |
| Invoice or payment | finance |
Finance |
| Complaint or cancellation | complaint |
Quality / Retention |
Tags can be applied manually or by other automations; the assignment rule then reads that tag to choose the team.
How to create the skill-based routing rule
The path to create the automation is Settings → Automation.
- Start a new rule. Give it a descriptive name, such as “Tag support → Technical Support”.
- Configure the trigger. Choose the event that represents the arrival of a new conversation.
- Add the conditions. Define the main condition:
- Source inbox — to limit the rule to a channel, if necessary.
- Tag — to route based on specialty, such as
supportorsales. You can combine both conditions to refine routing.
- Choose the action. Select Assign a Team and indicate the corresponding specialist team.
- Save and activate. After saving, new conversations that meet the conditions will be automatically routed to the defined team.
The rule only applies to new conversations. Old conversations remain with the current agent or team and can be transferred manually.
Examples of skill-based routing
Scenario 1 — Technical support by tag
- Condition: tag
technical_support - Action: assign to Technical Support team
Scenario 2 — Sales by channel
- Condition: source inbox WhatsApp Sales
- Action: assign to Commercial team
Scenario 3 — Combined routing
- Condition: channel Instagram + tag
complaint - Action: assign to Quality / Retention team
These examples show that combining teams, tags, and channel allows you to separate work by the actual skill needed, even when multiple subjects arrive through the same channel.
Best practices
- Create team names by function, not by person. This keeps routing stable when the team changes.
- Use standardized tags. If
salesandcommercialare used for the same idea, the rule may fail. - Combine with manual transfer. Automation handles initial triage; exceptions can be moved in the conversation panel.
- Start simple. Test with one channel or one tag before creating dozens of rules.
- Review periodically. If the team changes specialty, review the team members.
Frequently asked questions
Does Papo have a specific agent skill field?
Not necessary. In practice, the skill is represented by the team the agent belongs to. You can create separate teams for each specialty and use those teams as the destination of the automation rule.
Can I route by skill without using a tag?
Yes. You can use only the source inbox to separate channels by specialty, or combine channel with time, for example. For subjects that arrive through the same channel, tags make distinction easier.
Does the rule work for conversations already in the queue?
No. Automation rules apply to new incoming conversations. To change an existing conversation, use manual assignment or transfer in the conversation panel.
Can an agent be part of more than one team?
Yes, you can add an agent to more than one team in the account settings, if they work in more than one specialty.
Does automatic round-robin assignment interfere with the rules?
Round-robin distributes new conversations within a team associated with an inbox. When an automation rule uses Assign a Team, it routes the conversation to the defined team; distribution among the members of that team will follow the inbox and team configuration.
Does the customer notice the change of team or agent?
No. Automatic assignment and transfers are invisible to the customer, who continues to see the same conversation on the same channel.
Read also
- Automation Rules vs. Flows: when to use each feature in Papo
- How to set up VIP service in Papo with prioritization and exclusive inbox
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