Assign and reassign cases

As a Case Manager, you can assign work to the most appropriate agent, move cases between teams, and update case classification when priorities or business needs change.

This article explains how to assign and reassign individual cases and apply updates to multiple cases at once.

Before you begin

• How intake, deflection, and triage work
• You must be assigned as a Case Manager for at least one team.
• You can manage cases only for the teams you oversee.

When to reassign a case

You might reassign a case when:

• The case was assigned to the wrong agent.
• The request belongs to a different team.
• An agent is unavailable or on leave.
• Workloads need balancing across the team.
• A specialist is better suited to resolve the case.
• The case has been reclassified and needs different expertise.

Assign or reassign a case

Change the owner of a case:

1. Open the case.
2. Open the Case Team panel.
3. Select the appropriate Team.
4. Select an Assignee.
5. Select Save.

The selected agent becomes the new owner of the case.

Return a case to the claim queue

If you don't want to assign the case to a specific agent:

1.  Clear the Assignee field and save the case.

The case remains assigned to the team and becomes available for agents to claim after automatic triage has completed.

Returning a case to the claim queue is useful when:

• An agent becomes unavailable.
• You want the next available specialist to claim the work.
• Ownership should be determined by the team rather than a specific individual.

Update case classification

While assigning a case, you can also update its classification if needed.

Common updates include:

• Changing the Priority.
• Updating the Category.
• Adding or removing Flags.
• Moving the case to a different Team.

Keep classifications accurate so reporting, routing, and service levels continue to reflect the nature of the request.

Reassign multiple cases

When workloads change, you can update several cases at the same time.

To perform a bulk update:

1. Select the cases in the case list.
2. Choose the appropriate bulk action.
3. Update the required field.
4. Confirm the changes.

Depending on your permissions, you can bulk update:

• Team
• Assignee
• Priority
• Categories
• Flags

Bulk updates help when:

• Redistributing work during periods of high demand.
• Covering planned or unplanned absences.
• Moving work between teams.
• Correcting classifications across multiple cases.

What happens after reassigning?

When a case is reassigned:

• The new assignee becomes responsible for the case.
• The previous assignee no longer owns the case.
• Notifications are sent if reassignment notifications are enabled.
• The reassignment is recorded in the case history.

If the team changes, the case follows the new team's queues, views, and reporting.

Best practices

To keep workloads balanced:

• Reassign work only when there's a clear business reason.
• Consider agent expertise as well as availability.
• Keep priorities, categories, and flags up to date when moving cases.
• Use bulk updates for planned changes and individual reassignment for exceptions.
• Review service-level status before moving urgent cases.

Troubleshooting

Next steps

• Manage unassigned work

Related articles

• Merge duplicate cases

Reference

• Agent notifications (what the assignee receives).