Manage unassigned work

Most cases are automatically assigned to the appropriate team and agent. Occasionally, a case requires additional attention before work can begin.

As a Case Manager, you oversee unassigned work by reviewing claimable cases, completing manual triage when needed, and ensuring every case reaches the right owner.

Before you begin

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

Types of unassigned work

Not every unassigned case requires the same action.

The following table explains the different situations you may encounter.

Understanding these states helps you decide when to intervene and when the system is still processing the request.

Review claimable cases

Claimable cases belong to a team but don't yet have an assignee.

Depending on your team's workflow, you can:

• Allow agents to claim work themselves.
• Assign the case to a specific agent.
• Monitor the claim queue to ensure cases don't remain unassigned for too long.

1. Open the agent workspace
2. Find unassigned work:

• Open the Case needs manual triage notification.
• Or build/save a view: Assignee is empty, optionally AI triage is complete, and Team = your managed team(s). 
• Add a second view or filter for Team is empty to catch unrouted cases.
• Open the case.

Use the claim queue when work can be distributed naturally among available agents. Assign cases directly when specialist knowledge or business priorities require a specific owner.

Complete manual triage

Some cases require a manager to complete the routing.

This happens when automatic triage can't confidently determine the correct team, assignee, or classification.

To complete manual triage:

1. Open the case.
2. Review the employee's request and conversation.
3. Confirm or update the Team.
4. Assign the most appropriate Assignee.
5. Update the Priority, Categories, or Flags, if required.
6. Save the changes.

Once routing is complete, the assigned agent can begin working the case.

For more information about automatic routing, see How intake, deflection, and triage work.

Decide whether to assign or leave unassigned

Not every case needs immediate assignment.

Consider assigning a case when:

• Specialist knowledge is required.
• The case is urgent.
• The employee has an existing relationship with a particular agent.
• Workloads need balancing across the team.

Consider leaving a case in the claim queue when:

• Any qualified agent can handle the request.
• Your team uses self-managed workloads.
• Agents regularly claim new work as they become available.
• Monitor the claim queue

Review the claim queue regularly to ensure work continues moving through your teams.

Look for:

• Cases waiting too long without an owner.
• High-priority cases that should be assigned immediately.
• Cases approaching service-level targets.
• Large numbers of unassigned cases that may indicate workload or routing issues.

If the claim queue continues to grow, review team capacity and routing rules with your Case Administrator.

Best practices

To keep work flowing smoothly:

• Review manual triage cases before routine claimable work.
• Assign urgent or specialist cases directly to the most appropriate agent.
• Allow agents to claim routine work where possible.
• Investigate recurring manual triage cases, as they may indicate improvements are needed to teams, categories, or AI intake briefs.
• Review unassigned work throughout the day rather than only at the start or end of a shift.

Troubleshooting

Related articles

• Assign and reassign cases

Reference

• Manager notifications