About unified agent statuses

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<div class="note fastpath">
<span class="fastpathtitle">Location: </span>
<span class="ph">Admin Center &gt; Objects and rules &gt; Omnichannel routing &gt; Agent statuses</span>
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<p class="p">
Unified agent statuses are part of
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409149119514" target="_blank">omnichannel routing</a>
and provide a way for agents to control
availability for email, voice, and messaging from a single menu. In addition
to the
standard unified agent statuses available on all plans, admins on Professional
plans and
above can also define custom unified agent statuses to suit their workflows.
</p>
<p class="p">
Unified agent statuses are automatically available to accounts that meet
the <a class="xref" href="#topic_zvv_bjt_nvb">requirements</a>.
</p>
<div class="p">
This article contains the following topics:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_iyw_kc1_4vb__ul_zhc_qc1_4vb">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_vrd_ld1_4vb">About the standard unified agent statuses</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_h3t_zc1_4vb">Requirements and limitations of unified agent statuses</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_uq2_bxg_4vb">Related articles</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_vrd_ld1_4vb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About the standard unified agent statuses</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">
Unified agent statuses are used to inform omnichannel routing behavior
for
tickets from
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409149119514#topic_psx_hxk_3yb" target="_blank">email (including web form, side conversations,
and API)</a>,
calls, messaging conversations, and
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6249962577690" target="_blank">sometimes Chat</a>.
Agents set their unified status manually
and need to adjust it throughout the day to accurately reflect their
availability to
receive work. These standard statuses are the basis for custom agent
statuses,
too.
</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">There are four standard agent statuses:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_vrd_ld1_4vb__ul_ps3_35p_m5b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
Online - Tickets from email, calls, messaging conversations, and
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6249962577690" target="_blank">sometimes Chat</a>
can be routed to the
agent.
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Away - Only email tickets can be routed to the agent.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
Transfer only - Only tickets that have already been reviewed and
need
to be transferred to the agent can be routed to them.
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Offline - No tickets can be routed to the agent.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_exs_5h1_4vb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Modifying an agent's status</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">
In most situations, an agent's status is set manually by the agents
themselves. They are encouraged to change their status to offline
before any
breaks. However, when one of the following disconnection events is
detected, an
agent is automatically set to <em class="ph i">offline</em>:
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_exs_5h1_4vb__ul_sdn_5vp_m5b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
An agent closes the Agent Workspace without signing out (by
closing their browser window, shutting down their computer, or
putting their
computer in sleep mode)
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">An agent’s connection is lost due to a network outage</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">
Additionally, admins can configure the account to automatically adjust
an agent's
status to <em class="ph i">offline</em> or <em class="ph i">away</em>
when they are idle for longer than the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5286614817562" target="_blank">idle timeout
threshold</a>.
</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_h3t_zc1_4vb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Requirements and limitations of unified agent statuses</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Consider the following requirements and limitations before enabling and
using
omnichannel routing and unified agent statuses.
</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_zvv_bjt_nvb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Requirements</h3>
<div class="body">
<div class="p">
Your account must meet the following requirements to use unified
agent status and
omnichannel routing:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_zvv_bjt_nvb__ul_cw1_h3t_nvb">
<li class="li">
The
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821259930" target="_blank">Agent Workspace</a>
must be
activated for your account.
</li>
<li class="li">
If your account has a Chat subscription, native messaging
or Sunshine
Conversations must also be activated.
</li>
<li class="li">
Limited support for Chat is provided for accounts
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6249962577690" target="_blank">migrating to Messaging and
omnichannel routing</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_a3b_2h1_4vb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Limitations</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">
The following limitations currently exist for unified agent status
in
omnichannel routing:
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_a3b_2h1_4vb__ul_xsz_jh1_4vb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Operating hours won't set an agent's status.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
After you turn on omnichannel routing, you can no longer set
agent
status for voice support from the Talk dashboard, mobile apps,
or Talk APIs.
Integrations that use Talk APIs to change agent statuses might
also be
impacted.
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
If call forwarding is enabled and the status of an agent is
automatically set to offline because the agent has been disconnected,
calls
to the agent will no longer be forwarded to the agent's phone.
</li>
<li class="li">
When omnichannel routing is activated, agents are automatically
set to
offline across all channels. When this happens, they are prompted
to set a
new status. Ongoing live conversations aren't interrupted, but
calls waiting
in the queue will be directed to voicemail.
</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
Based on your plan, there are limits to the number of custom
agent
statuses you can create:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_a3b_2h1_4vb__ul_ysz_jh1_4vb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Team and Growth: You cannot create custom statuses</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Professional: 5 custom statuses</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enterprise: 100 custom statuses</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">
Agents working in Agent Workspace won't see changes to
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5286614817562" target="_blank">status timeout rules</a>
until they
refresh the page.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_uq2_bxg_4vb">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Related articles</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">
See the following articles for more information to help you get up and
running with unified agent statuses:
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_uq2_bxg_4vb__ul_mvp_cxg_4vb">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410525357594" target="_blank">Creating custom unified agent
statuses</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5133588225690" target="_blank">Managing unified agent statuses</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409149119514" target="_blank">About omnichannel routing with unified agent
status</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
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