Case Queues in Salesforce are a fundamental feature within Service and Support Applications that help organizations efficiently manage and distribute incoming customer cases among support teams. A queue acts as a holding area where cases can be assigned before being picked up by individual agents o…Case Queues in Salesforce are a fundamental feature within Service and Support Applications that help organizations efficiently manage and distribute incoming customer cases among support teams. A queue acts as a holding area where cases can be assigned before being picked up by individual agents or automatically distributed based on predefined rules.
When a case enters Salesforce through various channels such as email-to-case, web-to-case, or manual creation, it can be routed to a specific queue rather than an individual user. This approach offers several advantages for support operations. Team members who have access to the queue can view all cases waiting for attention and claim ownership of cases they are equipped to handle.
To set up Case Queues, administrators navigate to Setup and search for Queues. When creating a queue, you must specify a queue name, assign a queue email address if needed, select the objects the queue supports (in this case, Cases), and add queue members who can access and take ownership of cases from that queue. Members can include individual users, roles, public groups, or partner users.
Queues work seamlessly with assignment rules to automate case distribution. Administrators can create case assignment rules that evaluate incoming cases based on criteria such as case origin, priority, or product type, and then route matching cases to the appropriate queue. This ensures cases reach the right team efficiently.
Queue-based routing also supports workload balancing and provides visibility into team performance through reports and dashboards. Managers can monitor queue metrics like average time cases spend in queue, case volume by queue, and agent productivity.
Additionally, queues integrate with Omni-Channel routing when organizations need more sophisticated distribution methods, allowing cases to be pushed to available agents based on capacity and skill sets rather than relying on agents to manually pull cases from queues.
Case Queues: A Complete Guide for Salesforce Administrator Exam
What are Case Queues?
Case Queues are holding areas in Salesforce Service Cloud where cases can be stored until they are assigned to individual users or taken by team members. They function as shared workloads that allow groups of agents to access and claim cases based on their availability and expertise.
Why are Case Queues Important?
Case Queues are essential for several reasons:
• Workload Distribution: They help distribute incoming cases evenly among support team members • Team Collaboration: Multiple agents can access the same queue and take ownership of cases as needed • Prioritization: Cases can be organized and prioritized within queues based on urgency or other criteria • Flexibility: Agents can work on cases when they have capacity rather than having cases assigned to unavailable users • Specialization: Different queues can be created for different product lines, regions, or case types
How Case Queues Work
Creating a Queue: 1. Navigate to Setup and search for 'Queues' 2. Click 'New' to create a queue 3. Enter a Queue Name and Label 4. Select the objects the queue will support (Cases) 5. Add queue members (users, roles, public groups, or territories) 6. Optionally configure a queue email address
Queue Membership: Queue members can be added through: • Individual Users • Roles • Roles and Subordinates • Public Groups • Partner Users • Territory
Assignment to Queues: Cases can be assigned to queues through: • Manual assignment by users • Assignment Rules • Case escalation rules • Flows and Process Builder • Apex triggers
Taking Cases from Queues: Queue members can view cases in the queue through list views and take ownership by changing the Case Owner field to themselves.
Key Configuration Considerations
• Queue Email: Each queue can have its own email address for notifications • Send Email to Members: Configure whether queue members receive email notifications when new cases arrive • List Views: Create queue-specific list views for easy access to queued cases • Record Types: Queues work with all record types; filtering happens through assignment rules
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Case Queues
Common Exam Scenarios:
1. When to use Queues vs. Assignment Rules: Remember that queues hold cases for group access, while assignment rules determine WHERE cases go (including to queues)
2. Queue Membership Questions: Know that you can add users, roles, roles and subordinates, public groups, and territories as queue members
3. Email Notification Questions: Understand that queue email settings control whether members receive notifications about new cases
4. Ownership Questions: When a case is in a queue, the queue is the owner until a user takes ownership
Key Points to Remember:
• Queues are created in Setup under 'Queues' • A single queue can support multiple objects • Queue members must manually take ownership of cases from the queue • Assignment rules can route cases to queues based on criteria • Escalation rules can also move cases to different queues • Omni-Channel can be used with queues for automated case routing to available agents
Watch Out For:
• Questions that confuse queues with assignment rules - they work together but serve different purposes • Scenarios asking about automatic case assignment to individual users - queues require manual claiming unless Omni-Channel is configured • Questions about who can see queued cases - only queue members have access through the queue
Practice Scenario: When you see a question about handling cases for multiple product support teams where agents should be able to pick up cases based on their current workload, Case Queues combined with assignment rules is typically the correct answer.