Routing decides where each new conversation goes: to a team, to an agent, or to your AI agent. This guide explains how Velaro makes that decision and how to set it up.

How routing works

When a new conversation arrives, Velaro checks these in order and stops at the first one that applies:

1. Workflows. If a workflow matches the conversation, it runs. Workflows are the recommended way to route, because they can ask questions, check availability, and hand off to your AI agent all in one place. See the Velaro Workflows Guide.
2. Routing rules. Rules are a simpler option that sends a conversation to a team or your AI agent based on conditions. They are used when no workflow matched, or when a workflow finished without sending the visitor anywhere.
3. Your default team. If nothing else applies, the conversation goes to your default team's queue.

Workflows always go ahead of rules. Rules keep working, so you do not need to rebuild existing ones.

Set up a catch-all rule

Every account should have one rule that sends everything else to a default team. Give it no conditions and the lowest priority, such as 999. New accounts get this rule automatically.

Create a rule

1. Go to Rules in the sidebar and click New Rule.
2. Choose what the rule does, such as Route to Team or Use AI.
3. Add one or more conditions that say when the rule applies. All conditions must match.
4. Set the priority. A lower number goes first.
5. Click Save and Activate.

What a rule can do

What a rule can look at

• The channel, such as web chat, text message, WhatsApp, or email
• Which chat button the visitor used
• The time of day, day of the week, or a saved work schedule
• Details saved about the contact, such as their plan
• The page the chat started on
• What the visitor chose in a pre-chat form
• The visitor's country or language
• A tag on the conversation or contact
• Whether a team is available and how many chats are waiting

Put the most specific rules first

The first rule that matches wins, so give your most specific rules the lowest numbers and the catch-all the highest. For example:

1. Text messages go to your AI agent.
2. Enterprise customers see a short form first.
3. When Support is unavailable, the visitor goes to your AI agent.
4. Everyone else goes to the General Support team.

Business hours

To route differently outside business hours, add a rule for Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 that sends visitors to your Support team. Add a second rule with no time condition that sends everyone else to your AI agent. You can also pick a saved work schedule instead of entering days and times each time.

Team settings

• Queue mode: chats wait in a queue until an agent accepts them.
• Auto-route mode: each chat goes automatically to the agent with the fewest active chats.
• Tiers: if your plan includes them, Tier 1 agents get the chat first, then Tier 2 if no one accepts in time.

Set these under Teams, in the team's settings.

Automatic resolving of quiet chats

You can resolve quiet chats with a Resolve Chat rule for your whole account or with a setting on each team. If both are set, the shorter timer wins and the longer one never fires. The Rules page shows a notice when two settings compete, and tells you which one applies. Set both to the same time or turn one off to keep things simple.

This is separate from queue timeout. Queue timeout only applies to chats still waiting for an agent, and marks them as missed.

If a chat goes to the wrong place

• Check that a workflow or rule matches and is active.
• Check the priority numbers. A more general rule with a lower number can catch the chat first.
• If a pre-chat form does not show, a workflow may have matched first, since workflows go ahead of rules.
• If your team is busy, add a rule that sends visitors to your AI agent when the queue is long.
• Open Rules → Routing History to see where each conversation went and why, or ask Moshky.