Assignment Rule Components

The rule category, rule sets, and rules are components that work together to determine how the assignment engine processes rule-based assignments for work objects.

Rule categories are predefined for each object leveraging assignment rules. Each predefined rule category determines the type of rule processing performed, for example, matching, scoring, and classification.

Depending on the rule category selected, rule sets may allow filters to be used to determine whether all matches are assigned, or a random number of matches. Additionally, a score may be used to allow further filtering of the matching candidates, such as the top X candidates or all above or equal to a minimum score.

At the rule level within a rule set, the action determines what happens when a rule is evaluated as true. The rule action option works in conjunction with the rule category selected.

Here's how the rule set components work together.

Mode	Use Score	Filters	Action
Matching or Territory Applicable only if you use territory-based assignment with rule filtering.	X	All All Above Minimum Score (set Minimum Score value) Random (set Number of Candidates value) Top X (set Number of Candidates value)	Increase Score By x for each matching or selected candidate
Matching or Territory Applicable only if you use territory-based assignment with rule filtering.	Not applicable	All Random (set Number of Candidates value)	Assigns the matching or selected candidates.
Scoring	Not applicable	Not applicable	Increase Score By x
Classification	Not applicable	Not applicable	Set Value To x

Rule Category and Rule Set

The rule category selected for the rule set determines the type of rule-based assignment processing to be performed. For example, if you select the rule category named Sales Lead Resource Rule Category, the candidates that match the conditions of the rules evaluated as true by the assignment manager are assigned to the work object. The number of matching candidates that are assigned to the work object is determined by the rule set filter settings. Only one rule category can be associated with each rule set.

A rule category is predefined for each type of rule-based assignment processing supported by each sales application object. For example, the rule category named Sales Team Member Recommendation Default Rule Category is predefined for resource rule-based assignment of Opportunities, and Sales Lead Resource Rule Category is predefined for resource rule-based assignment of Leads. Similar rule categories can be predefined for territory rule filtering for revenue lines, territory rule filtering for leads, lead scoring, lead raking, and lead qualification.

Rule categories are created and edited through the Manage Assignment Objects setup task for the relevant application. A rule set contains rules that belong to a specific rule category.

Use Score

The Use Score option determines whether a score is used when identifying matching candidates. The number of matching candidates that are assigned to the work object is also determined by the rule set filter settings.

Filter Settings

The filter settings are used in conjunction with some rule categories and the rule set Use Score option. The filters allow you to indicate how many matching candidates you want to assign to the work object. When set to All Above Minimum Score, all of the matching candidates above a particular score are assigned to the work object. Set the score in the Minimum Score field.

When set to Top X, a number of matching candidates with the highest scores are assigned to the work object. Use the Number of Candidates field to specify how many top matching candidates to assign.

When the filter is set to Random, a random selection of matching candidates is assigned to the work object. When the rule set Use Score option is selected, and the filter is set to Random, a random selection of matching candidates with the highest scores is assigned to the work object. Use the Number of Candidates field to specify how many random matching candidates to assign.

Rules

One or more rules may be defined for each rule set. Each rule is the distinct set of criteria that's evaluated and candidates or scores that are eligible to assign if the conditions are met. The rule action may apply if all conditions are met, or any conditions are met.

Note: You may have resolved duplicate account or contact records to ensure that clean data is available by merging duplicated records into one single record. During the merge process, some account and contact attributes are removed to resolve the duplication. This may impact your account assignment rules where the rule conditions apply to any of the AccountId or ContactId attributes that got deleted during the merge process.

The assignment rule administration allows more than one user at a time to create or update rules that belong to the same or different rule sets or categories. For example, if User A is currently updating assignment rules for the Sales Lead Resource Rule Category rule category, then User B can update assignment rules for that same rule category or another rule category at the same time.

Note: If you want to rename, delete, or create a rule with the same name as an existing rule, you must click Publish after you make your changes to the existing rule. Only then should you create another rule with the same name to ensure that your changes are live and included in the assignment processing.

Action

The action set at the rule level determines the action that's performed when a rule is evaluated as true.

If defining rules to assign resources to an object, you can search for and select the specific resources to be assigned when the rule conditions are evaluated as true.

When a matching rule category is selected, for example, Sales Lead Resource Rule Category, the rule action assigns the matching candidates. If a rule with that action is evaluated as true, the candidates that match the conditions for that rule are assigned. The filter setting at the rule set level determines whether all matching candidates are assigned (All), or a random number of matching candidates are assigned (Random).

When a matching rule category and the Use Score option are selected, the rule action increases the candidate score by the specified value. If a rule with that action is evaluated as true, the candidates that match the conditions for that rule get the value in the Action added to their score. For example, you select Sales Team Member Recommendation Default rule category and the Action for one of the rules in that set is Increase Score By 10. If that rule is evaluated as true, the resources that match the conditions for that rule get 10 added to their scores. The scores are cumulative, so if any of the resources that matched the conditions in the rule in the example also match the conditions for other true rules in the set, those resources get additional values added to their current score of 10. The filter setting at the rule set level determines whether all matching candidates are assigned (All), or all matching candidates above a specified score are assigned (All Above Minimum Score), or a random selection of matching candidates with the highest scores are assigned (Random), or a number of matching candidates with the highest scores are assigned (Top X).

When a classification rule category is selected, the rule action is Set Value To Value Name. For example, the rule category is Sales Lead Rule Qualification Rule Category, the action for one of the rules in that set is Set Value to Qualified. If that rule is evaluated as true, the Status for the lead being classified is set to Qualified.

When the rule category Sales Lead Scoring Rule Category is selected, the rule action is Increase Score By Score Value. If a rule with that action is evaluated as true, the value in the action is added to the score of the work object associated with the rule set. For example, if the action for one of the rules in that set is Increase Score By 20, and that rule is evaluated as true, the score for the Lead is increased by 20.

Note: When you're creating or updating assignment rules, you must click Save and Publish to ensure that your changes are live and included in the assignment processing.