Freshdesk’s current Round Robin ticket distribution often results in uneven and inaccurate assignment, which creates workload imbalance across agents and adds unnecessary management overhead.
In real-world usage, agents frequently end up with dramatically different ticket counts (for example: Agent A = 5 tickets, Agent B = 1 ticket, Agent C = 0 tickets), even when all agents are actively in the queue. This occurs despite automation rules and consistent queue usage.
Proposed Improvements
Round Robin distribution should account for true agent workload and participation, not just queue order. Specifically, it should track:
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Agents currently in the queue
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Number of tickets assigned to each agent per day
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Exclude tickets that were deleted or merged (these should not count toward distribution)
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Optional consideration of total active/open tickets per agent (load-based distribution)
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Reset daily distribution counts at midnight
This would ensure assignments are fair, predictable, and aligned with actual work performed.
Common Scenarios That Break Distribution Today
From day-to-day support operations, these situations consistently disrupt Round Robin accuracy from my testing.
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Auto-generated email tickets
Some systems send unavoidable automated emails (delivery failures, out-of-office replies, etc.).
Even when these tickets are immediately auto-deleted via automation, they still appear to affect Round Robin distribution. -
After-hours ticket intake
Tickets received overnight are assigned automatically to agents who remain in the queue.
This is intentional to prevent missed assignments, but it skews distribution the following day since those tickets already counted toward Round Robin. -
Ticket merges
When a new ticket is merged into an existing one (for example, when a customer replies incorrectly, creating a new ticket), the merged ticket still appears to count toward assignment totals, even though no new work was created. -
Queue re-entry behavior
When agents leave the queue for lunch and rejoin, they appear to be placed at the “top” of the rotation, receiving the next ticket regardless of how many tickets they’ve already handled that day.
Tracking daily assignment counts per agent would make Round Robin significantly more transparent and fair in these scenarios.
Bonus / Advanced Options (Optional but Powerful)
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Load-aware distribution
Prefer agents with fewer open tickets when assigning new ones. -
Resolution-time awareness
Very short-lived tickets (e.g., opened and closed within 30–60 seconds) should optionally not count toward Round Robin distribution totals, as they don’t represent meaningful workload.
Expected Benefits
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Fairer ticket distribution across agents
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Less manual intervention by managers
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Improved morale and perceived fairness
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More accurate reporting and workload balancing
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Better alignment with real-world support workflows