TG Bot Customer Service Multi-Agent Routing Configuration Guide: Round-Robin vs Online-First and Designated Agent Scope

When your Telegram Bot business grows from a few user inquiries to dozens or hundreds of messages per day, a single agent is obviously overwhelmed. You need a TG bot customer service multi-agent team to work together, and how to fairly and efficiently route user messages to the right agent is what routing aims to solve.

In TG-Staff, multi-agent routing is not simply “whoever is available takes it”; instead, it offers two core routing modes and supports designating agent scope by project. With correct configuration, your customer service team can automatically distribute conversations like a professional SaaS system, reducing user wait times and improving conversion rates.

This article will guide you step by step from concept to practice on configuring Telegram Bot customer service multi-agent routing, and provide best practice recommendations for common scenarios.

What is Telegram Bot Customer Service Multi-Agent Routing?

Multi-agent routing means that when multiple users send messages to your Telegram Bot simultaneously, the system automatically assigns each conversation to one of the agents in the team. Without a routing mechanism, all messages would flood into one agent’s conversation list, either going unanswered or causing confusion with multiple agents replying to the same user.

The core value of routing is:

• Improved response efficiency: User messages are not left idle and are assigned to available agents immediately.
• Fair workload distribution: Avoids overloading some agents while others remain idle.
• Supports team collaboration: Multiple agents can serve different users simultaneously without interference.
• Fine-grained operations: Combine agent skills or language abilities to assign specific conversations to the most suitable person.

TG-Staff’s multi-agent routing function is designed precisely to solve this need for Telegram Bot operation teams. You don’t need to develop routing logic yourself; just configure it in the web console.

TG-Staff Routing Core Concepts: Round-Robin vs Online-First

In TG-Staff, each project (i.e., each Bot) can independently configure routing rules. Currently, two routing modes and two agent scope selections are supported. Let’s first break down the operational logic of the two modes.

Round-Robin Mode: Default Rule, Sequential Polling

Mechanism: The system maintains an ordered list of agents. Whenever a new conversation arises, it is assigned to the next authorized agent in the list. After assignment, the pointer moves to the next agent and cycles through.

Applicable scenarios:

• The agent team is fixed and mostly online.
• Team size is stable with regular scheduling.
• Each agent is expected to receive roughly the same number of conversations.

Advantages: High fairness, predictable workload distribution. Suitable for daily customer service teams. Disadvantages: If an agent temporarily goes offline, conversations may still be assigned to them (unless their permissions are removed), causing message backlog.

Online-First Mode: Priority to Online Agents

Mechanism: The system first checks all authorized agents who are currently “online”. New conversations are randomly assigned to one of the online agents. If all agents are offline, the system automatically falls back to round-robin mode, assigning the conversation to the next agent in the list (regardless of online status). When an agent comes online, they can see previously assigned pending conversations.

Applicable scenarios:

• The agent team has shift schedules or members in multiple time zones.
• Agents frequently go offline to handle other tasks (e.g., outings, breaks).
• Need flexible handling to avoid conversation backlog.

Advantages: Messages are not assigned to offline agents, reducing user wait time. Suitable for cross-timezone or flexible office teams. Disadvantages: Online agents may take on more conversations, with slightly lower fairness than round-robin.

How to Configure Telegram Bot Multi-Agent Routing (Step-by-Step Guide)

The following operations are based on the TG-Staff console (https://app.tg-staff.com/), assuming you have registered and added a Bot project.

Step 1: Enter Project Settings and Configure Agent Scope

1. Log in to the console, click “Projects” in the left menu → select the Bot project you want to configure.
2. Go to the project details page and find the “Agent Scope” settings area.
3. You have two options:
   • All Agents: All added agents under this project can receive conversations for this project. Suitable for general customer service teams without skill differentiation.
   • Specified Agents: Select specific agents from the agent list. Only selected agents can receive conversations for this project. Suitable for grouping by language, skill, or business line.

Typical scenarios for Specified Agents:

• You have an English customer service group and a Chinese customer service group. You can configure different specified agents for each language project.
• Your technical support and pre-sales consultation use different Bot projects. You can assign technical agents only to the technical support project.

Step 2: Select Routing Mode and Save

1. On the same project settings page, find the “Routing Mode” area.
2. Click the dropdown menu and select “Round Robin” or “Online Priority”.
3. Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page.

Effect Mechanism: After modifying the routing mode, new conversations will be immediately assigned according to the new rules. Existing conversations (including ongoing and waiting ones) are unaffected and retain their original assignment status. If you want existing conversations to be reassigned, you can manually transfer them to other agents.

Practical Scenarios for Specifying Agent Scope: Grouping by Language/Skill

Suppose you run a cross-border e-commerce project targeting Chinese and English users. You create two Bot projects: shop_cn and shop_en. Your customer service team has 5 people: 3 proficient in Chinese, 2 proficient in English.

Wrong approach: Set all 5 people as “All Agents” for both projects. This way, when a Chinese user consults shop_cn, it may be assigned to an English agent, leading to poor communication.

Correct approach:

• In the shop_cn project, set the agent scope to “Specified Agents” and only select those 3 Chinese agents.
• In the shop_en project, also set it to “Specified Agents” and only select those 2 English agents.

This way, conversations for each project are only assigned to agents with the corresponding language skills. Additionally, you can configure independent routing modes for each project (e.g., Chinese group always online, use Round Robin; English group has cross-timezone members, use Online Priority).

Another scenario: Technical support grouping. Suppose your product has two versions, A and B. You can create two Bot projects, each associated with different technical support agents. This way, when users consult, they directly enter the corresponding project, reducing internal transfer costs.

Diversion Link and Traffic Attribution

Multi-agent routing not only solves internal efficiency issues but can also be combined with traffic attribution. TG-Staff provides a Diversion Link (available in Standard and above plans), which is an official short link (e.g., https://app.tg-staff.com/{code}). Users click it to be redirected to your Telegram Bot.

The value of the Diversion Link:

• Capture visitor information: Before the redirect, the system automatically records the visitor’s IP, browser type, device information, and URL parameters.
• Channel attribution: You can use different diversion links for different ad channels (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook, Twitter) and attach different URL parameters (e.g., utm_source=google). The backend can view visitor data from each source.
• Direct to human agent: After users enter the Bot via the diversion link, if they trigger a need for human customer service, the system will assign the conversation to an agent according to your configured routing rules (Round Robin / Online Priority).

For example, you advertise on Facebook and Google respectively, using two different split links. The backend data will tell you which channel brings more inquiries and more active users, allowing you to optimize your advertising strategy.

Multi-Agent Split Configuration Checklist

After configuration, it is recommended to check the following items one by one to ensure the split rules take effect correctly:

• Agent Scope Confirmation: Does the designated agent list for each project include all agents who need to handle conversations? Have the unselected agents been removed from the project?
• Split Mode Selection: Based on the team’s online status, have you selected Round Robin or Online First? Do you understand the difference between the two modes?
• Agent Online Status: Have agents logged into the console and remained online? In Online First mode, offline agents will not receive new conversations.
• Split Link Testing: If using split links, does clicking the link redirect correctly to the Bot? Can the backend see visitor records?
• Conversation Assignment Testing: Simulate two users sending messages simultaneously. Are they assigned to different agents? Does the assignment follow the expected rules?
• Exception Handling: If all agents are offline, will conversations be queued? In Online First mode, when an agent comes online, can they see pending conversations?
• Permissions and Collaboration: Do agents have permission to transfer conversations and add notes? Have Professional plan users configured content moderation rules?

FAQ

Q: In Online First mode, if all agents are offline, how are conversations handled? A: The system automatically falls back to Round Robin mode, assigning conversations to agents with permissions. When agents come online, they can see pending messages in the conversation list.

Q: After specifying the agent scope, will unselected agents never receive conversations? A: Yes. Only agents designated as project agents will participate in conversation assignment for that project. Unselected agents will not see conversations under that project in the console.

Q: Can the split mode (Round Robin/Online First) be switched at any time? A: Yes. After modifying the split mode in project settings, new conversations will be assigned according to the new rules, while existing conversations remain unaffected.

Q: Can an agent belong to the designated agent scope of multiple projects simultaneously? A: Yes. Each project independently configures its agent scope, and the same agent account can be added to the designated agent list of multiple projects.

Q: Can I experience the multi-agent split feature during the free trial? A: Yes. TG-Staff offers a 3-day free trial, during which you can fully configure split rules, add agents, and test the split effect.

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Start configuring multi-agent split for your Telegram Bot customer service now. Register for a free trial: https://app.tg-staff.com/, detailed documentation at https://docs.tg-staff.com/, and contact customer service Bot if you have questions: https://t.me/tgstaff_robot.