What’s new in unified routing: April 2025 feature update in Dynamics 365 Contact Centre

What’s new in unified routing: April 2025 feature update (Key updates include Least Active Routing for messaging, Presence Sync APIs, Shift-based routing, and Template rulesets).

Real-time User Journey

This update optimizes how a customer moves from initial contact to the most qualified, available agent:

Customer Re-entry: A customer returns to a persistent chat. Instead of a generic route, the system identifies the previous agent.
Continuity Check: A Customized Notification pops up for the original agent, allowing them to instantly resume the conversation for a seamless experience.
Shift-Aware Routing: If the original agent is unavailable, the system checks Shift Plans. It only considers agents currently on their scheduled shift, preventing “ghost” assignments to agents who have logged off.
Workload Balancing: From the pool of available agents, the Least Active Routing method selects the representative who has been idle the longest since their last conversation ended.
Agent Resolution: The agent receives the work item, benefiting from a balanced workload and clear context, leading to faster resolution.

Step-by-Step: How to Enable These Features

Since this is a suite of updates, here is how to enable the core components:

A. Enable Least Active Routing (for Messaging)

Go to the Customer Service admin center.
Navigate to Queues > Advanced Queues.
Select a messaging queue (Chat/SMS/Digital Messaging) and go to the Assignment method section.
Select Create New and choose Least active as the assignment strategy.
Save and apply to the queue.

B. Configure Shift-Based Routing

Navigate to Routing > User management.
Select Shift schedules (Preview).
Create a Workforce Management Shift Plan and define the working hours.
Assign the plan to specific agents or teams.
In your Assignment Rules, ensure the toggle for “Check agent availability based on shifts” is set to On.

C. Set Up Template Rulesets (Bulk Management)

Go to Routing > Template rulesets.
Select Create Template for either Prioritization or Assignment rules.
Define your logic once (e.g., “Always prioritize VIP customers”).
Select Apply to Queues and choose all the queues/workstreams that should follow this logic. Any future update to this template will sync to all linked queues instantly.

Feature	Primary Benefit	Who it’s for
Least Active Routing	Prevents agent burnout & ensures fair work distribution.	Messaging Agents (Chat, SMS)
Shift-Based Routing	Reduces wait times by ignoring agents who aren’t on clock.	Global/24-7 Support Teams
Presence Sync APIs	Syncs status across D365, Teams, and 3rd party tools.	Multi-platform Organizations
Returning Chat Alerts	Ensures customer-agent continuity.	Persistent Chat Workflows
Bulk Rule Templates	Update 100+ queues with a single click.	Large-scale Administrators