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Full Omni-Channel Settings entry
How-to guide

How to enable and configure Omni-Channel

Enabling Omni-Channel is the gateway to every other routing component. Here is the order most admins follow on the settings page itself, before building queues and routing configurations elsewhere.

By Dipojjal Chakrabarti · Founder & Editor, Salesforce DictionaryLast updated Jun 16, 2026

Enabling Omni-Channel is the gateway to every other routing component. Here is the order most admins follow on the settings page itself, before building queues and routing configurations elsewhere.

  1. Open the settings page

    From Setup, use Quick Find to go to Omni-Channel Settings under Feature Settings > Service > Omni-Channel. This is the page that holds every org-wide switch described here.

  2. Enable Omni-Channel

    Select the Enable Omni-Channel checkbox and save. Saving provisions the routing engine and reveals Service Channels, Queues, Routing Configurations, and Presence Configurations in Setup.

  3. Turn on Enhanced Omni-Channel Routing

    Select Enhanced Omni-Channel Routing so routing runs server-side rather than through agent browser sessions. This is the prerequisite for skills-based and messaging-channel routing.

  4. Allow skills-based and direct-to-agent routing

    If you route by skill or to specific agents, select Enable Skills-Based and Direct-to-Agent Routing, then save. You still define skills and update Routing Configurations afterward.

  5. Set decline reasons and session expiration

    Add a short list of decline reasons agents choose when rejecting work, and review the session-expiration window so unaccepted items return to the queue at a sensible time.

Enable Omni-Channelremember

The master checkbox that activates the routing engine and exposes all other Omni-Channel objects and the utility item.

Enhanced Omni-Channel Routingremember

Switches routing to the reliable server-side engine and unlocks skills-based, direct-to-agent, and messaging-channel routing.

Skills-Based and Direct-to-Agent Routingremember

Lets routing match work to agent skills or send it to one named agent, after you build the skill model and update routing configurations.

Decline reasonsremember

The picklist of reasons agents select when declining a work assignment; the value is stored on AgentWork for supervisor reporting.

Session expirationremember

How long Omni-Channel keeps pushing an unaccepted work item before it falls back to the queue for manual pickup.

Gotchas
  • Enabling Omni-Channel is effectively one-way. Once AgentWork records exist, turning it off strands them and removes the utility item from every app.
  • Switching on Enhanced Omni-Channel Routing changes how capacity and assignment behave, so retest existing routing rather than assuming old configurations behave the same.
  • The settings page only enables skills-based routing. You must still create skills, assign them to service resources, and mark each Routing Configuration to use skills-based routing rules.
  • A session-expiration window that is too short makes work bounce back to the queue before briefly busy agents free up; tune it against real traffic.

See the full Omni-Channel Settings entry

Omni-Channel Settings includes the definition, worked example, deep dive, related terms, and a quiz.