How to Configure Skills in Dynamics 365 Customer Service for Smarter Case Routing

Introduction

A case about a Power Apps issue needs a different agent than a billing question. If cases reach the wrong representative, customers face delays, repeated explanations, and unnecessary transfers. Learning how to configure skills in Dynamics 365 Customer Service helps prevent these problems.

Skills identify the expertise needed to resolve a customer issue. They can describe technical support knowledge, billing experience, product knowledge, or language ability. Rating values then show whether an agent is a beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert in that skill.

The setup includes four main tasks: create a skill in the Copilot Service admin center, define rating values, associate the skill with a user or resource, and connect the setup to routing rule sets.

Want to see how skill-based routing works in practice? Watch this video to learn how to configure skills, proficiency levels, and routing in Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

Configure Skills in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

The Copilot Service admin center is the starting point for managing the skills used in case assignment. The customer service administration experience is now shown as the Copilot Service admin center in the current interface.

Find Skills Under User Management

Open the Copilot Service admin center and select User Management. From there, find Skills and select Manage to open the skill list.

You may see several skills that already exist in your environment. Review these records before creating a new one. Reusing an existing skill can prevent duplicate names and keep routing rules easier to manage.

Plan the Skills Your Team Needs

A skill should describe a capability that affects case assignment. Common examples include Technical Support, Technical Expert, Billing, English, and Product Knowledge.

Group skills by business need, such as product, issue type, language, or technical area. Decide whether each skill needs proficiency levels before you create agent associations. Clear names help supervisors and routing administrators understand which cases belong with each resource.

Create a Skill With a Clear Type and Description

After reviewing the existing records, select New on the Skills management page. The new skill form lets you define the name, type, and purpose of the skill.

Enter a Descriptive Skill Name

For the name, enter a label such as Technical Support or Technical Expert. Choose wording that agents and administrators will understand without extra explanation.

Avoid vague names such as “General Help.” A more precise name, such as “Power Apps Technical Support,” gives routing designers better information when they build case rules.

Select the Type and Add Context

Set the type to Skill when you’re tracking an area of agent expertise. Depending on your configuration, other characteristic types may be available, including certifications. A skill describes what a resource knows, while a certification can show a formal qualification.

Add a description that explains the skill’s scope. For example, you could write, “Technical support for Power Apps and Power Platform issues.” Save the record after completing the name, type, and description.

Configure Skills in Dynamics 365 Customer Service Ratings

Creating a skill does not show how well an agent performs it. Rating values add that detail and help routing rules distinguish a beginner from an expert.

Open the Scale and Rating Configuration

Return to the user management settings and open Scale. From the rating configuration area, select the option for rating values or create a new resource characteristic record, depending on the labels shown in your environment.

Rating values describe the proficiency level linked to a skill. If no suitable rating model exists, create one that matches your support process. Keep the labels and numbers consistent across related skills.

Create a Beginner Rating Value

Select New to create a rating value. Enter Beginner as the label, associate it with the skill rating model, and set the value to 1. Then select Save and Close.

You can add Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert levels with higher numbers. For example, Beginner could equal 1, Intermediate 2, Advanced 3, and Expert 4. Use a custom rating model if your organization needs a different scale, but make sure administrators understand what each value means.

Associate Skills and Proficiency Levels With Resources

The skill becomes useful when you connect it to the people who can handle related cases. In Dynamics 365 Customer Service, this connection uses a bookable resource characteristic.

Add a Bookable Resource Characteristic

Open the saved skill record and find the user or resource area. Select New Bookable Resource Characteristic to create the association.

Choose the skill, the related rating value, and the resource. The resource may be a customer service representative, another user, or a supported team resource, depending on your setup.

Assign the Correct Rating to Each User

Select the appropriate rating, such as Beginner, and then choose the user who has that skill. Save the association to record the person’s proficiency.

The same skill can belong to several users with different ratings. Review these associations when agents gain experience, change roles, become unavailable, or leave the support team. Incorrect resource data can lead to poor case assignments.

Prepare Customer Cases for Skill-Based Routing

Skills and ratings guide assignment only when routing rules use them. A case must provide enough information for the routing rule set to identify the required expertise.

Create a Case That Requires a Specific Skill

Go to Customer Service and create a new case. For the case title, enter Power Apps is not working. Select a subject, customer, and product when those records are available, then save the case.

This issue may require the Technical Support skill. A beginner-level resource could receive it if the routing design allows that level. A more serious issue might require an Advanced or Expert rating instead.

Apply Routing Rules to Select the Owner

A routing rule set can define the skill needed, the minimum proficiency level, and the users or teams eligible for assignment. A newly created case may first show the current user as its owner before routing runs.

Select Save and Route when the option is available. The configured routing rule set then checks the case requirements and assigns the case to the matching user or team. Without these rules, creating skills alone will not change case ownership.

Test the Complete Setup

Create a test case that matches the skill you configured. Confirm that the subject, customer, product, and case details support the expected routing condition.

Run the routing process and check the case owner. Test more than one proficiency level to confirm that Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert requirements produce the intended assignments.

Keep Skill-Based Routing Accurate Over Time

Skill-based routing depends on current data. A Technical Support skill is useful only when the right resources have that skill and their rating reflects their current ability.

Maintain Skills and Resource Records

Update bookable resource characteristics when an agent gains or loses expertise. Review rating values as your support process changes, and remove duplicate or obsolete skills.

Language skills such as English can help with customer communication requirements. Product knowledge skills can also direct cases to agents familiar with a particular product. Keep descriptions clear so routing administrators can select the right records.

Continue With Routing Rule Set Configuration

Skill records and ratings provide the foundation for routing, but they do not route cases by themselves. The next task is to create routing rule sets that connect case requirements with qualified users or teams.

Reference the skills and proficiency levels in those rules. Then test cases such as “Power Apps is not working” to confirm that the required technical support resource receives the work.

Conclusion

Skills in Dynamics 365 Customer Service help match customer cases with agents who have the right expertise. Start in the Copilot Service admin center, create a clear skill with a useful description, and define rating values such as Beginner with a numerical value.

Next, add a bookable resource characteristic and connect the skill and rating to the correct user. Finish the setup by creating routing rule sets that use those skills and proficiency levels during assignment.

Build the routing rules, test several cases, and review resource ratings regularly. With accurate skill data and clear routing conditions, cases can reach the right technical support user or team with less guesswork.