Setting up automatic lead distribution in Bitrix24

Setting Up Automatic Lead Distribution in Bitrix24

Manual lead assignment is a bottleneck in most sales departments. The supervisor spends time on assignments; new leads sit unattended while they are busy. Automatic distribution removes the human from this chain: a lead appears → it is assigned to the right manager → the manager receives a notification.

Built-in Distribution Tools

Distribution queue — the simplest option. Bitrix24 assigns leads to managers in a round-robin fashion. Configuration: CRM → Settings → Lead Distribution → Queue.

Queue parameters:

• List of managers in the queue and their order
• Working hours (leads outside working hours are assigned to an on-duty manager or placed in a holding pool)
• Exceptions: a lead is not assigned to a manager who is on leave or a business trip (integration with Absences)

Routing rules — a more flexible tool. Allows leads to be assigned based on conditions:

Configuration: CRM → Settings → Routing Rules → Create Rule.

Distribution via Robots

Robots in the leads funnel offer finer-grained control with conditional logic. Example scheme:

New Lead
  └─► [Robot: Check «Region» field]
        ├─► Moscow → [Robot: Set Responsible = Ivanov]
        ├─► St.Pete → [Robot: Set Responsible = Petrov]
        └─► Other  → [Robot: Add to «Regions» queue]

Robot configuration: CRM → Leads → Stage «New» → Automation → Add Robot → «Change Responsible».

Programmatic Distribution via REST API

For complex logic — distribution by manager workload, specialization, or geography — REST API and webhooks are used:

// Webhook on lead creation
// URL: /local/rest/lead_routing.php

$leadData = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);
$leadId = $leadData['data']['FIELDS_AFTER']['ID'];

// Fetch lead data
$b24 = initBitrix24Client();
$lead = $b24->call('crm.lead.get', ['id' => $leadId]);

// Determine the responsible party using business logic
$responsibleId = determineResponsible($lead['result']);

// Assign
$b24->call('crm.lead.update', [
    'id' => $leadId,
    'fields' => ['ASSIGNED_BY_ID' => $responsibleId],
]);

// Notify the manager
$b24->call('im.notify.personal.add', [
    'USER_ID' => $responsibleId,
    'MESSAGE' => 'You have been assigned a new lead: ' . $lead['result']['TITLE'],
]);

function determineResponsible(array $lead): int
{
    // By source
    if ($lead['SOURCE_ID'] === 'SITE_MOSCOW') {
        return MOSCOW_MANAGER_ID;
    }

    // By workload (pick the manager with the fewest open leads)
    global $b24;
    $managers = [MANAGER_1_ID, MANAGER_2_ID, MANAGER_3_ID];
    $loads = [];

    foreach ($managers as $managerId) {
        $count = $b24->call('crm.lead.list', [
            'filter' => ['ASSIGNED_BY_ID' => $managerId, 'STATUS_ID' => 'NEW'],
            'select' => ['ID'],
        ])['total'];
        $loads[$managerId] = $count;
    }

    asort($loads);
    return array_key_first($loads);
}

Working Hours Awareness

Distribution should account for manager availability. Bitrix24 provides an API for checking working hours and absences:

// Check whether the manager is present
BX24.callMethod('timeman.timecontrol.report.list', {
    filter: { USER_ID: managerId, STATUS: 'OPENED' },
}, result => {
    const isOnline = result.total() > 0;
    // If absent — redirect to the on-duty manager
});

Timeline