How can I adjust JIRA's automation to skip assigning issues to out-of-office users?

Out of Office Assistant can be combined with Round Robin rules to automatically skip over users who are out of office when distributing issues.

Further reading:  Skip Absent Group Members in a Round Robin Automation.

How do I ensure that newly created issues are not assigned to out-of-office users?

Implement out of office rules to prevent assignment to users who are out of office, and instead reassign to unassigned or to a coverer.

Further reading: Skip Absent Group Members in a Round Robin Automation

Can Out of Office Assistant rules trigger notifications to other team members?

No, Out of Office Assistant currently doesn’t trigger notifications to other team members when issues are reassigned.

Feature request: Please raise a ticket with our support team here with the summary “notifications” if you’re interested in this possibility.

How can I set up the Out of Office Assistant to handle automatic reassignments when an assignee is out of office?

Simply create a rule for that user, and select one or more suitable coverers to take care of their work.

Further reading: User Walkthrough

Are there any examples of Out of Office Assistant being used to manage workflows other than issue assignment?

Yes, Out of Office Assistant can also be used to delegate approvals in Jira Service Management.

Further reading: Delegating Approvals with Approver Coverers in Jira Service Management.

Can Out of Office rules automatically sync with team calendars to block off sprint planning when a member is absent?

Unfortunately, Team Calendars in Confluence don’t have an API that we can connect to. 

Feature request: However, if this is an important requirement for you, we’d like to hear about it. Please raise a ticket with our support team.

Are Out of Office rules enforceable for sub-tasks when a parent issue is reassigned?

Out of Office rules will also trigger for sub-tasks, regardless of assignments to the parent issue.

Is it possible to bulk edit Out of Office rules for multiple users?

No, currently rules must be edited manually per each user. More robust administration options and rule templates are in our roadmap.

Feature request: If you’d like us to place a higher priority on them, please raise a ticket with our support team.

Can Out of Office Assistant be configured to respect issue SLAs?

Currently, Out of Office Assistant does not directly interact with SLAs. However, some customers use them in JQL filters so that issues about to breach the SLA can be escalated.

Feature request: Reach out and raise a ticket with our support team for the best configuration for your use case.

Are there templates for common Out of Office Assistant rules that can be reused?

The app currently doesn’t support rule templates, but templates are in our roadmap and already exist for users of our integration with Tempo.

Feature request: If you’d like to see them in the regular app, please raise a ticket with our support team.

Can the app reassign issues based on users' load balance or issue count?

For rules with multiple coverers, each reassignment is made by looking at the number of issues reassigned to each coverer, reassigning the issue to the coverer with the least number of issues. 

Further reading: User Walkthrough

How can I create dynamic Out of Office rules that adapt to changing team schedules?

The best way to configure Out of Office dynamically is with the integration with Tempo Planner and Tempo Timesheets. This combination allows for planning handovers directly from Tempo, setting time-based rules, and automatically changing handovers with modifications.

Further reading: Integration with Tempo Timesheets and Tempo Planner.

Does the Out of Office Assistant support different workflows for issues, bugs, and service requests when assigning coverers?

Yes, Out of Office Assistant rules can be configured differently per issue type. Capture each relevant issue type in a different JQL-based rule, and define the best coverer or message for it.

Further Reading: JQL based rules.

Are there analytics or reporting features to track the effectiveness of Out of Office rules?

Yes, JQL queries can be used to create reports for tracking issues that have been reassigned by the app, and issues currently assigned to users who are on leave or are about to be on leave.

Further Reading:

Can Out of Office Assistant automate issue escalation if a coverer does not take action?

No, it’s currently not possible to automate escalations when a coverer doesn’t take action.

Feature request: If you’d like to see this in the app, please raise a ticket with with our support team with the summary “issue escalation”, and describe your use case.

How can I set up Out of Office Assistant to automatically adjust due dates on affected tickets?

It’s currently not possible to utilize information on the end dates of an Out of Office rule to postpone or adjust due dates. However, adding an option for bulk editing existing open issues to push their due date by the duration of the absence is being considered.

Feature request: If interested in this feature, please raise a ticket with with our support team with the summary “adjust due dates”.