Workflow recipe: Using an AI agent to collect customer info and immediately escalate to a human agent

<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">
When a customer reaches out for support on a messaging channel, you can configure
an AI agent to collect their information and immediately escalate the conversation
to a human agent. Use this workflow if you want human agents to provide customer
support instead of letting an AI agentrespond with AI-generated replies.
</p>
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<div class="body">
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="uni_migrating_default_response__note_k3p_mxj_2jc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If you previously configured
a
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4500737327258" target="_blank">default messaging response</a>
on your messaging channel,
follow the instructions in this article to implement the same functionality
using an
AI agent.
</div>
</div>
<p class="p">
When a customer reaches out for support on a messaging channel, you can
configure an AI
agent to collect their information and immediately escalate the conversation
to a human
agent. Use this workflow if you want human agents to provide customer
support instead of
letting an AI agent
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749315098" target="_blank">respond with AI-generated replies</a>.
</p>
<p class="p">This article contains the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="uni_migrating_default_response__ul_kqg_4xj_2jc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_vhp_4xj_2jc">Understanding the workflow</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_qhj_pxj_2jc">Step 1: Create an AI agent</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_rtz_pxj_2jc">Step 2: Create a configured action to check the customer’s authentication status</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_tlq_qxj_2jc">Step 3: Create a form template to collect the customer’s information</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_kwg_rxj_2jc">Step 4: Set your business hours in your AI agent</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_sdv_rxj_2jc">Step 5: Edit the welcome reply</a>
</li>
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="#topic_khn_sxj_2jc">Step 6: Test, activate, and validate</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_vhp_4xj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Understanding the workflow</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Even if you want human agents to provide support to your customers,
you can still
benefit from an AI agent. You can configure an AI agent to:
</p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_vhp_4xj_2jc__ol_xfs_byj_2jc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Greet customers</strong>: Every time a customer
begins a conversation with your AI
agent in the Web Widget, the AI agent’s first response is the
welcome message
you configure.
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Collect information</strong>: The AI agent
presents the customer with a form to be
filled out. You can configure this form to collect whatever information
your
human agents will need to solve the customer’s request, such
as details about
the issue or the customer’s contact information. This saves your
human agents
time because they already have the necessary information to act
on customer
requests by the time the requests reach them.
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Escalate requests</strong>: The AI agent
tells the customer that their request is
being sent to your support team. Behind the scenes, human agents
are notified
that a support request has been received, and they can accept
the request and
begin responding to the conversation.
</li>
</ol>
<p class="p">
Optionally, you can also configure the AI agent to behave differently
depending on:
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_vhp_4xj_2jc__ul_qhx_dyj_2jc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Your business hours</strong>:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_vhp_4xj_2jc__ul_hkp_2yj_2jc">
<li class="li">
During business hours, the AI agent can escalate the
conversation to a
human agent on a messaging channel, where the agent can
immediately
begin conversing with the customer.
</li>
<li class="li">
Outside of business hours, the AI agent can collect the
customer’s
information and escalate the request as an email ticket
to your support
team.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Customer authentication status</strong>:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_vhp_4xj_2jc__ul_zpz_2yj_2jc">
<li class="li">
If the customer is authenticated, the AI agent won't
collect the email
and name in the form. However, any other information
that needs to be
collected can be.
</li>
<li class="li">
If the customer isn’t authenticated, you can collect
their email and
name in addition to any other information that needs
to be collected.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">
This workflow utilizes the AI agent welcome reply, which is a default
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749481882" target="_blank">system reply</a>
that’s sent to the customer at the
beginning of a conversation. You’ll edit the dialogue associated
with this reply to
contain the AI agent messages, actions, and forms needed to carry
out the workflow
described above.
</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_vhp_4xj_2jc__note_il5_lyj_2jc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If you set up an AI agent
as described in this article,
this workflow does not consume paid
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5352026794010" target="_blank">automated resolutions</a>.
However,
automated resolutions can be consumed if you add additional configuration
to the
AI agent, like
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749301658" target="_blank">connecting knowledge sources</a>
or
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9041901679130" target="_blank">creating use cases</a>.
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qhj_pxj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Step 1: Create an AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
First, you need to create the AI agent that converses with customers
on your
messaging channel.
</p>
<p class="p">To create an AI agent </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qhj_pxj_2jc__ul_hf4_ryj_2jc">
<li class="li">
Follow the step-by-step instructions in
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10488757995034" target="_blank">Creating an AI agent to automatically resolve
customer issues</a>.
</li>
</ul>
<div class="p">
<div class="note important" id="topic_qhj_pxj_2jc__note_rsb_ryj_2jc">
<span class="importanttitle">Important:</span> After you create
your AI agent,
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749301658#topic_iq3_hkv_p3c" target="_blank">disconnect the help center</a>
that was
automatically connected during the creation flow, and make sure
you did not add
an external knowledge source. Also, make sure you
<strong class="ph b">do not</strong> create any use
cases. AI agents with connected knowledge sources and use cases
can incur paid
automated resolutions.
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">
Step 2: Create a configured action to check the customer’s authentication
status
</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Next, create a
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756651290" target="_blank">configured action</a>
that checks the customer’s
authentication status. This information is available through the
Sunshine
Conversations
<a class="xref" href="https://docs.smooch.io/rest/v1/#app-user" target="_blank">app user</a>
object. The
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357734565402#h_01G60E8S1VSJFAMMDSAZEFRBDE" target="_blank">Get user</a>
CRM action gets the user’s
authentication status and saves it as a session parameter for the
conversation.
</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note tip" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__note_zkq_xyj_2jc">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> For more information on how
authentication
works, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8851239832090" target="_blank">Understanding user authentication for
messaging</a>.
</div>
</div>
<p class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To create a configured action to check authentication status</strong>
</p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__ol_vqb_bzj_2jc">
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__d9e283" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_api_integrations_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Actions</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Configured actions</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Create configured action</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In <strong class="ph b">Name</strong>, enter a descriptive
name for the action, such as
<em class="ph i">Get
customer authentication status, name, and email</em>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In <strong class="ph b">Target</strong>, select
<strong class="ph b">Sunshine Conversations</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In <strong class="ph b">Task</strong>, select
<strong class="ph b">Get user</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In <strong class="ph b">Field to retrieve</strong>, select
<strong class="ph b">authenticated</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In <strong class="ph b">Save as parameter</strong>, enter
the name of the parameter the value
should be saved as, such as <em class="ph i">authenticated</em>.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Get another field</strong> and
add parameter information for the
customer’s name:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__ol_wph_kzj_2jc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Field to retrieve</strong>:
givenName
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Save as parameter</strong>:
name
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click Get another field and add parameter information for
the customer’s
email:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__ol_whf_lzj_2jc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Field to retrieve</strong>:
email
</li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Save as parameter</strong>:
email
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.
<p class="p">
When you add this action in the welcome reply
dialogue (described below), the AI agent will fetch the
indicated fields
from the app user object and save it as session parameters.
</p>
<p class="p">
<img class="image" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__image_wyd_pzj_2jc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aia_migrating_default_response_action.png" width="450">
</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note tip" id="topic_rtz_pxj_2jc__note_xl4_2zj_2jc">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> You can find additional
optional
configuration for this action in the
<a class="xref" href="https://developer.zendesk.com/documentation/conversations/messaging-platform/users/authenticating-users-help-center/#ai-agents---advanced" target="_blank">developer documentation</a>.
</div>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_tlq_qxj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">
Step 3: Create a form template to collect the customer’s information
</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Create a form template to specify which details to collect from the
customer.
</p>
<p class="p">
Based on their authentication status, the form collects the missing
details. For
example, an authenticated user means their email is known to be authenticated
in the
first place, so there’s no need for the form to collect the email
again.
</p>
<p class="p">
You should create two different form templates, one for authenticated
customers and
one for unauthenticated customers. The form for authenticated customers
doesn’t need
to include fields for Name and Email, since those details are already
known due to
the authentication, but it should include fields for any other details
you want to
collect. The form for unauthenticated customers should include Name
and Email, in
addition to any other details you want to collect.
</p>
<p class="p">
Which form template is shown to the customer depends on their authentication
status.
You’ll configure this when you edit the welcome reply’s dialogue,
described later in
this article.
</p>
<p class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To create a form template</strong>
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_tlq_qxj_2jc__ul_gs4_rzj_2jc">
<li class="li">
Follow the step-by-step instructions in
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357757976474#topic_gzn_zdj_jhc" target="_blank">Creating a form template</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_kwg_rxj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Step 4: Set your business hours in your AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
Set operating hours in your AI agent that mirror your business hours.
Operating hours
define the working hours for your human agents.
</p>
<p class="p">
<img class="image" id="topic_kwg_rxj_2jc__image_ik5_tzj_2jc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_operating_hours_rule.png" width="350">
</p>
<p class="p">
<strong class="ph b">To set your business hours</strong>
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_kwg_rxj_2jc__ul_vpj_5zj_2jc">
<li class="li">
Follow the step-by-step instructions in
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749686554#topic_p3s_mjr_m2c" target="_blank">Setting operating hours</a>.
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Step 5: Edit the welcome reply</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
The last setup step is to edit the dialogue associated with the welcome
reply. The
dialogue contains the AI agent messages, actions, and forms needed
to carry out the
workflow described above.
</p>
<p class="p">To edit the welcome reply </p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__ol_tl3_c1k_2jc">
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__d9e127" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Use cases</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">
In the list of use cases, select
<strong class="ph b">Welcome reply</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">Select the reply for the language you want to edit. </li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Edit dialogue</strong>.
<p class="p">The dialogue builder opens.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
(Optional) If you have separate default messaging responses
for different
channels, click the plus (+) icon above the initial AI agent
message block,
select <strong class="ph b">Conditional</strong>, and enter
<strong class="ph b">integrationID</strong> in the empty
field.
<ol class="ol" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__ol_rhx_h1k_2jc" type="a">
<li class="li">
In the child Parameter block, select
<strong class="ph b">is</strong> in the first field
and enter your first channel’s integration ID in
the second field.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon under the Conditional field
to add and
configure additional Parameter blocks as needed for
your other
channels.
<div class="note tip" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__note_cxy_j1k_2jc">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> You can make
it
easier to see in the
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749580186" target="_blank">conversation logs</a>
which channel’s dialogue branch was followed
during a
conversation. First,
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756623770#topic_kkk_jyl_rgc" target="_blank">create an action</a>
that
adds a label with the channel’s name. Then,
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756623770#topic_b4n_lyl_rgc" target="_blank">add the action</a>
to each
parameter block.
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon above the initial AI agent message
block and select
<strong class="ph b">Availability</strong>.
</li>
<li class="li">
In the Availability block, click
<strong class="ph b">Select rule</strong> and select the
operating
hours rule you created above.
</li>
<li class="li">
Under the Open block:
<ol class="ol" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__ol_kjp_r1k_2jc" type="a">
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon, select
<strong class="ph b">AI agent message</strong>, and
enter
what the AI agent should say to the customer at the
beginning of a
conversation when human agents are available.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon underneath the block you
just added, select
<strong class="ph b">Conditional</strong>, and enter
<strong class="ph b">authenticated</strong> in the
empty
field.
</li>
<li class="li">
In the Parameter block, select
<strong class="ph b">Is (boolean)</strong> in the
first
field and <strong class="ph b">True</strong> in the
second field.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon underneath the block you
just added, select
<strong class="ph b">AI agent message</strong>, and
enter the template shorthand for
the authenticated users form.
<p class="p">
For help finding the template
shorthand, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357757976474#topic_mgl_3cj_jhc" target="_blank">Adding a structured message
template in a dialogue</a>.
</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon underneath the block you
just added, and
select <strong class="ph b">Escalation</strong>.
<ol class="ol" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__ol_tz2_w1k_2jc" type="i">
<li class="li">
In the first field, enter what the AI agent
should say to
the customer when escalating them to a human
agent.
</li>
<li class="li">
In the second field, select
<strong class="ph b">Forward to an agent</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the plus (+) icon underneath the Fallback block,
select
<strong class="ph b">AI
agent message</strong>,
and enter the template shorthand for the
unauthenticated users form.
</li>
<li class="li">
Click the link icon underneath the Fallback block
and then select
the Escalation block to link the two blocks together.
</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li class="li">
Repeat step 9 for the Closed block to reflect what should
happen when human
agents <em class="ph i">aren’t</em> available.
<p class="p">
At this point, your dialogue should look
similar to the following:
</p>
<p class="p">
<img class="image" id="topic_sdv_rxj_2jc__image_prz_bbk_2jc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aia_migrating_default_response_dialogue.png" width="600">
</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
Click <strong class="ph b">Publish</strong>.
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<p class="p">
For additional help with the dialogue builder, see
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749494810" target="_blank">Creating dialogues to define scripted conversation flows for AI
agents</a>.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested1" id="topic_khn_sxj_2jc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title8">Step 6: Test, activate, and validate</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">
After your AI agent is configured as you want, you should perform
three last tasks:
</p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_khn_sxj_2jc__ol_ath_wzj_2jc">
<li class="li">
Test the AI agent before making it live for customers.
<p class="p">
See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357758879130" target="_blank">Testing conversation flows in AI
agents</a>.
</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
Activate the AI agent on the channels you want it to work on.
<p class="p">
See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10563002554394" target="_blank">Activating and managing AI agents</a>.
</p>
</li>
<li class="li">
Validate that AI agent conversations are appearing in the conversations
log.
<p class="p">
See
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749580186" target="_blank">Reviewing conversation logs for AI
agents</a>.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
},
"isPartOf": {
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Zendesk Help",
"@id": "https://support.zendesk.com/hc/"
},
"about": {
"@type": "SoftwareApplication",
"name": "Zendesk",
"@id": "https://www.zendesk.com"
}
}
</script>