Answer Threads transforms Customer engagement with your company through the power of generative AI. To effectively manage its performance, you must understand key concepts specific to Answer Threads.
Public Answers
Answer Threads uses your knowledge base, more specifically, information stored as Public Answers, to respond to questions with brand-specific guidance. For example, if you ask a general AI tool like ChatGPT, "How do I clean white shoes?" it will provide a standard answer based on information from the web. However, if you ask Answer Threads the same question through SMS or Chat, it will deliver your brand’s exact recommendation on cleaning white shoes — as long as this information is available as a Public Answer.
Sidekick Conversations
The Conversations page contains all Customer interactions with Sidekick, detailing its responses and decision-making process for answering questions or deciding when to hand off to Agents. Learn more about utilizing this page for ongoing QA.
Conversation status
Every Customer interaction is accessible on the Conversations page, with real-time updates and statuses that provide insight into how Sidekick engages with Customers.
Below are the possible statuses:
Status | Description |
|---|---|
Sidekick did not respond | Sidekick transferred the Conversation without sending a response to the Customer. For example, the Customer types “Agent” before the generative AI assistant sends a reply, and Sidekick immediately hands off to an Agent. |
Sidekick resolved | The Conversation is closed, and Sidekick did not hand off to an Agent. |
Sidekick handed off | Sidekick responded to the Customer and handed off to an Agent without resolving the Conversation. |
Along with the statuses above, displaying the Sidekick outcome, Conversations will also display a Closed or In Progress status.
A Closed status indicates that the Conversation has ended.
An In Progress status indicates that the Conversation is still ongoing.
For example, a Conversation status could be Sidekick handed off and In Progress if Sidekick replied to the customer, handed off to an Agent, and the Agent has not closed the Conversation yet.
Search Answers
Whenever a question is asked by a Customer [A], a query runs [B], to check if the Public Answer(s) exists [C] to provide an accurate response. The query highlights the Language [D], Audience [E], and Answer ID [F] of the Public Answer(s) to used to generate a reply [G].
Quality Check
Every response to a question that Sidekick generates, as shown on the Conversations page, undergoes a quality check and provides a Passed or Failed status.
Validation Check | Status |
|---|---|
Knowledge Check (Passed/Failed) | Checks if the answer to a question exists in a Public Answer. |
Hallucination Check (Passed/Failed) | Checks if the response generated aligns with Public Answer content and adheres to instructions and Advice configured for the generative AI assistant and the conversation's context. |
Unsupported Actions Check (Passed/Failed) | Checks if the response provides accurate instruction without implying it can take action, i.e., cancel an order. |
Original Bot Message | This doesn’t provide a status (Passed/Failed) but displays the message Answer Threads either responded with or would have responded with but transferred to an agent instead as a handoff. |
Draft Answers
Found on the Conversations page, Draft Answers could suggest one or more Public Answers by examining the messages exchanged with an Agent.
Drafts Answers smartly suggests a possible title [A], along with suggested content [B], and the rationale or reason [C] behind the suggestion.
Clicking Add Answer creates a Public Answer to resolve similar questions more effectively in the future. Clicking Reject rejects the suggestion.
By clicking Add Answer, a new Answer will be added to your knowledge base with the following defaults:
Answer type: Public
Language: English (en-us)
Audience: none
If you’d like to make any changes to the answer content or update any of the above defaults before the answer is published, you can make adjustments after clicking Add Answer and then by clicking Save within the Answers Admin page. Don’t forget to associate the Answer with the correct Audience if you’re leveraging Multi-Audience support for Answer Threads.
A Draft Answer is automatically generated for every Conversation that Sidekick has handed off to closed by an Agent
Keep in mind that an Administrator or Team Manager must first click into and review the Conversation from the Sidekick Conversations page before a Draft Answer is generated.
Handoff to Agent
Answer Threads always indicate a hands-off [A] to an Agent, denoted by the text “One moment please” [C], if any one of the Quality Checks [B] fails. A summary of the Conversation [D] will automatically be generated when Answer Threads hands it off to an Agent and is visible in the Conversation Timeline.
Answer Threads will always hand off to an Agent whenever it cannot provide a proper initial or subsequent response.
The handoff message sent to a Customer during a handoff [C] shown as “One moment please” is currently not customizable.
Summary
Agents have complete visibility into the messages exchanged between the Customer and Answer Threads within the Conversation Timeline. This provides full context for the handoff and allows for a seamless continuation of the interaction without asking the Customer to repeat themselves.
A summary of the Conversation is automatically generated upon handing the Conversation off to an Agent. The summary provides a synopsis of the automated Conversation with Sidekick and providing the Agent with context before picking up the engagement.
Basics
The “Basics” tile includes fundamental information about the AI assistant. This is where an Admin can provide Sidekick with name, role and company details that will help Sidekick represent itself accurate to the Customer.
How to speak to customers
The “How to speak to customers” tile allows an Admin to instruct the generative AI assistant as to how to behave, including what type of tone and communication style to use with Customers, and how to incorporate brand voice into responses. Learn more about configuring guidance for Sidekick.
When to get more help
The “When to get more help” tile allows an Admin to list specific scenarios where Sidekick should hand the Conversation off to an Agent. For instance, if specific product issues raised by a Customer are better handled by a human agent, an Admin can include this type of inquiry as a handoff scenario and Sidekick will immediately transfer the Conversation to an Agent. Learn more about configuring handoff scenarios.
A set of default transfer reasons is already built into the product
Guardrails exist to identify when a Customer inquiry should be automatically transferred before Sidekick provides a response.
Test Sidekick
The Test Sidekick page allows for any changes or new information to be tested to ensure Sidekick responds as intended.
Be sure to test Sidekick after making any changes to your set up
Test your AI assistant after updating your Sidekick configuration. Even seemingly small updates to Public Answer content can impact that types of responses that Sidekick may provide to a Customer.