This help document will teach you how to accurately measure Sidekick AI performance and calculate your total Customer demand within Gladly. Understanding the distinction between "Contacts" and "Conversations" is the most critical step in mastering your reporting for budgeting and staffing.
Core Concepts: Contacts vs. Conversations
In Gladly, data is structured in a hierarchy. A Conversation is an umbrella container that holds one or more Contacts.
Metric | Definition | Equivalent Term | Best For Measuring... |
|---|---|---|---|
Contact | A discrete interaction (one email, one SMS, one call). | Ticket | Wait time, SLA, Agent productivity. |
Conversation | The entire history of a Customer's issue from start to finish. | Thread / Container | Sidekick resolutions, FCR, Topics. |
The container logic
A single Conversation can include multiple Contacts. For example, if a Customer calls about a return (Contact 1), an Agent follows up with an email (Contact 2), and the Customer sends a final SMS thank you (Contact 3), you have three Contacts but only one Conversation ID.
Calculating "Total Demand"
Sidekick-resolved interactions do not appear in standard Contact Exports. This is because fully resolved Sidekick interactions never create a Contact record. If Sidekick solves an issue without Agent intervention, it remains exclusively at the Conversation level. To find your true demand, use the following formula:
Total Demand = (Total Contacts) + (Sidekick Fully Resolved Conversations)
Important Note on Handoffs
When Sidekick "assists" a Customer and then hands the session off to an Agent, a Contact is created. You should not add "Assisted" counts to your total demand calculation, or you will double-count that interaction.
Choosing the right report
Different reports serve different analytical purposes. Avoid using the Journeys dashboard for high-level demand reporting; it is designed for tuning AI responses, not for deep data analysis.
Conversation Export report (with Sidekick)
Use this report to measure budgeting and AI performance.
Key Column – Billable Resolution. Filter by "Yes" to find volume handled entirely by AI.
Key Column – Sidekick Channel. Use this to see if resolutions are coming from Email, SMS, Voice or Chat.
Contact Export report
Use this report to measure staffing and Agent performance.
Key Column: Queued to Fulfilled. Use this to calculate your Average Wait Time.
Note – This report includes interactions that Sidekick started but eventually handed over to a human Agent.
Troubleshooting missing Sidekick data
If you see high volume in your "Contact Export" that Sidekick isn't touching (visible as "Blanks" in Sidekick reports), you likely have an Entry Point issue. Sidekick only monitors specific email addresses and phone numbers that have been explicitly connected to it. To verify:
Go to Settings.
Navigate to Guides > Connect Entry Points.
Ensure every active email (e.g.,
support@,help@) is mapped to a Sidekick Guide.If an email address is not mapped here, Sidekick will ignore the message and send it directly to an Agent.
Summary of datasets
If you want to know... | Dataset |
|---|---|
How many times AI solved an issue | Conversation Export ( |
How long Customers wait for a human | Contact Export ( |
Why AI is handing off to humans | Journeys Dashboard (Specific to AI tuning) |
Total volume of work (AI + Human) | Sum of Contacts + Sidekick Resolutions |
FAQ
Why don't I see my Sidekick resolved tickets in the Contact Export?
This is by design. In Gladly, a 'Contact' is created when an interaction enters a queue for an Agent. Since a Sidekick resolution happens entirely via AI without Agent intervention, it never creates a Contact record. To see these, you must pull a Conversation Export.
What is the difference between an 'Assisted' conversation and a 'Resolved' conversation?
'Resolved' means Sidekick answered the Customer's question and closed the conversation without Agent involvement. 'Assisted' means Sidekick interacted with the Customer but handed the thread off to a human Agent, which will appear in your Contact Export.
How do I calculate my AI Resolution Rate?
Using the Conversation Export, divide your total Billable Resolutions (where the value is 'Yes') by the total number of conversations that were eligible for Sidekick.
Note that you can choose to calculate this against all conversations or only those on Channels where Sidekick is active (e.g., excluding Phone calls).
Why are some of my emails bypassing Sidekick and going straight to Agents?
This usually happens because the specific email address the Customer wrote to is not 'mapped' to Sidekick. Check your settings under Settings > Guides > Connect Entry Points to ensure all support addresses are connected to the correct Sidekick Guide.
Can I use the Journeys dashboard to report on my monthly budgeting?
It is not recommended. The Journeys dashboard is a 'tuning' tool meant to show how Customers flow through specific AI paths and does not provide the raw data needed for an accurate monthly audit. Use the Conversation Export for budgeting.