Summary
Smart Escalation helps you automatically assign a chat to a team when a customer asks to speak to an agent or expresses frustration during a chatbot conversation. When Smart Escalation detects an escalation request, Wati assigns the chat to an active operator on the selected team and ends the chatbot. This guide explains how Smart Escalation works, how to enable it, and how it works with the Fallback Message.
Note: We're rolling out this feature in phases. If you don't see it yet, it will be enabled for your account soon. If you'd like to enable the feature sooner, contact our Support team for assistance.
Instructions
What is Smart Escalation?
Smart Escalation automatically transfers a conversation from a chatbot to a human team when a customer asks for help from an agent or expresses frustration.
Smart Escalation works only when a chatbot is active and the customer responds to a node with a fixed set of expected answers, such as:
Buttons
List
Question with predefined answers
If the customer's reply does not match any of the expected answers and indicates a need for human assistance, Wati assigns the chat to the selected team and ends the chatbot.
When Smart Escalation does not apply
Smart Escalation does not apply to the following:
Question nodes that validate a specific format, such as a number, date, or email address.
Question nodes that accept any text as an answer.
Customer replies that contain photos, voice notes, or other file types.
How to enable Smart Escalation
You must enable Smart Escalation separately for each chatbot. There is no account-wide setting for this feature.
Before enabling Smart Escalation, make sure you have created at least 1 team in Wati.
Go to Automations > Chatbots.
Open the chatbot settings:
For a new chatbot, configure the settings while creating the chatbot.
For an existing chatbot, click the Edit option next to the chatbot name in the top-left corner of the canvas.
Turn on Enable smart escalation handling.
Select the team that should receive escalated chats.
Save your changes.
How Wati assigns escalated chats
Wati assigns an escalated chat to the selected team only if at least 1 operator on that team is active.
Wati follows this assignment order:
Contact's assigned operator: If the contact's assigned operator belongs to the selected team and is active, Wati assigns the chat to that operator.
Round robin: If the assigned operator is unavailable, Wati distributes the chat using round robin among the active operators on the selected team.
If no operator on the selected team is active, Wati does not assign the chat to an operator. The chat stays with the bot, and the chatbot ends.
Note: A bot is not considered an active operator. If the contact's assigned owner is the bot, Wati moves to the next eligible active operator on the selected team.
How Smart Escalation works with the Fallback Message
Smart Escalation and the Fallback Message work together to handle customer replies that do not match the expected answers in a chatbot.
When a customer sends an unrecognized reply, Wati checks whether the reply indicates a need for human assistance.
If the customer asks for an agent or expresses frustration: Smart Escalation assigns the chat to the selected team and ends the chatbot.
If the customer does not indicate a need for human assistance: Wati sends the configured Fallback Message and the chatbot continues.
Note: Smart Escalation works without the Fallback Message. However, if the Fallback Message is disabled, a customer who sends an unrecognized reply without asking for an agent or expressing frustration will not receive a response.
Configure the Fallback Message
You can configure the Fallback Message at 2 levels:
For a specific chatbot.
As the default Fallback Message for every chatbot in your account.
Setting an account-wide default Fallback Message helps ensure that customers receive a response when their replies are not recognized.
Note: For Question nodes that use answer validation, configuring a validation error message automatically enables Smart Escalation for that Question node. This applies only to that specific Question node.
Smart Escalation on other channels
Smart Escalation also works on Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Smart Escalation
1. What does Smart Escalation do?
Smart Escalation automatically transfers a conversation from a chatbot to a human team when a customer asks to speak to an agent or expresses frustration. Wati assigns the chat to an active operator on the selected team and ends the chatbot.
2. When does Smart Escalation work?
Smart Escalation works when a chatbot is active and the customer responds to a node with a fixed set of expected answers, such as Buttons, List, or a question with predefined answers.
3. When does Smart Escalation not apply?
Smart Escalation does not apply to Question nodes that validate a specific format, Question nodes that accept any text as an answer, or customer replies containing photos, voice notes, or other file types.
4. Does Smart Escalation need to be enabled for each chatbot?
Yes. Smart Escalation must be enabled separately for each chatbot. There is no account-wide setting for Smart Escalation.
Escalated Chat Assignment
5. How does Wati assign an escalated chat?
Wati assigns an escalated chat to the selected team if at least one operator on that team is active. If the contact's assigned operator belongs to the selected team and is active, Wati assigns the chat to that operator. Otherwise, Wati uses round robin to distribute the chat among active operators on the selected team.
6. What happens if no operator on the selected team is active?
If no operator on the selected team is active, Wati does not assign the chat to an operator. The chat stays with the bot, and the chatbot ends.
7. Is a bot considered an active operator for Smart Escalation?
No. A bot is not considered an active operator. If the contact's assigned owner is a bot, Wati moves to the next eligible active operator on the selected team.
Smart Escalation and Fallback Messages
8. How does Smart Escalation work with the Fallback Message?
When a customer sends an unrecognized reply, Wati checks whether the reply indicates a need for human assistance. If the customer asks for an agent or expresses frustration, Smart Escalation assigns the chat to the selected team and ends the chatbot. If the customer does not indicate a need for human assistance, Wati sends the configured Fallback Message and the chatbot continues.
9. Can Smart Escalation work without a Fallback Message?
Yes. Smart Escalation works without the Fallback Message. However, if the Fallback Message is disabled and a customer sends an unrecognized reply without asking for an agent or expressing frustration, the customer will not receive a response.
10. When is Smart Escalation automatically enabled for a Question node?
For a Question node that uses answer validation, configuring a validation error message automatically enables Smart Escalation for that specific Question node.
Channel Support
11. Which channels support Smart Escalation?
Smart Escalation works on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.