AI automations allow you to resolve tickets automatically with zero human interaction, via a Chatbot on your website via the AI Agent in your Mailbox. If the automation answers the question and resolves the ticket or chat conversation, this is counted as a billable resolution. 

This guide will walk you through how to set up and manage your Automations, explain how each resolution is determined and how to monitor your usage. 

Before you start

  • AI automations is added to your subscription once the first billable resolution is created in your account via the AI Agent or Chatbot. 
  • It does not appear as an optional Add-on in your Subscription page.
  • You will be billed for the number of resolutions that result from Automations at the end of each month. 
  • See our pricing here. 

01 Activating AI automations

AI automations can be activated in two ways:

1. Create a Chatbot

  • When you create a Chatbot, it will be in test mode by default.

  • You can test it using the simulator in the Widget settings or place it on a staging site.

  • A banner will be displayed in the chatbot settings, widget settings and on the chat simulator while in test mode.

  • Once you turn off test mode, any tickets verified as resolved by the AI and which have not received a new message from the customer in 24 hours, will become billable. 

  • The Admin of your account will receive an email letting them know Automations are now active.

Points to note when your Chatbot is in test mode:

  • No billable resolutions occur.

  • No Chatbot tickets are created.

  • No AI Automations will appear in Insights.

  • Triallists of eDesk can disable test mode and they won't be charged for any resolutions until they become a paying client.

    For an overview of the Chatbot, click here.

2. Create an AI Agent

  • Go to the AI section and click Create AI Agent.
  • In the Settings tab, when you select Auto reply, the AI Agent will start automatically replying.
  • Once all conditions are met, any tickets verified as resolved by the AI will become billable. 

    For more on the AI Agent, click here.

02 Managing payment for Automations

AI automations are billed at the end of each month, and you’ll only be charged for the number of successful resolutions achieved by the automation.

  • Once enabled, Automations will appear on your billing summary with a price of €0.00.
  • You can see the number of billable automations on the list page here as they build up over the 30 day billing period.

Note: AI Automation is always billed monthly, whether your subscription is on a monthly or annual plan.

Managing your automation limit

By default, eDesk sets a limit of 1000 resolutions per month when Automations are enabled.
Once this limit is reached:

  • AI automations will be paused, and

  • You will not be charged beyond the set limit.

You can easily adjust this 1000 resolutions limit:

  • Click on Manage Automations in the AI automations insights page or the subscription page of your account.

  • A pop-up will appear where you can:
    • See how many free resolutions you have left
    • Purchase/see resolution pack usage
    • Set your own monthly resolution limit
    • Activate or deactivate Automations

Note: If you want to add 5000 or more resolutions to your monthly budget, please reach out to us and we'll be happy to get it set up for you.

Important to know

  • You will only be billed for the actual number of resolutions achieved - not the limit you set.

  • For example:

    • If you set a limit of 900 resolutions but the AI only resolves 855 tickets, you’ll be charged for 855 - not 900.

  • The limiter is simply there to help you stay in control of your AI usage and budget.

03 What is a resolution?

A resolution is defined as any customer conversation that is addressed and resolved through automation without the need for human intervention. There are different conditions depending on whether the resolution is through the Chatbot or the AI Agent:

1. Chatbot resolution 

  1. A conversation starts and concludes with the chatbot. No agent transfer occurs (regardless of agent availability) and no ticket is created by the Chatbot for agent follow-up.

  2. AI has assessed the chat transcript to confirm the shopper's question was responded to with sufficient answers.

  3. No other ticket in eDesk, on any channel, has been created by the same shopper within 24 hours of the chat session occurring.

2. AI Agent resolution

  1. An AI Agent automatically replies to a ticket.
  2. No customer response is received on this ticket within 72 hours.
  3. No additional human agent was sent after the AI Agent reply.
  4. No other ticket in eDesk has been created by the same shopper within 72 hours of the AI Agent reply being sent.

Note:  It’s possible to have a ticket marked as “Resolved” in eDesk but not be billable since the same shopper created a separate new ticket in the 24/72 hour window.

04 Tracking Automations

You can track your Automations in two areas within eDesk:

1. Insights

  • Go to Insights > AI > AI automations to see a visual overview of all automated activity.

  • Automations: total automated conversations (a chatbot conversation or a ticket where a HandsFree message was sent)

  • Chatbot

    • Total: number of chatbot conversations that were marked as resolved

  • HandsFree

    • Total: number of tickets where a HandsFree message was sent

  • Billable resolutions

    • Chatbots: number of conversations that were verified as resolved by the AI and marked as billable
    • AI Agent: number of tickets that were resolved by the AI Agent and marked as billable
    • Amount: total cost for the billable Automations so far this month (X * 99
  • On the Chart, you can toggle between:
    • ​​​​​​​AI Automations – total automated messages sent
    • Chatbot Resolutions – tickets resolved by the Chatbot (after 24 hours)​​​​​​​
    • ​​​​​​​AI Agent resolutions - tickets resolved the the AI Agent (after 72 hours)

  • Or toggle between the two to view combined results

  • The Resolutions list shows the latest 10 tickets by default. Click Show 10 more to expand the list.

  • Use the Report extract link to be brought to Report extracts to generate a full AI resolution report.

    Important: Data on the Automations dashboard is based on the date the ticket was Resolved.

2. Report extracts 

  • Navigate to:
    Insights > Reports > Report extracts > Create report (or use the Report Extracts link in the AI Resolutions page).

  • Under Report Type, select AI automations report.

The report includes the following columns:

  • Ticket ID

  • Channel

  • Type (Ava = Chatbot / HandsFree = automated via Mailbox)

  • Created on

  • Resolved on

  • Billable resolution

  • CSAT received

This gives you a clear breakdown of where and how AI resolutions are happening across your account.

Further reading:

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