Smart Reply is an AI tool that helps agents respond faster and more accurately, improving response times and customer satisfaction with instant, relevant answers. This is a quick guide to setting up and using Smart Reply in eDesk.

Before you start

  • Smart Reply is part of the AI Assist add-on. To learn more, click here. 

01 Getting Started with Smart Reply

Requirements: Smart Reply requires Instructions and a Content Hub. When you first set up eDesk, we provide Sample Instructions and Sample Policies, which you should review and customize.

1. Instructions

Define your tone of voice and reply guidelines in Settings > AI > Instructions. Link your Instructions to the appropriate Content hubs and channels where you want Smart Reply to be active.

To find out more about Instructions, click here. 

2. Content hub

Smart Reply uses content from your Content hub and order data to tailor responses. We’ve pre-loaded 8 Sample Policies. You can view and edit these under Settings > AI > Content Hub > Sample Policies. Adding more content improves response quality. You can also create a new library from scratch.
To read more about building a Content hub, click here. 

02 How to use Smart Reply in eDesk

Smart Reply offers three ways to handle customer inquiries quickly:

  • Prompt:  Analyzes incoming messages and suggests responses for faster resolutions.
  • Write with AI (from scratch): Automatically generates a full response for common queries, like order status updates or return policies. Just click into the reply box and without typing anything, click on the AI button. 
  • Enhance with AI (using agent prompt): Agents can type a question or prompt, then click Enhance with AI for a tailored response—ideal for complex issues. Simply type specific instructions into the reply box and then hit the Enhance with AI button.

In the above example, the seller wants to include information about their cancellation policy in the message, so they type that into the Reply box. The AI symbol changes to 'Enhance with AI' as soon as something has been typed. Below are the results:

03 Smart reply and translation

All AI responses are generated in the Agent's Preferred Language, as set in their Profile Preferences. This ensures the Agent can fully understand the AI's draft. The Agent can then review and edit the response before sending. If the customer's message is in a different language than the Agent's Preferred Language, once the Agent hits Send, they will be prompted to translate the reply into the customer's language.
04 Finding the source of the Smart Reply
To see where Smart Reply pulled its information, hover over Sources at the bottom of the reply box. This shows the articles used, so you can refine them in the Content hub as needed.

05 Providing feedback for the Smart Reply

Agents can provide us feedback on AI-generated replies before sending. Our team uses this feedback to improve the feature, with detailed reporting coming soon.

And that’s it! Once your Content Hub is filled with valuable information and your Instructions are linked to both the Content Hub and the channels, Smart Reply will take care of the heavy lifting in responding to customer queries, allowing you to focus on what matters most!

Further readings

To read more about building a Content hub, click here. 
To read more about AI Instructions, click here. 
For more on creating great custom content, click here. 
For a full overview of our Chatbot for your live chat, click here.