How to configure escalation rules

You will learn

What escalation rules are, what they can and can’t do, and how to write triggers that hand off to a human at the right moments — without escalating too much or too little.

Before you begin

You’ll need:

• An Owner, Admin, or Manager role
• Handoff settings configured — see Managing Customer Agent settings. When an escalation rule fires, the handoff follows whatever you’ve configured (helpdesk ticket, email forward, etc.).

What escalation rules are

Escalation rules are triggers that immediately hand off a conversation to a human. When a shopper’s message matches one of your rules, Customer Agent stops generating a response and starts the handoff.

Escalation rules are evaluated before Customer Agent generates a response. That means a matching message never gets a Customer Agent reply — it goes straight to a human.

You can create up to 20 escalation rules.

What they’re NOT for

This is the most common confusion. Escalation rules can only trigger a handoff. They cannot:

• Teach Customer Agent how to behave. That’s a skill. Use a skill to tell Customer Agent how to respond to a topic.
• Prevent an escalation. Rules only add escalations; they don’t suppress them. If you want Customer Agent to handle something a skill is currently escalating, edit the skill’s behavior or add content.
• Route to different humans based on topic. Today, escalation rules use the same handoff destination for every triggered escalation.

Set it up

1. Navigate to Customer Agent > Guidance > Escalation rules.
2. Click Add rule.
3. Write a Title — short and descriptive (e.g., “Defective product report”).
4. Write a Trigger description — natural-language description of when the rule should fire. Be specific.
5. Click Save.
6. Test the rule in the playground.

Writing good escalation rules

Good rules are:

• Topic- or situation-based — describe what the shopper is talking about, not the words they use
• Specific — broad triggers (“anything urgent”) fire too often and erode trust
• Mutually exclusive — avoid two rules that overlap; consolidate where possible

A rule fires when Customer Agent recognizes the shopper’s intent matches the trigger description. You don’t need to list every possible phrasing — describe the situation, not the keywords.

Examples

Five escalation rules with reasoning:

• Defective product report — Customer reports an item arrived broken, malfunctioned, or stopped working. Why escalate: defective product claims often need warranty, replacement, or refund decisions a human should make.
• Legal threat or compliance issue — Customer mentions lawyers, lawsuits, regulatory complaints (FTC, BBB), or threatens legal action. Why escalate: legal language needs a human, immediately.
• Profanity or abusive language — Customer uses profanity directed at the brand or staff, or escalates to threats. Why escalate: a human can de-escalate or end the conversation appropriately.

What happens when a rule fires

Customer Agent immediately:

1. Stops generating a response
2. Hands off the conversation according to your handoff settings
3. Logs the conversation as Escalated with the matched rule for reporting

The handoff destination (helpdesk ticket, email forward, custom message) is set in Managing Customer Agent settings.

Troubleshooting

Symptom: A rule isn’t firing when it should.
Likely cause: Trigger description is too narrow or too specific to particular keywords.
Fix: Rewrite the trigger to describe the situation in plain language. Test with multiple phrasings in the playground.

Symptom: A rule is firing too often.
Likely cause: Trigger description is too broad or overlaps with another rule.
Fix: Narrow the description. Add explicit carve-outs (“does not include…”). Check for overlap with other escalation rules.

FAQ

How many escalation rules can I have?
Up to 20.

What if a shopper’s message matches two rules?
Customer Agent will escalate on the first match. The conversation logs the rule that triggered the escalation.

Can I disable a rule without deleting it?
Yes. Toggle the rule off; you can re-enable it any time.

Next steps

• Configure handoff settings so escalations go where you want them
• Test in the playground to see how rules fire on real messages
• Monitor the dashboard — review escalation rates and which rules fire most