Manage automatic actions

Have Inbox check for a set of criteria in a message and then take an automatic action. You can automatically add a tag to a message, apply a topic to a conversation, or resolve a conversation, so an agent doesn’t have to.

You can use automations to do all the following:

• Add a tag - Add tags to messages to add metadata, such as message sentiment, or message type.
• Apply a topic - (Advanced and Enterprise plan members) Apply topics to conversations based on the conversation type, such as sales questions, technical issues, or product questions.
• Resolve conversation - (Advanced and Enterprise plan members) Say a conversation has ended and, just after the agent resolves the conversation, the contact responds with “Goodbye.” For cases like this, you could add an automation rule to detect the word “goodbye” and automatically resolve the conversation.
  
  Note: The auto-resolve action only applies when the keyword or phrase you specify appears in the first message of a conversation. When adding tags or applying topics, the keyword or phrase can appear anywhere in the conversation.
• Forward the message to a CRM - (Enterprise plan members with Advanced Inbox) Create cases in Salesforce from conversations in Inbox. This connects the conversation in Inbox with a case in Salesforce and allows your agents to continue messaging or managing the conversation from either Inbox or Salesforce. Learn more about creating Salesforce cases from conversations.

You must be an organization Super Admin, Admin, or a member with custom organization permission to Manage automation to add, edit, and delete automated assignments and tag rules.

Create an automation

Create an automation from scratch or use a template to create an automation to tag a message, send a conversation to a CRM, apply a topic, or resolve a conversation. You can set the criteria you want the automation to use.

1. In Inbox, select Settings, and then select Admin settings.
2. Expand Routing and automation, and then select Automations.
3. Select Add automation.
4. Select Start from scratch or Use template in one of the template tiles.

   Tip: You can use AI classifiers to to automatically categorize incoming messages and streamline your workflow. Learn more about setting up an AI classifier automation.

5. Enter a name for your new automation, select Add condition, and then a select the condition a message must meet to trigger the automation. You can add as many conditions (AND) and alternative conditions (OR) as you need to refine your trigger.

   For example, you can add multiple tags or topics to messages sent to a specific channel, or add a topic and resolve the conversation. You can also use the Has no text trigger to automatically resolve any messages without text — useful for keeping rating-only reviews out of your agents' queues.

6. If you select a keyword-based condition, define how those keywords are identified:
   • Define the logic: Select whether you want to apply the rule to all of or any of your keywords or phrases.
   • Set the match type: Select Exact match for specific words (for example, "snow" only) or Partial match for broader variations (for example, "snow" also matches "snowflake").
   • Enter your keywords: Enter your keywords or phrases, separating each with a comma.

   Note: Keyword conditions use Exact match by default.

7. Select Add action to choose the actions you want the automation to take when a message meets the conditions you set. You can choose from the following actions:
   • Tag with - Label incoming conversations with a preexisting tag.
   • Apply topic - Apply a topic to categorize, route, and prioritize conversations in the queue.
   • Resolve conversation - Move the conversation to the resolved queue.
   • Forward message - Connect the conversation in Inbox with your CRM. For example, selecting to forward a message to Salesforce will create a Salesforce case from your conversation and allow your agents to continue messaging or managing the conversation from either Inbox or Salesforce.
8. If your organization has turned on resolve reasons, you can choose to apply a reason to all automatically resolved conversations. Learn how to add resolve reasons.
9. Select whether you want to save your new automation as a draft or save and activate it right away.

Manage automations

In Inbox Admin settings, expand Routing and automation, and then select Automations. From here, you can switch your automations on or off, edit your automations, or delete your automation. To edit or delete an automation, point to the automation in the list and then select Editor Delete from the Actions area.