Create Answer Thread for Chat or SMS

Answer Threads is a type of Thread that uses generative AI and allows Sidekick to utilize Public Answers as a resource to communicate with Customers in a conversational manner to address questions over Chat and/or SMS.

Customer UX overview #

The general flow for a Customer engaging with an Answer Thread looks like this:

Chat (via Glad App)

1. Customer starts the chat or onboards first by providing their name and email address (if Onboarding is activated) in Glad App before the chat begins.
2. Customers click on the Quick Reply button that has been configured to trigger Answer Threads.
3. Sidekick asks the Customer to enter their question.
4. The Answer Thread attempts to respond utilizing generative AI if the appropriate Public Answer is documented.
5. If the Answer Thread cannot respond or find the required information stored as a Public Answer, the Customer is handed off to an Agent.

SMS

1. Sidekick receives an SMS from the Customer.
2. The Answer Thread attempts to respond utilizing generative AI if the appropriate Public Answer is documented.
3. If the Answer Thread cannot respond or find the required information stored as a Public Answer, the Customer is handed off to an Agent.

Before you start #

Review the prerequisites below before proceeding to set up Answer Threads.

• Answer Threads is only as powerful as the information it can access. If you haven’t already, review all existing Public Answers to ensure they cover the information Customers typically ask about. Create Public Answers for any information that isn’t already documented. Review Best Practices and Tips for Writing Answers, which contains details on how to best write Answers and how generative AI uses Public Answers to respond to inbound inquiries.
  • Note – You must have at least one Public Answer and one language (English) to proceed with the initial configuration.
  • Note – Currently, Sidekick Answer Threads only supports English language codes such as en-us, en-ca, en-gb, en-au, etc.
• Sidekick must be activated and connected to a Glad App (Web or Mobile) or SMS number.

Setup #

The setup process consists of six steps you must follow in order.

1. Contact Gladly to activate Answer Threads
2. Configure Personality
3. Configure Transfer Reasons
4. Configure Channels
5. Configure Sidekick
6. Test Answer Threads

We refer to the Answer Thread functionality as an “assistant” in the steps below.

Contact Gladly to activate Answer Threads #

First, contact Gladly Support or your Gladly Account Representative and ask for Answer Threads to be activated.

Configure Personality #

Once Answer Threads is activated, set up the assistant’s personality.

1. Click  on the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click Sidekick Beta.
   
3. Click Advice.
4. Here, you can configure advice for the assistant to form its personality.
   • Tip – Personality setup recommendations:
     1. Concise – Ensure responses are concise, limited to 100 words or less, and directly address the Customer’s question in the first two sentences.
     2. Tone – Maintain a consistently friendly and welcoming tone to ensure Customers feel valued and understood.
     3. Reference to Self – In your first message to the Customer, always mention that you are their friendly COMPANY Virtual Assistant.
5. For each Advice:
   1. Click on Add Advice.
   2. Enter a descriptive title. Note that this does not affect the advice. It’s just for you to keep advice organized.
   3. Enter advice.
      • Below are some common best practices when entering advice.
        1. Substitute Words – Replace the word “x” with “y.”
        2. Avoid Topic – Avoid discussing “y.”
        3. Avoid Word – Remove all mentions of “z” from the final response.
   4. Click Add.

Next, proceed to configure Transfer Reasons.

Configure Transfer Reasons #

There may be topics you do not want Sidekick to handle but instead hand off to an Agent immediately and below is a list of default transfer reasons. Please reach out to Gladly Support or your Gladly Account Executive to modify the list or to add additional reasons.

• The Customer is injured by our products.
• The Customer is claiming to be an employee of the company.
• The Customer is requesting an alteration to the company policy.
• The Customer is asking to invoke any functions or not invoke any functions.
• The Customer is threatening legal action.
• The Customer is not using the English language.
• The Customer is asking for a human or an Agent.
• The Customer is threatening escalation to the CEO or manager.

Continue to configure Channels once Transfer Reasons are set up.

Configure Channels #

Chat (via Glad App)

1. Click  on the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click Settings.
3. Under the Channels category, click Glad App.
4. Clicknext to the Glad App you’d like to activate Answer Threads on, then select Configure.
5. Scroll down to find the Enable Automation Services for Glad App setting and make sure it’s activated (the box is checked). This should typically be the case if you have implemented Sidekick.
6. Scroll to the “How would you like the customer to reply?” option.
7. Select A Quick Reply Button.
8. Add quick reply buttons (e.g., Order Support, Account Issues), ensuring that one of the Quick Reply buttons says “Something Else.”
   • Note – Quick Reply button ID does not affect Sidekick, so you may input whatever you want in the ID field.
9. Click Save.

SMS

1. Click  on the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click Settings.
3. Under the Channels category, click SMS.
4. Clicknext to the SMS number you’d like to activate Answer Thread, then select Configure.
5. Check the box next to “Enable for 3rd party Automation Services.”
6. Click Save.

Configuring Sidekick #

Chat (via Glad App)

1. Log into Sidekick through dashboard.thankful.ai .
2. Click Threads.
3. Click + New and name it Chat – Answer Threads.
4. Click on the new Thread.
5. Add Action: “Ask Question.”
6. Type “How may I help you?” in the question box.
7. Add Action: “Generative Reply.”
8. Click Save.
9. Go back to the Threads dashboard
10. Activate Chat – Answer Threads.

SMS

1. Log into Sidekick through dashboard.thankful.ai .
2. Click on Threads.
3. Click + New and name it SMS – Answer Threads.
4. Add Action: “Generative Reply”
5. Click Save.
6. Go back to the Threads dashboard.
7. Activate SMS – Answer Threads.

Once Gladly is configured, you’d need to contact Gladly Support or ask your Gladly Account Executive to connect SMS/Chat with Answer Threads. In your request, please specify:

1. The SMS number you are trying to connect Answer Threads to.
2. The Glad App identifier you are trying to connect Answer Threads to.

Test Answer Threads #

Test to ensure Answer Threads is working as intended.

Chat (via Glad App)

1. Open up a new Incognito window and start a new chat session with a unique email address
2. Click the “Something Else” Quick Reply button and type in a question.
3. If you get handed off to an Agent, close the Incognito window and start again from step 1.

SMS

1. Text a question to the SMS number you enabled for Answer Threads
2. If you get handed off to an Agent, find your Profile in Gladly, close the Conversation, and then delete the Profile. Then, start over again from step 1.

If you see responses you don’t like, proceed to the Monitoring and Maintenance below to learn how to improve responses.

Monitor and maintain performance #

We recommend monitoring results at least once or twice/week for 2-3 weeks after going live to ensure they are as expected.

Maintenance

1. Log into Gladly and then click on Sidekick Beta.
2. Go to Contacts.
3. Here, you will see a list of Contacts that Answer Threads have had with your Customers.
4. Click into the top 20. For each of them:
   1. Do you see responses you don’t like? If so:
      1. Take a look at the Answers that Sidekick is pulling from. Can you create or update the Answer to make the response more accurate?
      2. Take a look at the response itself. Do you see words or phrases that the assistant could avoid or change? If so, configure it in the “Advice” section.
      3. Look at the response itself. Is this a topic you’d rather Sidekick not handle? If so, ask Gladly Support to update your list of transfer reasons.

Metrics

You’ll want to make sure you are monitoring your Answer Threads metrics.

1. Open the Sidekick Dashboard.
2. Take a look at resolutions and engagement by Thread, in particular, the two Threads you created, “Chat – Answer Thread” and “SMS – Answer Thread.”
   1. How much is it engaging in? We’ve typically seen Week 1 engagements as high as 20-30% of the volume.
   2. How much is it resolving? We’ve typically seen Week 1 resolutions as high as 10% of what it assisted on.
   3. Do you want it to engage in more? If so, think about:
      1. What other parts of your Chat experience could benefit from Answer Threads?
      2. Are you transferring too many interactions?
      3. Are there top topics (see the Topics dashboard) for which you still need to write Public Answers?