Triage Rules
Table of Contents
đź”’Included in ALCMEON CARE ESSENTIAL, ALCMEON CARE ENTERPRISE
Triage rules enable you to automate your workflows and create automatic tasks based on specific triggers and conditions.
For example, Triage rules can perform a variety of tasks:
- Route messages to the correct team based on the channel or other criteria.
- Automatically qualify conversations by assigning relevant contact reasons.
- Archive messages that don't require handling by human advisors.
- Automatically reply to messages on social media platforms.
- Instantly hide comments based on their content.
- Notify your team members by email if a message has remained unanswered for too long.
- And much more!
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General Principle of Triaging
Triage rules are applied to every message sent by your Customers.
They execute sequentially, in the order they appear on the management page, and only if they are marked as "active."
Each Triage rule is defined using four parameters:
- The channel for sending the Client message
- The rule trigger
- The conditions of the rule
- The actions of the rule
When a Triage rule is set to trigger, it performs its actions if the conditions are met.
Consider the example: "When a message is received on the Instagram Comments channel, if it contains the keywords 'aaa' or 'bbb', then hide it on Instagram and archive it."
- The rule will be triggered as soon as Alcmeon receives a Customer message from the Instagram comments channel
- It will first check if the conditions are met - in this case, whether the message contains the configured keywords
- If the conditions are met, Alcmeon will perform a moderation action on the channel in question, then archive the message so that it is no longer visible to advisors in the inbox.
Note: For any given customer message, your Triage rules are applied after the actions set up in your bot scenarios. This is important for actions like routing to teams or applying qualification tags, which can be performed by both bot scenarios and Triage rules.
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List of Triage Rules
You can find the list of all your Triage Rules for every account and channel in the "Automation > Triage Rules" section. They are displayed in their execution order.
For each rule, the following information and actions are available:
- Change Order Icon: Drag and drop this icon to reposition any rule in the list and change its order.
- Rule Information: Displays the rule's name, account, trigger, conditions, and actions.
- Active Rule: Use this button to activate or deactivate a rule.
- Edit (Gear Icon): Click this icon to modify a rule's details and settings.
- Deletion: Please note that all deletions are final.
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Default Triage Rules
There are certain default Triage Rules that are essential for the optimal functioning of your workflows. We strongly advise against disabling them.
Prunate private messages
Goal: Keep conversations clear by presenting only the last message to be processed.
How it works: When a new message is received in a conversation, this rule automatically archives the previous message in the same conversation. This keeps only the most recent message in “Pending” status, thus avoiding duplicate processing.
Propagate the routing tag without overwriting previous tag actions
Goal: Ensure continuity of routing within a single conversation.
How it works: When a customer sends a new message in an existing conversation, this rule automatically propagates the routing tag (the tag that assigned the message to a team) from the previous message to the new message, unless your bot scenario or a previous triage rule has already routed this message to a team.
Propagate qualifying tags without overwriting previous tag actions
Goal: Keep the context of a conversation's qualification to facilitate processing.
How it works: If a message has been tagged with one or more tags, this rule automatically propagates those same tags to the next message sent by the client in the same conversation, unless your bot scenario or a previous triage rule has already tagged that message.
Auto re-assign
Goal: Provide a seamless customer experience by allowing the same advisor to continue a recent conversation.
How it works: When a new message is received in a conversation, this rule checks three conditions:
- An agent has already replied in this conversation.
- The agent's last reply was less than 24 hours ago.
- This agent is currently connected to the Alcmeon platform.
If all three conditions are met, the new message is automatically assigned to this agent. Otherwise, the message follows the usual routing rules.
Archive mentions in a story after 24 hours
Goal: Manage the short lifecycle of Story mentions and ensure that the inbox only contains relevant items.
Context: A Story on Instagram or Facebook has a lifetime of 24 hours. Once this period has elapsed, the Story disappears and the mention no longer has any visual context.
How it works: This rule automatically archives any Story mention notification that has not been processed (replied to or manually archived) within 24 hours of receipt. This ensures that advisors don't waste time on interactions whose context has disappeared.
Archive Messenger, Instagram private conversation and Instagrame story replies after 7 days
Goal: Manage the technical constraints imposed by Meta (Facebook/Instagram).
How it works: It is technically impossible to reply to a private message on Messenger or Instagram (including a reply to a Story) more than 7 days after it has been received. To prevent unprocessable messages from overloading the inbox, this rule automatically archives all messages from these channels that have not been replied to within 7 days.
Automatically archive messages older than 2 months, not archived and not answered by an advisor
Goal: Maintain a relevant inbox by archiving outdated conversations.
How it works: A message that has been waiting to be processed (or paused by a bot and therefore not answered by an advisor) for more than two months is considered obsolete from a customer experience point of view. This rule automatically archives these messages so that advisors can concentrate on relevant requests.
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Create or Edit a Triage Rule
Title
You can give your rule a descriptive name, which will be visible only within Alcmeon.
Aim for a specific title that clearly indicates the rule's purpose. This title appears in the list of all your Triage rules and can help you organize and prioritize them.
Account
This first parameter for your Triage rule is labeled "For a message from…"
For each Triage rule, you have the option to restrict it to customer messages originating from one or more messaging or social media accounts that you have connected to Alcmeon.
Alternatively, you can choose to not restrict it by checking the "All accounts" box.
Triggers
This second Triage rule parameter is labeled "When this message…"Â
| Trigger | Description |
|---|---|
| is received | Triggers as soon as the customer's message is received by the Alcmeon platform. |
| is routed by an advisor to {team} | Triggers when a human advisor (not a bot) manually routes the message to the configured team. |
| is qualified by an advisor with {qualification} | Triggers when a human advisor (not a bot) manually selects a value from a qualification tag for the message. |
| is not processed after {deadline} within {business hours or not} | Triggers if the message remains unprocessed (i.e., is still in the "Received" status) after the specified timeout period. This timeout can be calculated based on your business hours or continuously. This trigger is typically used with the "notify by email" action. |
| has been on hold for {timeframe} within {business hours or not} | Triggers if the message has been in the "On Hold" (spooled) status for longer than the configured timeout period. This timeframe can be calculated based on your business hours or continuously. This trigger is typically used with the "notify by email" action. |
| is a public Facebook or Instagram message that is replied to privately | Triggers when a public message (comment or review) is responded to using the "private reply to public message" feature. This trigger is typically paired with the "reply to public comment" action to inform other thread readers that your brand is addressing this customer’s request privately. |
| is archived by an advisor | Triggers when a human advisor (not a bot) archives the message. |
| is answered by an advisor | Triggers when a human advisor (not a bot) responds to the message. |
| a request for help is made | Triggers when an advisor makes a request for help on this message. This trigger is typically used with the "notify by email" action. |
| the request for help is answered | Triggers when a supervisor answers a help request made on this message. This trigger is typically used with the "notify by email" action. |
| has a parent post older than {timeframe} within {business hours or not} | Triggers for a public comment posted by a customer on one of your posts that is older than the number of days configured in the rule. This time limit may or may not take into account your business hours. This trigger is typically used with the “archive” and/or “hide on social network” action. |
Terms
This third Triage rule parameter is labeled “And it meets [All | One of the] following conditions…”
You can choose whether the rule executes if all the conditions you add are met, or if at least one of those conditions is met.Â
Use the (+) button to add multiple conditions.
| Condition | Description |
|---|---|
| is received on channel {channel(s)} | Restricts the rule to messages received on specific channels you select (e.g., "Facebook ad comments," "WhatsApp messages," "Instagram story mentions"). |
| received a response to a request for help | Restricts the rule to messages for which an advisor previously made a help request and a supervisor has since provided a response. |
| was automatically assigned to the advisor who already responded in this conversation | Restricts the rule to messages for which the reassignment rule to the same advisor was triggered. |
| was manually assigned to the advisor | Restricts the rule to messages that have been assigned to a human advisor by a supervisor with the appropriate permission. |
| is older than {delay} | Restricts the rule to messages whose reception date is older than a specified time period (in hours) that you configure. |
| is newer than {delay} | Restricts the rule to messages whose reception date is within a specified recent time period (in hours) that you configure. |
| was received on {weekday} | Restricts the rule to messages received on specific day(s) of the week (e.g., "Saturday or Sunday"). |
| is received during {business or non-business hours} | Restricts the rule to messages received either during your business hours or outside of them. |
| contains {list of keywords} |
Restricts the rule to messages whose text includes any of your chosen keywords. You can enter multiple words; the rule applies if the message contains ANY of them. Note: In the input interface, validate each word or group of words by pressing [enter] to save it. |
| does not contain {list of keywords} |
Restricts the rule to messages whose text does not contain any of your chosen keywords. You can enter multiple words; the rule applies if the message contains NONE of them. Note: In the input interface, validate each word or group of words by pressing [enter] to save it. |
| is exactly {text} | Restricts the rule to messages whose text precisely matches the configured text. |
| does not contain text | Restricts the rule to messages that do not contain the text chosen in this rule. |
| contains only emojis | Restricts the rule to messages consisting exclusively of emojis, with no other characters. This is often used to detect public comments not requiring advisor action, enabling automatic archiving via a Triage rule. |
| contains exclusively one or more @mentions | Restricts the rule to messages whose text contains only @mentions. Primarily used to detect public comments that don't need advisor handling, allowing automatic archiving via a Triage rule. |
| contains only @mentions (except brand mentions) and emojis | Restricts the rule to messages whose text contains only @mentions (excluding mentions of your brand account from which this message is sent) and emojis. Primarily used to detect public comments that don't need advisor handling, allowing automatic archiving via a Triage rule. |
| has a review on GBP, Trustpilot or Facebook | Restricts the rule to messages that include an associated rating or review. This condition is limited to channels that allow customers to add a rating to their message, such as Google Business Profile (for Google Maps location reviews), Trustpilot, and Facebook reviews. |
| is sent by a VIP profile | Restricts the rule to messages sent by a customer who has been marked as a VIP. |
| is sent by a profile with more than {x} followers |
Restricts the rule to messages sent by a customer whose social media profile has more than the specified number of followers. Note: Due to changes on X (formerly Twitter) in 2024, this platform no longer shares user follower counts with partners like Alcmeon. This condition is therefore no longer functional for X. |
| is sent by a profile having the custom field {custom field} {operator} {value} |
Restricts the rule to messages sent by a customer whose custom fields meet a configured condition.Â
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| is tagged (qualified) {qualification} | Restricts the rule to messages that, at the time of rule execution, already possess a specific qualifying tag with a chosen value. |
| is the first message in a conversation | Restricts the rule to messages that are the first in a conversation thread (as defined by Alcmeon). This is useful, for example, to automatically route initial contacts to a specific team, while allowing subsequent messages in the same conversation to be manually routed by advisors. |
| is part of a conversation where an advisor has already responded | Restricts the rule to messages where a previous message in the same conversation has already received a reply from an advisor. |
| is a comment on the post {post} |
Restricts the rule to messages that are comments on one of your posts. You can select from the last 30 posts visible to customers on the chosen social network account. This condition is typically used to automatically reply to all comments on a particular post, or to archive them (e.g. for contest entries). Note: This rule, like all Triage rules, does not apply retroactively to comments already posted. Triage rules are executed as soon as these messages are received. |
| is a comment on a post containing {list of keywords} |
Restricts the rule to messages that are comments on one of your posts that contains a specific keyword. You can enter multiple words; the rule applies if the post's text contains ANY of them. Note: In the input interface, validate each word or group of words by pressing [enter] to save it. This is typically used to automatically reply to all comments on certain posts, or to archive all comments. For example, if the text of all your contests contains “#contest,” you can use this condition to identify all comments on all such posts, even future ones. |
| is a response to a proactive engagement message | Restricts the rule to messages sent by a customer within a conversation (as defined by Alcmeon) that originated from a proactive engagement message sent by an advisor using the "1-to-1 engagement" functionality. |
Actions
This fourth Triage rule parameter is labeled “So…”
It defines the tasks that will be performed when the rule is triggered and its conditions are met. You can choose one or more actions to execute.
| Action | Comments |
|---|---|
Archive this message |
Performs the archive action for this message. |
Tag (qualify or route) this message |
Applies a value of your choice to a selected tag group for this message. You can choose the message language, the team to which the message should be routed, or any qualification tag you have configured in Alcmeon (under "Settings > Tags") as the tag group. Please note: Except in exceptional circumstances, this action should only be used in conjunction with the condition “is the first message in the conversation”. |
| Randomly tag (qualify or route) this message |
Performs the same action as “Tag (qualify or route) this message” but chooses the value to apply randomly from a list of values you have defined based on assigned “weight” . This action is commonly used by companies with multiple contact centers (teams) that operate simultaneously on the same channels and need to share the workload. For example, it allows you to route a conversation to Contact Center A in 60% of cases, Contact Center B in 25% of cases, and Contact Center C in 15% of cases. Please note: Except in exceptional circumstances, this action should only be used in conjunction with the condition “is the first message in the conversation”. |
Notify by email |
Automatically sends an email to one or more recipients of your choice. Typically used to notify team supervisors when a processing deadline or SLA is exceeded. We recommend entering recipients as mailing list emails for better maintainability. |
Notify all team members by email |
Automatically sends an email to all Alcmeon users who are part of the team to which this message was routed. |
Mark the Client as VIP |
Marks the customer who sent this message as a VIP. This special status in Alcmeon allows you to identify them as a priority customer. You can configure this in "Settings > Priority message order" so that all their messages (including future messages) are placed at the top of the processing queue for advisors. |
Automatically reply to public comment |
Automatically sends a predefined message in response to a public comment. You have the option to randomly send a response chosen from several pre-set replies. This action is generally used in two scenarios:
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| Automatically reply in private message |
Automatically sends a private message to a Customer. This action can be combined with the “is not processed after {deadline}” trigger to automatically respond to messages that have not received a human response after a specified time. For example, with a message like: "We were unable to respond to you in time and apologize for this. Please send us a message again if your issue has not already been addressed elsewhere." This serves to either make customers wait, and/or to automatically archive messages after providing a warning (by adding an automatic archiving action after this action). |
| Hide this message on Facebook | Performs the “Hide” or “Unhide” operation on the Customer’s comment. This is a moderation action and is therefore only available on certain channels. For more details, refer to the "possible moderation actions per channel" section. |