Smart Rules for Prioritization and Alerts

Smart Rules use AI signals to automatically identify conversations that may need attention. Matching conversations can be added to Priority emails, trigger Alerts, or both.

Your Smart Rules settings become the shared company default once saved.

What Smart Rules Do

Smart Rules continuously evaluate conversations using AI signals such as:

Whether the conversation still needs a response
The urgency level of the customer message
Conversation sentiment
Detected intents

These signals help ensure important conversations are surfaced automatically without relying only on manually configured Views.

Reply-Time Goals

Smart Rules use your company reply-time targets when evaluating conversations.

Example company goals:

First reply: 2 hours
Overall reply: 8 hours

These goals help Smart Rules determine which conversations may require faster attention.

1. Apply Smart Rules

Choose where Smart Rules should apply.

You can enable either option individually or use both together.

Priority Emails

When enabled, conversations that match your Smart Rules are included in Priority emails.

These conversations appear alongside conversations already included through your configured Views.

Use this option when you want AI-matched conversations summarized in scheduled Priority emails.

Alerts

When enabled, matching conversations can trigger extension alerts.

These alerts are sent in addition to alerts already configured through your Views.

Use this option when you want immediate visibility into conversations that may require attention.

2. Preview Current Matching

The preview section helps you understand how your current configuration affects matching behavior.

As you adjust destinations, filters, or alert timing, the preview updates immediately.

This section is intended as setup guidance while tuning your Smart Rules configuration.

Estimated Strictness

This indicates how broad or narrow your current matching criteria are.

Example:

Balanced coverage (2 active conditions)

A stricter configuration generally matches fewer conversations, while a broader configuration includes more.

Applies To

Shows where Smart Rules are currently active:

Priority emails
Alerts
Both

Alert Delivery

Controls when Smart Rule alerts are allowed to send.

Business Hours

Alerts are only delivered during configured company business hours.

Use this option to avoid after-hours alerting.

Calendar Hours

Alerts can trigger at any time, including outside business hours.

Use this option when continuous monitoring is required.

Matching Logic

This section shows the active conditions currently used to identify conversations.

Example conditions:

Needs response
Urgency is normal or higher

A conversation must match all active conditions to qualify.

3. Filters

Smart Rules always begin with conversations that need a reply.

Optional filters can further narrow the matching criteria.

A conversation is only included if it matches every enabled filter.

Minimum Urgency

Only includes conversations at or above the selected urgency level.

Example:

Setting urgency to High excludes conversations classified as Low or Normal urgency.

Use this filter to focus on more time-sensitive conversations.

Maximum Sentiment

Only includes conversations at or below the selected sentiment level.

Example:

Setting sentiment to Negative focuses on conversations with negative customer sentiment.

Use this filter to surface potentially unhappy customer interactions earlier.

Intents

Limits matching to one or more selected conversation intents.

Example intents may include:

Billing
Technical issue
Cancellation request

If no intents are selected, Smart Rules can match conversations with any detected intent.

Use this filter when you want alerts or Priority emails focused on specific categories of customer requests.

4. Alert Timing

Controls when Smart Rule alerts are allowed to trigger.

Smart Rule alerts are sent to extension mailboxes.

Business Hours

Alerts trigger only during configured company business hours.

Recommended when teams operate on fixed support schedules.

Calendar Hours

Alerts can trigger at any time, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Recommended for teams requiring continuous coverage.

How Smart Rule Matching Works

Smart Rules use an “all conditions must match” approach.

This means a conversation must:

Need a response
Match all enabled filters
Meet the configured alert timing rules

Only then will it appear in Priority emails, trigger alerts, or both.

Recommended Setup Examples Broader Coverage

Recommended for general support monitoring.

Configuration example:

Minimum urgency: Normal
No sentiment filter
No intent filter

This setup captures a wider range of conversations.

High-Priority Escalations

Recommended for critical customer situations.

Configuration example:

Minimum urgency: High
Maximum sentiment: Negative
Intents: Billing or Cancellation

This setup focuses only on the most urgent and potentially sensitive conversations.

Best Practices

Start with broader matching, then narrow filters over time
Use the Preview section to understand how changes affect matching
Combine urgency and sentiment filters for more focused escalation workflows
Use Business Hours alerting to reduce overnight notification noise
Use Calendar Hours when 24/7 responsiveness is required

For any further assistance, reach out to support@timetoreply.com.