This guide outlines how to enable and configure the AI Agent on Zendesk Sunshine Conversations – Messaging.

How It Works

Once connected, the AI Agent acts as the first responder to incoming customer chat messages. If the AI cannot assist or if escalation is required, it will route the conversation to a live agent or initiate an email-based escalation.

Integration Instructions

Enable Zendesk Sunshine Conversations

Steps:

1. In your Shipped Suite Admin, go to Channels.

2. Click Enable under Zendesk Sunshine Conversations.

3. Enter your Zendesk subdomain.

4. Authorize app permissions when prompted.

5. You’ll land on the Zendesk Sunshine Conversations Settings page.

Configurations

Enable End User Authentication (Recommended)

This allows logged-in users to be automatically authenticated and access their conversation history across sessions and devices.

Steps:

1. In Zendesk Admin Center, go to:
   Account > End user authentication

2. Click the Messaging tab and then Create key.

3. Name the key Shipped AI, then click Next.

4. Copy the Shared Secret key and save it for later.

5. Click Hide forever.

6. Copy the Key ID and save it for later.

7. In the Shipped Suite Admin, go to Zendesk Sunshine Conversations Settings:

   • Paste the Shared Secret in the Shared Secret field.

   • Paste the Key ID in the Key ID field.

8. Click Save.

Greeting Message (Optional)

You can set a custom greeting message that appears when the customer opens the chat. If left blank, the AI will only respond once the customer sends a message.

Additional Filters (For Multi-Brand Zendesk Accounts)

You can configure which brands the AI Agent should respond to.

Steps:

1. Brands to Intercept: Enter the brand(s) the AI should respond to.

2. Brands to Ignore: If our AI Agent is also intercepting other brands in the your organization, enter those brand(s) here. Otherwise, leave this field blank.

3. Click Save.

⚠️ Important Note on Brand Filtering

If the brand filter is left blank, the AI will intercept conversations for all brands in your organization by default.

To prevent the AI from intercepting unintended brands, be sure to set up brand filters correctly in the Merchant Admin.

Example Scenarios:

• If the AI should intercept both Brand A and Brand B:

  • Set the intercept brands filter to Brand A

  • Set the ignore brands filter to Brand B

  • (Repeat the reverse setup in the Brand B instance: intercept Brand B, ignore Brand A)

• If the AI should only intercept Brand A (and Brand B is not enabled):

  • Set the intercept brands filter to Brand A

  • Leave the ignore brands filter blank

Escalation Method

By default, the AI escalates to a live agent when available. If no live agents are online, it will prompt the customer for an email and escalate via email.

You can choose between two escalation methods:

Option 1: New Ticket and Merge (Recommended)

• The original conversation is closed and tagged bot_resolved.

• A new ticket is created titled "Escalated Chat Transcript", containing:

  • The original chat transcript

  • An internal note with the escalation summary

  • The shipped-ai-escalated tag

• The closed conversation is then merged into the new ticket and tagged closed_by_merge.

Option 2: Existing Ticket

• The conversation is tagged with shipped-ai-escalated.

• An internal note is added with the escalation summary.

• When the human agent responds to the customer, they would need to switch the channel to email as the ticket has been escalated via email.

Handling Bot-Resolved Conversations

AI-handled conversations don’t appear in Zendesk Support until they’re escalated or marked as resolved. When the conversation is synced into Zendesk Support, it appears in the New status for resolved or Open for escalated.

We recommend setting up an trigger to closeout the resolved conversations to prevent it going into the human queue.

Zendesk Trigger

Steps:

1. In Zendesk Admin, go to Triggers > Create a new trigger.

2. Add a name, description, and category.

3. Under Conditions:

   • Ticket > Tags contains bot_resolved

   • Ticket > Tags does not contain shipped-ai-escalated

   • and any other necessary conditions

4. Under Actions:

   • Ticket > Status set to Solved.

5. Click Save.

Enabling AI Agent Interception on Zendesk

When ready to activate the AI Agent:

1. Disable any other bots that may conflict.

2. In Zendesk Admin Center, navigate to AI > AI Agent > Marketplace Bots

3. Click into Shipped.AI.

4. Check the channels you wish to enable.

5. Click Save.

Need Help?

If you have any questions or need assistance with the setup, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help!