Support, bounded.
A multi-channel retailer automated order support with an agent given explicit refund authority limits. It resolves the routine majority and hands the rest to a person, with full context attached.
Support volume outgrowing the team.
Order-status questions, exchanges, and small refunds made up the large majority of contacts across the retailer's channels, but each still routed to a live agent regardless of how routine it was. Response times slipped during peak periods, and the team's attention was split evenly between simple and genuinely hard cases.
Authority defined before autonomy granted.
Before launch, the retailer defined what the agent could do: check order status, process exchanges, and issue refunds below a fixed limit. Larger refunds and policy disputes go to a person. Finance and support leads set the limit.
The audit log records each agent action, including status checks, refunds, and escalations, along with its reasoning.
One agent, every channel, one order system.
The agent connects to the retailer's order system and customer channels. When a case needs a person, the escalation includes the conversation and order details.
The routine majority, resolved in seconds.
Routine contacts now resolve without a human touch, well inside the refund ceiling and fully logged. Escalations arrive at the support team with complete context, so the team's attention concentrates on the contacts that actually need judgment.