Most questions a Digital Assistant answers are routine: opening times, parking, prices. A smaller number really matter to the person asking. Can I bring my wheelchair? I need to store medication. My child is missing. I want to make a complaint.
How an assistant handles those moments decides whether people trust it. Here’s how we approach them.
Reassure first
For sensitive but answerable questions, such as access requirements, medical equipment or allergies, our Digital Assistants are set up to reassure first. The person gets the information they need, clearly and warmly, before anything else. If your team needs to follow up, the Assistant then raises it with the right team.
Know where the line is
Every Assistant works inside boundaries you approve:
- Approved knowledge only. It answers from your information. Where it searches the web, it can be limited to sites you trust, and it cites them.
- Approved actions only. It only does the tasks you have switched on for it.
- Honest about being AI. It says it is an AI assistant. You can show a short notice before the first question, for example asking people not to share personal medical details.
- Non-clinical in health settings. In healthcare and wellbeing services, the Assistant helps with information, navigation and access. Anything clinical goes to your team.
Hand over with the full story
When a person is needed, the Assistant doesn’t just say “please contact us”. It:
- collects only the contact details your team needs;
- logs a case;
- sends your team a summary with the conversation attached, or raises a ticket in your helpdesk.
Your team picks it up already knowing what happened. The customer doesn’t have to explain it all again.
On the phone, the Assistant can transfer the caller to a person, and comes back to the call if nobody answers. On WhatsApp, your team can step into a live conversation, reply themselves, and hand it back when they’re done.
Urgent means urgent
Some situations need people immediately. For safety concerns and urgent welfare issues, the Assistant points the person to on-site staff or emergency services straight away and flags the case to your team as urgent. Decisions in those moments stay with your people.
Reviewed afterwards
Every conversation is reviewed in Cortex, including how it ended and whether it was handed over, so you can check that sensitive questions were handled the way you intended.
Designing for the questions that matter most is how a Digital Assistant earns trust for all the others. Talk to us about the boundaries your service needs.