Every employee request follows the same journey before an agent begins working it. The request is clarified, additional information is gathered, simple questions may be answered automatically, and cases are routed to the most appropriate team.
Together, intake, deflection, and triage help ensure that agents receive complete, well-classified cases while reducing manual routing and unnecessary case creation.
How requests become cases
Every request begins with intake. If the AI Assistant can answer the question, the conversation ends without creating a case. Otherwise, a case is created, and triage determines who should own it and how to classify it.
Intake
Most requests begin as a conversation. Employees can ask for help through chat, email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, the mobile app, a case creation form, or other connected channels.
During intake, the AI Assistant:
- Clarifies the employee's request when additional information is needed.
- Identifies the most appropriate category based on the meaning of the request rather than individual keywords.
- Collects the information agents need before creating a case.
Cases can also be created directly from a form or by an agent on behalf of an employee.
Every new case receives:
- A unique case ID generated from your case numbering configuration.
- A plain-language title that summarizes the request while avoiding unnecessary personal or sensitive information.
AI intake briefs
Each category includes an AI intake brief that tells the AI Assistant which information to collect before creating a case.
For example, a Leave and Absence category might ask the assistant to collect the leave type, relevant dates, and whether the employee needs a balance check or a correction.
Well-written intake briefs reduce follow-up questions and help agents begin working cases more quickly.
For guidance on writing effective intake briefs, see Write effective AI intake briefs.
AI-assisted intake and deflection
When AI-only case creation is enabled, employees begin by chatting with the AI Assistant.
During the conversation, the assistant can:
- Search the knowledge base.
- Ask follow-up questions.
- Check for duplicate requests.
- Answer straightforward questions without creating a case.
This process is known as AI deflection. If the assistant resolves the employee's question during the conversation, no case is created.
Only requests that require tracked HR work continue to case creation.
If AI-only case creation is disabled, employees create cases directly using a form instead of beginning with a conversation.
Automatic triage
As soon as a case is created, triage runs automatically.
Triage answers four questions:
| Question | Result |
| Who owns this case? | Assigns a team. |
| Who should work it? | Assigns an agent when possible. |
| What is this request about? | Applies categories and flags. |
| How urgent is it? | Assigns a priority of Critical, High, Normal, or Low. |
Triage uses the configuration defined in Case Setup, including:
- Team descriptions
- Agent expertise
- Category definitions
- Flag definitions
- Priority definitions
Strong configuration helps improve routing accuracy and reduces the need for manual intervention.
Human decisions always take precedence
AI assists with routing, but people remain in control.
If an agent creates a case and manually assigns the team, assignee, categories, flags, or priority, those values are preserved.
Automatic triage completes only the information that hasn't already been provided.
Fair and consistent routing
Triage uses the content of the request together with your Case Setup configuration.
It doesn't use personal characteristics such as the requester's name or profile photo when determining routing or classification.
This helps promote consistent routing decisions across similar requests.
What happens after triage?
After triage completes, one of the following outcomes applies.
| Outcome | What happens |
| Assigned | The case is assigned to both a team and an agent. The agent can begin work immediately. |
| Claimable | A team is assigned, but no individual agent is selected. Agents in that team can claim the case from the claim queue. |
| Manual triage | Triage can't confidently determine the correct team or assignee. A case manager reviews the case and completes the routing manually. |
Cases remain unavailable for claiming until automatic triage has finished.
Depending on your organization's configuration, agents may also have a maximum number of open cases they can claim.
How Case Setup influences routing
Every stage of intake and triage is shaped by the configuration in Case Setup.
| Configuration | Effect |
| Teams | Determines which teams and agents can receive cases. |
| Categories | Defines the types of requests employees can raise and guides AI intake. |
| AI intake briefs | Defines the information the AI Assistant collects before creating a case. |
| Flags | Identifies important characteristics such as urgency, risk, or financial impact. |
| Priority definitions | Helps determine how urgent each case is. |
| AI-only case creation | Determines whether requests begin with the AI Assistant or a case creation form. |
| Case numbering | Defines the format of new case IDs. |
Strong team descriptions, clear categories, and well-written intake briefs help improve both intake quality and routing accuracy.