AI agents are AI-powered bots designed to resolve customer support requests without input from live agents. AI agent usage is measured by automated resolutions. This article provides an overview of the automated resolutions pricing model for AI agents.
This article contains the following sections:
Related articles:
- Overview of AI agents
- Moving to automated resolutions from existing bot pricing plans
- Monitoring your automated resolution usage
- Turning off automated resolution features
- On-demand: Learn how to use AI agents (Free training course on AI-powered intents and autoreplies)
About the latest pricing plan
The latest pricing for AI agents measured by automated resolutions was introduced on August 14, 2024. For details, see AI agents in the comparison table on the Zendesk Suite plans page.
The automated resolution pricing and overage calculation takes effect on accounts using AI agent features based on several factors, including:
- When the account implemented Zendesk bots or AI agents
- Account renewal date
- Previous usage commitments, such as Answer Bot resolutions or Zendesk bot monthly active users (MAUs)
In addition to the new pricing, accounts created before the introduction of AI agents and automated resolutions will see changes to their account management pages in Admin Center. For information on these UI changes, see Moving to automated resolutions from existing bot pricing plans.
The following table describes the configuration options and history that can affect when the new pricing is applied to an account that is using AI agent features, including:
- Account creation date: When the account was created. Refers to the creation date of a permanent account, or a trial account that became a permanent account.
- Used Zendesk bots: Was the account using Zendesk bot features before the introduction of AI agents?
- Pre-existing bot usage commitment: Is the account using Answer Bot resolutions or Zendesk bot (MAUs) to measure bot usage?
- Changes to pre-existing bot commitment after April 16, 2024: Were there changes to a pre-existing bot usage commitment agreement after April 16, 2024?
| Account creation date | Used Zendesk bots? | Pre-existing bot usage commitment? | Changes to pre-existing bot usage commitment after April 16, 2024? | Automated resolution and overage pricing application date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On or after April 16, 2024 | No | N/A | N/A | August 14, 2024 |
|
Before April 16, 2024 |
No | No | N/A | August 14, 2024 |
| Yes | No | N/A | First account renewal date after August 14, 2024 | |
| Yes | Yes | No | First account renewal date after October 16, 2024 | |
| Yes | Yes | Yes | October 16, 2024 |
Additionally, on November 6, 2024, customers currently using Answer Bot resolutions or Zendesk bot MAUs will see the following changes in their accounts:
- Any unused Answer Bot resolutions or Zendesk bot monthly active users will be converted to automated resolutions.
- A new automated resolutions dashboard will be available to track your usage, replacing the existing Answer Bot resolution and Zendesk bot MAU dashboards.
Understanding how automated resolutions are measured
An automated resolution is counted when a customer’s issue is successfully resolved without live-agent intervention, by a conversation bot or by an autoreply via email or web form. Automated resolutions are counted per conversation rather than per user.
Automated resolutions in conversation bots
An automated resolution is counted after 72 hours of inactivity if AI evaluation has confirmed that the bot's response was relevant and the last interaction was one of the following:
- The end user provided positive feedback (“Yes, problem solved”)
- If no feedback is provided, the conversation will be evaluated using AI
- The bot shared help center articles in response to the end user’s
request:
- If articles were shared using Article Recommendation or an article step in an answer flow, the end user must have clicked on at least one article link.
- If articles were shared in a generative reply, the end user doesn’t have to click on an article for an automated resolution to be counted.
- The end user reached the final step in an answer flow.
The end user is anyone who makes a request and interacts with the bot.
Automated resolutions in autoreplies with articles
If you’re using autoreplies with articles in email notifications or web forms, an automated resolution is counted in either of the following situations:
- An article is suggested to the user, and the user clicks “Yes, close my request” in:
- A feedback prompt on the article page opened via the email notification or web form.
- A feedback prompt embedded in the email notification or web form.
- An article is suggested to the user, and within 72 hours, the user clicks on the suggested
article link and
- The ticket status is marked solved before any user or public agent reply or
- No user or public agent reply has been added to the ticket.
Automated resolutions in autoreplies based on intelligent triage
- An autoreply is added to a ticket using a trigger based on an intelligent triage condition.
- No user or public agent reply has been added to the ticket in 72 hours.
Automated resolutions in Web Widget (Classic)
If you’re using Web Widget (Classic) to deliver article recommendations to your end users, an automated resolution is counted when the bot has suggested at least one article via Article Recommendations and the end user has clicked on at least one article preview link or provided positive feedback “Yes, problem solved”.
The conversation is considered unresolved if:
- The user initiated a live chat
- The user submitted a contact form
- The user requested a callback
- The user provided negative feedback (“No, I still need help”)
- The bot didn’t understand the request
In the Web Widget (Classic), a session ends after 72 hours of inactivity or when the end user closes the browser or tab.
Actions that don’t contribute to automated resolution calculations
- Answer Bot for Slack (Article recommendation)
- Answer Bot API (Article recommendation)
- Article Recommendation for Mobile SDK Classic
- Article Recommendation for Agents
- Zendesk bots for Microsoft Teams
Understanding the default allocation of automated resolutions per plan
All Zendesk Suite and Support plans include a baseline number of automated resolutions based on your plan type. You can increase the number of automated resolutions to avoid exceeding your allotted amount. Alternatively, from the Account > Usage > Overage page, you can choose to pause AI agents functionality when you reach your limit in order to prevent overage.
You can monitor your usage of automated resolutions (see Monitoring your automated resolution usage). If you want to ensure your account isn't consuming any automated resolutions, you can remove all capabilities related to AI agents (see Turning off automated resolution features).
Default automated resolution allocation per plan
Most Zendesk usage plans include a number of automated resolutions. If you’re not part of a Suite or Support plan or find that your plan doesn’t provide enough automated resolutions, you will be able to purchase more as needed, or a billing admin can choose to pause the AI agent functionality.
The following table shows how many automated resolutions are included in each plan. Light agents are not included in the default allocation calculation. Accounts on all plans have a maximum of 10,000 allocated automated resolutions per year, applied after the new pricing plan takes effect. If you need more automated resolutions, you can add them to your account.
| Plan | Zendesk Suite | Support (standalone) |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | 15 automated resolutions/agent/month | 15 automated resolutions/agent/month |
|
Professional Growth |
10 automated resolutions/agent/month | 10 automated resolutions/agent/month |
| Team | 5 automated resolutions/agent/month | 5 automated resolutions/agent/month |
Your allocation of automated resolutions expires annually or at the end of your subscription term (if less than a year) unless you are on a non-standard subscription term.
Adding automated resolutions to your account
After the trial period ends, you can increase the number of automated resolutions to avoid exceeding your allotted amount. Using more than your allotted resolutions can result in overage charges.
You can add to your automated resolution allotment by purchasing 100 or more automated resolutions ahead of time. Also called committed usage, this approach allows you to raise the maximum number of automated resolutions available to you in advance. Committed usage provides a better per-resolution cost than overage billing (or pay-as-you-go).
If you choose an overage billing (or pay-as-you-go) approach to automated resolutions management, the cost per automated resolution over your allotment will be greater than the cost per automated resolution when you buy a fixed number to increase your allotment. You can prevent overage billing by limiting the number of automated resolutions available in your account each month. Overage is billed monthly, regardless of your subscription terms.
Avoiding automated resolution overage
You can manage overage billing on the Overage dashboard in Admin Center.
Here, you can choose from two automated resolution overage options:
- Maintain functionality and allow overage (default setting), which lets AI agents continue to serve customers after you exceed your account’s allocated or purchased automated resolutions. When you select this option, your account will be charged for automated resolution overages.
- Pause functionality and don’t allow overage, which prevents AI agents from serving customers after you exceed your accounts allocated or purchased automated resolutions. When you select this option, any capabilities that require automated resolutions will no longer function and more support requests will be routed to live agents.
To update your automated resolution overage setting
- In Admin Center, click Account in the sidebar, then select Usage > Overage.
- Select your automated resolution overage option: Maintain functionality and allow overage, or Pause functionality and don’t allow overage.
- Click Save.
Managing automated resolutions
The Automated resolutions dashboard provides a look into how many automated resolutions you’re using. With the information gleaned from the dashboard, you can determine how well your bot is deflecting customer support requests and whether you should make any changes to your current bot configurations. This information can also help you forecast your future automated resolution needs.
You can view this dashboard in Admin Center (Account > Usage > Automated resolutions).
If you want to ensure your account isn't consuming any automated resolutions, you can remove all capabilities related to AI agents. See Overview of AI agents for links to usage articles for all AI agent capabilities.
Finding more information
If you have feedback or questions related to AI agents, visit our community forum where we collect and manage customer product feedback. For general assistance with your Zendesk products, contact Zendesk Customer Support.