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Entity detection is currently available in an early access program (EAP). You can sign up for the EAP here. When the EAP ends, this feature will be part of the Advanced AI add-on.

The entity detection feature, which is part of agent copilot, allows you to define and detect unique information in tickets and messaging conversations. You can then use that information to populate associated custom ticket fields and power automated workflows and reports.

Entity detection is similar to intelligent triage in that it allows you to automate workflows based on information automatically detected within customer requests.

This article contains the following topics:

  • About entity detection
  • Creating an entity custom field
  • Configuring values for an entity custom field
  • Configuring ticket field update behavior and entity highlighting
  • Turning off or deleting an entity custom field
  • Taking action on a highlighted entity in a ticket or messaging conversation

Related articles:

  • Automatically detecting customer intent, language, and sentiment
  • Reporting with custom fields

About entity detection

Customer requests often contain specific pieces of information that your agents need to identify and act on in order to solve the request. Entity detection makes this process faster and easier by automatically identifying this critical information and making it available in automated workflows.

An entity is a piece of information that is meaningful for your business, such as a product name. You can create a custom field for each entity you care about, with specific values associated with it. For example, an entity custom field might be Product Line, and its values might be Camera Model A, Camera Model B, and so on. The custom field and its associated values can then be used in routing, automations, and reports to optimize your workflows.

Additionally, entity values are highlighted in blue in tickets, making it easier for agents to scan the ticket for important information. Agents can click a highlighted entity and quickly update the associated custom field with the highlighted value or else copy the value to the clipboard.

When you create an entity custom field, the system adds that field to your tickets. The field is populated via ticket updates based on the entity value detected in the ticket. You can configure how the custom field is updated.

When the field is populated, a tag is also automatically added to the ticket to help you build triggers, automations, and reporting. These tags reflect the entity values you configure and are structured as entity_<entity custom field name>_<entity value>.

Entity detection works on all channels supported by intelligent triage. It’s not possible to turn entity detection on or off for only a subset of channels. Additionally, entity detection works on ticket subjects, public comments, and internal notes. Highlighting works only on public comments and internal notes.

Understanding AI-powered prediction: Intelligent triage vs. entity detection

Intelligent triage and entity detection are two AI-powered features that make predictions to help you automate your workflows. However, each feature accomplishes this goal in slightly different ways, and their predictions can be broken down into two types:

  • Classifiers: Prebuilt by Zendesk and used in intelligent triage. Classify tickets into specific intent, language, and sentiment taxonomies based on our machine learning models.
  • Extractors: Created by you and used in entity detection. Detect and extract specific information based on your configuration.

You can see and manage all predictions from the Intelligent triage settings page in Admin Center. Classifiers appear only if you have the Advanced AI add-on.

Creating an entity custom field

Admins can create an entity custom field in Admin Center.

To create an entity custom field

  1. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Business rules > Intelligent triage.
  2. Click Add prediction.
  3. In the Name field, enter a descriptive name and click Next.
  4. Under Select field type, select Drop-down.
  5. Click Create.

Configuring values for an entity custom field

After you’ve created an entity custom field, you must configure the values that correspond to the field. For example, if your entity custom field is Product line, the values might be Camera Model A, Camera Model B, and so on.

To configure values

If you just created an entity custom field, skip to step 3.

  1. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Business rules > Intelligent triage.
  2. Click the entity custom field you created above.
  3. On the settings page for the entity custom field, click the Values tab.
  4. Choose whether to manually add individual values or upload a CSV file of all values:
    • To add values manually:
      1. Click Add new.
      2. Enter the value that should be detected in tickets.
      3. Click the checkmark.
    • To upload a CSV file:
      1. Click Upload CSV.
      2. Click Choose a file or drag and drop here to select a CSV file, or drag and drop the CSV file into the field.
      3. Click Upload.
  5. Click Save.

Configuring ticket field update behavior and entity highlighting

You can configure how the ticket field associated with the entity custom field is updated based on ticket comments or messages. You can also configure whether entity values are highlighted in tickets and messaging conversations.

To configure ticket field update behavior and entity highlighting

If you just configured the values for an entity custom field, skip to step 3.

  1. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Business rules > Intelligent triage.
  2. Click the entity custom field you created above.
  3. On the settings page for the entity custom field, click the General settings tab.
  4. Under Update ticket field with detected values, configure the behavior of the ticket field associated with the entity custom field by selecting one of the following options:
    • Don’t update ticket fields: The ticket field is not automatically populated with any value. An agent must manually populate it by clicking Update.
    • Values in first message only: The ticket field is populated with the value detected in the ticket’s first comment or conversation’s first message. Subsequent comments or messages do not automatically update the ticket field value.
    • Values in subsequent messages only: The ticket field is initially populated and subsequently updated with the value detected in any ticket comment or message except for the first one.
    • Values in all messages: The ticket field is initially populated and subsequently updated with the value detected in any ticket comment or message.
  5. If you selected any option except Don’t update ticket fields, select Replace existing ticket field value if the new value in the ticket field should overwrite the old value. Otherwise, the ticket field will not be updated if it already has a value.
  6. Under Agent tools, select Highlight entity values in all messages if you want entities to be highlighted in blue in tickets and messaging conversations. When this option is selected, agents will also be able to take action on highlighted entities.
  7. Click Save.

Turning off or deleting an entity custom field

If you no longer want an entity to be detected in tickets, you can delete the entity custom field. When you do this, all entity-related highlighting is removed from all tickets, even tickets that were created while the entity was active.

If you don’t want to delete the custom field, but you don’t want it to be active for a while, you can turn it off instead. When you do this, all entity-related highlighting is removed from all tickets, just like when you delete an entity custom field.

To turn off entity detection for an entity custom field

  1. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Business rules > Intelligent triage.
  2. Click the entity custom field you want to turn off.
  3. Deselect Turn on <entity name>.
  4. Click Save.

To delete an entity custom field

  1. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Business rules > Intelligent triage.
  2. Hover your mouse over the entity custom field you want to delete.

Taking action on a highlighted entity in a ticket or messaging conversation

When the Highlight entity values in all messages option is selected, entities are highlighted in blue in tickets and messaging conversations. Agents can click a highlighted entity and quickly update the associated custom field with the highlighted value or else copy the value to the clipboard.

When a highlighted value is completely shaded in blue, it means the associated entity custom field on the ticket has already been populated with that value. The only action available to the agent is Copy.

When a highlighted value is only outlined in blue (not shaded), it means the value hasn’t yet populated the entity custom field. The actions available to the agent are Update and Copy.

To take an action on a highlighted entity

  1. In Agent Workspace, open a ticket or messaging conversation.
  2. Click a highlighted entity value.
  3. Select from the following options:
    1. Update: (Available only if the highlighted value hasn't already populated the entity custom field) Updates the value of the associated custom field with the highlighted value.
    2. Copy: Copies the highlighted value to the clipboard.
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