LiyaSupport
Automations

Escalation triggers

Automatically escalate conversations to senior agents or managers when risk signals are detected.

5 min read Updated July 2026

Escalation triggers fire when a conversation shows signs of heightened risk — customer frustration, SLA breach, repeated contact, or explicit escalation requests. Instead of relying on agents to notice these signals manually, Liya detects them and takes action automatically.

AI-detected escalation signals

Liya continuously monitors conversations for the following escalation signals:

SignalDetection methodExample
Escalation requestNLP on customer message"I want to speak to a manager", "I need to escalate this"
Legal languageKeyword + context analysis"I'm going to contact my lawyer", "This is a legal matter"
Threat to churnSentiment + keyword"I'm cancelling my account", "switching to a competitor"
Repeated contactConversation countSame customer opens 3rd ticket in 7 days on the same topic
Unresolved SLA breachSLA policy + timeFirst-response deadline missed by > 1 hour
High frustrationSentiment trackingSentiment stays 'frustrated' after 2 agent replies
Negative CSATCSAT score receivedCustomer rates 1 or 2 stars on a prior interaction

Creating an escalation rule

1

Go to Settings → Automations → Escalation triggers

Click Create escalation rule.

2

Set the trigger event

Choose when the rule evaluates: on a new customer message, after agent reply, or on a time-based interval (e.g. "conversation idle for 4 hours").

3

Add escalation conditions

Add one or more conditions that identify the escalation scenario. Common combinations:

  • Escalation signal = "escalation_request"
  • AI sentiment = frustrated AND reply count ≥ 3
  • SLA status = breached AND priority = urgent
  • Conversation tag = "legal-flag"
4

Configure escalation actions

Actions typically include one or more of:

  • Reassign to a senior agent or escalation group
  • Set priority to Urgent
  • Add tag: escalated
  • Notify the team lead via Slack or in-app notification
  • Send a holding reply to the customer (e.g. "I'm escalating this to a senior team member who will be in touch within the hour.")

Escalation notification templates

When an escalation fires, Liya can send a notification to the escalation agent or group. Configure the notification template in Settings → Automations → Escalation → Notification template.

Available variables in templates:

  • {{customer_name}} — customer's name
  • {{ticket_id}} — conversation ID
  • {{escalation_reason}} — the signal that triggered escalation
  • {{conversation_url}} — direct link to the conversation in Liya
  • {{priority}} — current priority level

Escalation tracking

View all escalated conversations in Dashboard → Escalations. This view shows:

  • All conversations currently flagged as escalated
  • The trigger that caused each escalation
  • Time since escalation was triggered
  • Current assignee and status

Escalation metrics are also available in the Analytics dashboard — including escalation rate, average resolution time post-escalation, and most common escalation signals.

Review your escalation rate weekly. A high escalation rate often indicates gaps in your knowledge base (customers aren't getting good first answers) or SLA policies that are too tight.