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Managing Escalations

The Escalation Router management page provides visibility into escalation statistics and configuration status across your organization. You can monitor escalation trends, review configuration, and test the escalation system.

Accessing the Management Page​

Navigate to Manage > Escalation > Escalation Router to access the management page.

Dashboard Overview​

The management page displays key information in several sections:

Status Section​

Shows the current operational status of your Escalation Router:

StatusIndicatorDescription
ActiveGreenRouter is configured and operational
DegradedYellowConfiguration exists but mailbox access is failing
InactiveRedRouter is disabled or not configured

The status section also shows when the last escalation was sent and when the last response was received.

Statistics Section​

View escalation metrics for the last 30 days:

MetricDescription
TotalTotal escalations created
ResolvedSuccessfully resolved (approved, denied, or more info provided)
PendingCurrently awaiting response
ExpiredExpired without a response

Additional metrics include:

  • Avg Response Time - Average time from escalation sent to response received
  • Approval Rate - Percentage of resolved escalations that were approved

Configuration Section​

Displays your current Escalation Router settings:

  • Mailbox Address - The shared mailbox used for escalations
  • Display Name - The "From" name in escalation emails
  • M365 Connection - The Microsoft 365 connection used
  • Default Expiration - How long before unanswered escalations expire
  • Require Auth - Whether authentication is required for web responses

Click Edit to modify these settings (see Configuration Options).

Quick Actions​

Send Test Escalation​

Test the escalation system at any time:

  1. Click Send Test Escalation
  2. Enter a recipient email address
  3. Click Send Test
  4. Verify the email arrives and test the response flow

This is useful for:

  • Verifying the system is working after configuration changes
  • Testing mailbox permissions
  • Training team members on the escalation workflow

Understanding Escalation States​

Escalations progress through the following states:

pending → sent → viewed (optional) → resolved
                                  → expired
                                  → cancelled
StateDescription
PendingCreated but not yet sent
SentEmail sent, waiting for response
ViewedWeb link clicked (optional tracking)
ResolvedResponse received (approved/denied/more info)
ExpiredNo response within expiration period
CancelledCancelled by admin or system

Response Handling​

When a response is received, the system:

  1. Validates the response - Checks that the escalation is in a respondable state
  2. Records the decision - Stores the decision (approved, denied, more_info_requested, or unknown)
  3. Captures comments - Saves any comments or additional details
  4. Creates notification - Notifies the waiting agent via the AgentNotifications system
  5. Resumes agent - The agent continues execution with the human's decision

Response Methods​

Responses can come through two channels:

Email Reply​

Recipients reply to the escalation email. The system parses the response:

  • APPROVED / APPROVE / YES - Decision: approved
  • DENIED / DENY / NO - Decision: denied
  • MORE INFO / QUESTION - Decision: more_info_requested

The system also attempts to infer intent from natural language responses.

Web Portal​

Recipients click one of the buttons in the email:

  • Approve - Opens web form pre-set to approve
  • Deny - Opens web form pre-set to deny
  • Need More Info - Opens web form pre-set to request more information

The web form allows adding optional comments before submitting.

Auto-Escalation​

For SME Agents with configured escalation chains:

  1. If the primary recipient doesn't respond within the configured timeframe
  2. The escalation is automatically re-sent to the alternate contact
  3. The alternate contact receives the same escalation with a fresh token

Auto-escalation only occurs once per escalation (to prevent infinite loops).

Expiration Handling​

When an escalation expires:

  1. Status changes to "expired"
  2. Web response tokens are invalidated
  3. The waiting agent remains paused
warning

Expired escalations require manual intervention. You may need to:

  • Create a new escalation to the recipient
  • Make a decision on behalf of the recipient
  • Cancel the agent's pending action

Troubleshooting​

Escalation Email Not Received​

  1. Check the recipient's spam/junk folder
  2. Verify the mailbox permissions in Build > Connections > Microsoft 365
  3. Check that the escalation status shows "Sent"
  4. Send a test escalation to confirm the system is working

Response Not Processing​

  1. For email replies, ensure the reply includes the original subject line with [ESC-XXXXXXXX]
  2. For web responses, check that the token hasn't already been used
  3. Verify the escalation hasn't already been resolved or expired

Agent Not Resuming​

  1. Check that a notification was created in the AgentNotifications system
  2. Verify the agent's execution is in a "waiting" state
  3. Check for errors in the execution logs