Deploy the customer agent to channels

Once you've set up the customer agent, you can assign it to Facebook, WhatsApp, calling (BETA), live chat, form, or email channels.

The agent will be assigned to any new incoming conversations routed to those channels during its working hours. It’ll handle customer inquiries based on the content sources it was trained on, as well as its configured actions or guidelines.

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Use case

Sprocket Co. receives a high volume of repetitive customer inquiries. To help manage this volume, it assigns the customer agent to a live chatflow on its website, where the agent serves as the first point of contact and answers common questions. If the customer agent can't resolve an inquiry, it reassigns the conversation to a human representative according to the configured handoff process. Sprocket Co. can turn off the customer agent at any time to prevent new conversations from being routed to it.

Before you get started

Please note: if you’ve selected the Conversation Routing fallback to Customer Agent option in chatflow settings, the deployment options outlined in this article can’t be configured from customer agent settings for that chat channel. To update those deployment settings, learn how to clear the Assign to Customer Agent if no users are available checkbox in the chatflow's settings.

HubSpot Credits 

HubSpot credits are required to deploy the customer agent to channels and are only consumed when a conversation is resolved. Learn more about how customer agent uses HubSpot Credits.

Best practices

• Before deploying the agent, ensure that you have:
  • Defined the agent’s identity and permissions.
  • Configured actions and guidelines.
  • Trained the agent using content sources that follow best practices.
  • Set up handoff triggers to route conversations to a human agent when necessary.
  • Previewed and tested its responses.

• You can review personalized deployment recommendations to identify channels where the customer agent may provide the most value. Learn more about using customer agent deployment recommendations. 
• You can start by deploying the agent to a single channel or limit it to a small percentage of conversations. Then, analyze its performance before expanding to additional channels. This allows you to review escalations, identify knowledge gaps, and make adjustments to content sources or handoff rules as needed.
• When deployed directly to a channel, the customer agent handles all incoming conversations routed there. To control which conversations it handles, deploy the agent using a workflow or rule-based chatbot.

Assign the customer agent to a channel

Use these steps to deploy the customer agent directly to a channel.

To choose a channel based on personalized recommendations, learn more about using customer agent deployment recommendations. 

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to Service > Customer Agent. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to Service > Customer Agent directly.
2. In the left sidebar menu, click Deploy > Channels.
3. In the top right of the table, click Deploy agent.
   
   
4. In the right panel, click the dropdown menu and select an inbox or help desk channel:
   • You can assign the agent to WhatsApp, Facebook, calling (BETA), live chat, forms, email channels, or custom channels.
   • If you're deploying the customer agent to a form channel, you must set the Customer agent reply email value. This email address is used to send the customer agent's reply to the form submitter. Learn more about editing form settings in the conversations inbox or help desk.

1. • If you've opted into the beta Deploy Customer Agent to Custom Channels, you can assign the customer agent to custom channels. Learn more about connecting custom channels to help desk and the conversation inbox.

1. • When you select a channel, its average conversation volume will be displayed. 

6. In the Working Hours section, select an option:
   • All hours: the agent responds to new conversations at all times.
   • During specific hours: set a specific time zone, days and hours when the customer agent should respond.
   • Only outside specific hours: set specific time zone, days and hours when the agent should not respond. The agent will respond only outside of the specified hours.
7. If you selected During specific hours or Only outside of specific hours use the dropdown menus to set your working hours and configure assignment rules for when the agent isn't available.
8. If you've chosen to deploy the customer agent to an Email channel, you can specify which contacts the agent should respond to and which contacts it should never respond to. By default, if no target segments are selected, the agent responds to all contacts. 
   • To specify who the agent should respond to, click the Contact lists to include dropdown menu and select an existing contact segment. To create a new segment, click Add deployment target and set up your segment. 
   • To specify who the agent should never respond to, click the Contact lists to exclude dropdown menu and select an existing contact segment. To create a new segment, click Add deployment target and set up your segment. 
     
     
9. In the Conversation coverage field, enter the percentage of conversations you want your agent to handle. For example, if this is your first time deploying the agent, you might start with a lower percentage and gradually increase coverage over time based on performance.
10. Click Assignments when the Customer Agent isn't set to respond to expand the section. Then, use the dropdown menus to configure availability and assignment rules for those periods. 
11. To deploy the customer agent, click Deploy. To save your changes without updating the live deployment, click Save as draft. 

Once deployed to a channel, conversations assigned to the customer agent will appear in the conversations inbox or help desk.

Manage the channels the customer agent is assigned to

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to Service > Customer Agent. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to Service > Customer Agent directly.
2. In the left sidebar menu, click Deploy > Channels.
3. To remove the agent from a channel, hover over the channel and click Remove.
4. To edit the channel, hover over it and click Edit. 
   
   
5. To deploy the customer agent, click Deploy.
6. To save your changes without updating the live deployment, click Save. 

Turn the customer agent on/off

The customer agent uses HubSpot Credits. If your credits run out, the agent will temporarily stop being assigned to new conversations across all connected channels until your next reset date or until you purchase more credits. If you've purchased additional credit capacity packs, your credits may be automatically upgraded if your usage exceeds your current allotment. Learn more about automatic upgrades.

You can also manually pause customer agent assignment by turning it off. This can be useful when updating or reviewing content sources or making changes to the agent's configuration.

To turn on/off the customer agent: 

1. In your HubSpot account, click your account name in the top right corner, then click Account & Billing.
2. Click the Usage & Limits tab.
3. In the Credit Agent usage section, toggle the switch on/off.

If you turn the customer agent off, it'll continue to handle existing threads until the conversation is resolved, but won't be assigned to any new threads. New conversations will be assigned based on the rules you've configured on the Handoff page.

Please note: once customer agent assignment is turned off, visitors will no longer see Powered by AI within the header of the live chat.