Your bot just got smarter: AI-Powered routing that reads between the lines

Your bot just got smarter: AI-Powered routing that reads between the lines

What if your bot could tell the difference? Between a visitor who just needs a quick answer, someone actively comparing options, and a frustrated customer one click away from leaving?

Most bots can't. They deliver the same response to everyone, missing the nuance that separates a casual question from an urgent problem or a buying signal.

But here's what's possible now: With AI that understands sentiment, intent, and context, your bot can actually recognize what each customer needs in real-time. Upset customers get immediate attention. Ready-to-buy visitors get routed to sales reps. Explorers get guided through their options without friction.

Enter Criteria router + AI filters

If you’re using SalesIQ’s Criteria router card in the Codeless bot builder, you already know the potential of routing chats based on conditions you define. Now, we’ve made it smarter with AI Filters - Sentiment, Intent, and Topic.
  1. Sentiment: Understands the tone of the visitor (positive, negative, neutral). You can split the conversation based on the sentiment. Example: If a visitor sounds frustrated, their sentiment is marked negative, you can route them directly to experienced agents.
  2. Intent: Detects the purpose of the conversation (like cancellation, purchase, or scheduling). You can mention the intent and split the chat that matches your intent. Example: If someone says, “I’m not happy with my order”, the intent could be cancellation, you can trigger a survey or escalation.
  3. Topic: Here you can define topics like, iPhone in ecommerce, 2bhk flat in Chicago for real estate, basically nouns. If the bot finds these topics, it will route accordingly. 
IdeaWebinar alert: Want to see more examples and deep-dive into use cases? Check out our AI-Powered engagement with SalesIQ webinar, where we covered all the new AI-based solutions in SalesIQ, including Criteria Router and AI Filters.


Info
AI Filters are multilingual and are available only on the Enterprise plan.

Let’s look at a few use cases across industries:

1. E-commerce: A customer types, “My package arrived broken. I want a refund.”
  1. Sentiment: Negative
  2. Intent: Cancellation/Return
Route this chat straight to your experienced support agents, skipping the bot’s small talk.



2. Real Estate: A visitor says, “Looking for a flat in Chicago near the lake.”
  1. Topic: Flat, Chicago
  2. Intent: Search 
Instantly connect them with the right sales rep covering that location, instead of bouncing them around.



3. IT / Tech Support: Someone writes, “The app keeps crashing whenever I try to upload a file.”
  1. Sentiment: Negative
  2. Intent: Technical Issue
  3. Topic : App
Route to your technical app support team, not the general help queue.


Implementation tips:

1. Use context variables: AI filters works only with bot context variables. Make sure to:
  1. Use the text input card to capture customer messages
  2. Enable "Save in bot context"
  3. Give a variable name
  4. Use the same in your Criteria router card
2. Prioritize your rules: When multiple rules match, the first one wins. Structure your rules by priority: Example:
  1. Rule 1: Sentiment: Negative + Intent: Cancellation
  2. Rule 2: Sentiment: Negative + Topic: App issues
If a customer says "The app is crashing again, I want to cancel," both rules technically match, but Rule 1 triggers because it's listed first.

Get started today

AI Filters are live in your Criteria Router.

With this, your bot is no longer just a gatekeeper, it’s a smart filter. It understands urgency, emotion, and intent, and directs conversations to the right place, faster. That means happier customers, less frustration, and more chances to convert. 

Set up your rules, test a few conversations, and watch how much smoother your chat flow becomes and let us know if how it works.

    • Recent Topics

    • Transforma tu Inventario: Control Inteligente y Funciones Clave en Zoho Inventory (Spanish Webinar)

      ¿Tu empresa necesita mayor trazabilidad y control en almacenes? Conoce cómo gestionar tu inventario con eficiencia y automatización... ¡y descubre las sorpresas que trae Zoho Analytics! Participa en nuestro webinar gratuito en español, este 19 de agosto

    • Dashlane discontinued its free plan: Here's why Zoho Vault's free plan is worth the switch

      Hey everyone, Dashlane password manager has officially announced that its free plan will be discontinued starting September 16, 2025. This change means that current free users will need to either upgrade to a paid subscription or export their data and

    • Mails are not being sent from custom Deluge function

      We are having troubles to implement sending Invoices / Sales_Orders etc. automatically using following deluge script: attachment_template_id = "aaaa"; record_id = "bbbb"; mail_template_id = "cccc"; //NEW aproach fileUrl = "https://www.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/settings/inventory_templates/"

    • Currency transition

      We are using Zoho CRM in Curacao, Dutch Caribbean. Our currency is currently the ANG. Curacao will be transition ing from using the ANG (Antillean Guilder) to using the XCG currency (Caribbean Guilder) on March 31st 2025, see: https://www.mcb-bank.com/caribbean-guilder.

    • Notes and Attachments visibility can now be restricted based on profiles

      Dear All, We hope you're well! We are here with a quick update about Notes and Attachments profile permissions. In the past, a record's Notes and Attachments were visible by default to all users with record access. However, as notes and attachments can

    • Zoho webinar--hard for agencies

      So, this is just a dive into our use case, and why we've been disappointed in Zoho webinar. We are a small marketing agency, and we wanted to add webinars to the services we provide, as many of our clients want to learn to use them as part of their content

    • Celebrating Raksha Bandhan with Zoho Desk: A Bond of Trust, Protection, and Service

      Raksha Bandhan, celebrated across India, symbolizes the sacred bond of protection and affection between siblings. “Raksha” means protection, “Bandhan” means bond or knot: together, it represents a knot of care and security. On this occasion, we'd like

    • Banking > Import statements with a csv file

      Good morning, I am regularly using the "import statement" option to match my transactions. I've been using csv files produced by my bank online and was able to import my transactions. Until now. Thank you for your help for fixing this ! Alex.

    • ZOHO BOOKS - RECEIVING MORE ITEMS THAN ORDERED

      Hello, When trying to enter a vendor's bill that contains items with bigger quantity than ordered in the PO (it happens quite often) - The system would not let us save the bill and show this error: "Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered." 

    • Has anyone successfully added Microsoft Graph API Oauth2 as a connection?

      I'm having trouble getting Microsoft Graph API created as a connection in zoho crm. Has anyone successfully added Microsoft Graph API Oauth2 as a connection? My issue is not necessarily on the Zoho side, but understanding how to set up the Microsoft side

    • Syncing Timesheets between Projects and Desk

      All users able to see their own timelog entries from all apps in one place, synced immediately. All managers able to view total/all time entries from one place. This is something that has come up for us and multiple clients. Example: we have a client

    • Spell Check default language

      Hello All, Is it possible to set the Spell Check default language? I can't find it in the settings. Thanks a lot! Levente

    • Zoho Backstage 3.0 - Boostez vos événements avec des outils malins

      Zoho Backstage vous accompagne dans l’organisation d’événements réussis, avec des outils qui simplifient la planification, optimisent l’exécution et renforcent la connexion avec votre public. La version 2.0 a apporté une nouvelle interface, plus de flexibilité

    • Portal user activity reporting

      Aside from the metrics section in the admin dashboard, is there a way to view/create reports for portal user activity? Im looking for a more granular option to see exactly what users are utilizing the portal. Thanks!

    • Automation #11 - Auto Update Custom Fields with Values from Emails

      This is a monthly series designed to help you get the best out of Desk. We take our cue from what's being discussed or asked about the most in our community. Then we find the right use cases that specifically highlight solutions, ideas and tips to optimize

    • Admins to set Agents Picture

      Admins should not have to rely on agents to set a nice profile picture for them. Admins get the headshot pictures from HR and should be able to upload and set their picture, not rely on them to: 1) upload a picture at all 2) upload a good picture 3) upload

    • Time Tracking Reporting and Billing

      I wish for the time tracking module to be enhanced further. Currently it is independent of Support Plans and Contracts. Support Plans and Contracts are also mostly separate. We need a better dashboard of this with the ability to natively mark billed or

    • Enhanced Email Signature Folding

      We have departmental signatures setup which are great, however, when viewing ticket details, it gets very overwhelming when scrolling though threads and conversations where you scroll past ten different signatures of your own team, then ten signatures

    • How to add formatting in zoho.cliq.postToUser(...) message?

      In a CRM Deluge function, I'm trying to use the message formatting guidelines given here: https://www.zoho.com/deluge/help/cliq/posting-to-zoho-cliq.html#message-formats My message is: message: #Title text. The result in Cliq is: #Title text. (no large

    • How to add line breaks in zoho.cliq.postToUser(...) message?

      In a CRM function using Deluge I'm sending this message and attempting to add some line breaks but they are ignored. Is there another way to add these breaks? My message: message: New urgent task\nDescription \nThis is a fake description.\n A new line?

    • Zia Agents/End of Day Reports

      As a manager or owner it would be nice if Zia analyzed today's (or this week's tickets) and gave an end of the day report to management team. - what important tickets were worked on or submitted today? - what agents were unproductive today and answered

    • Project Cost Tracking

      I see there are questions/concerns that Zoho doesn't track costs to a tasks in a project. We are a manufacturer and are in the early stages of tracking costs to project. I would like to expand out the COGS Chart of accounts in Books and record costs via

    • How to record if the payment made is return due to transaction failed.

      So there is Bill of $2000, and a payments made transaction to clear the bill. The amount is actually deducted from bank account. However, a few days later, I found the bank returned only $1750 cause there are $250 bank service charge for this failed transaction.

    • Help Center Customization UI

      The customization screens for the help center needs the UI improved. It looks straight out of 2004. The Zoho Desk normal UI is great. All it takes is uniform fonts and colors across all parts of the tool... I compare this to Zendesk Guide.

    • Este domínio já está associado a esta conta

      Fui fazer meu cadastro na zoho e quando digitei meu domínio recebi essa mensagem que meu domínio estava associado a uma conta que eu nem faço idéia de quem seja. Como que faço pra resolver isso? Atenciosamente, Anderson Souza.

    • I need some help in Expenses Per Diem Policy

      this is my script written for restricting the PerDiem Components. Say if Lodging and Per Day Allowance both is selected from Per Diem Page then the report should gets auto rejected. When Im trying to executing it says the following error {"code":11,"message":"The

    • Adding Photos to Dashboards on Zoho Analytics

      I am creating a dashboard to showcase data from survey results from focus groups. I am creating a focus group participant profile tab where it is filtered by the name of the participant and showcases information about them using KPI widgets. I am running

    • What is the difference between Retainer invoice and Advance Payments?

      Retainer invoice seem like they are just advance payments with extra details. Instead of creating a Sales Order with order details, a retainer is created. It feels like they are a workaround to link advance payments with sales orders. Is there any advantage

    • Exporting record notes in bulk

      Hi team, Is it possible to bulk export the notes attached to a record? i.e to a CSV file or otherwise. Our use case is exporting all notes for our lead/account/Deal records. We have another system we'd like to import these notes to but I can't seem to

    • Field customization

      Hi Team Good day! I am a commission agent who sell and purchase goods from vendors, while in purchasing invoices I am not able to deduct the expenses such as commission and other expenses on actual amount. Kindly help me to customize the invoice based

    • vendors / customers with 2 different address and gst no

      Why can't we have option for more than one address and depending on the state option for more than 1 GST no. ? We have customers / vendors PAN india with different addresses and GST no. for different states.

    • Error: Invalid Element gst_no, Invalid Element gst_treatment, Invalid Element place_of_contact

      so i am creating a new contact post request and i want add gst infomation when amount is above 50000 and if pass gst info in request body then i get this errors > Error: Invalid Element gst_no, Invalid Element gst_treatment, Invalid Element place_of_contact

    • Add multiple Billing Addresses under one GST number

      My client owns multiple businesses in various locations but they all come under one GST. Is there a way to add multiple billing addresses for the same GST? Managing this by adding multiple Shipping addresses is not an option. The client wants the GST

    • Zoho Mail API - Upload Attachment

      https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/api/post-upload-attachments.html I followed the steps from the API documentation and wrote a backend in JavaScript to send emails. Normal emails are sent without any problems. However, I can’t send emails with attachments.

    • Unable to create custom fields for shipment order

      I'm unable to create custom fields for shipment orders, even though the custom fields are set up correctly. A request to the following endpoint: https://www.zohoapis.com/inventory/v1/settings/preferences/customfields?organization_id=${ZOHO_ORGANIZATION_ID}&entity=shipment_order

    • Kaizen #202 - Answering Your Questions | Testing and Using REST APIs in Widgets

      Hello Developers! Welcome back to a fresh week of Kaizen! Thank you for your active participation in sharing feedback and queries for the 200th milestone. This week, we will look at the following queries related to widget: Widget Testing Using REST API

    • Introducing the 'Send as Email' option on the Zoho Desk iOS mobile app

      Hello everyone! In the latest version(v2.10.2) of the Zoho Desk iOS app, we have brought in support for the 'Send as Email' option while creating a ticket. This feature enables you to reach out to the customers by sending outbound emails. The emails are

    • Zoho Forms Not Loading on Website – DNS Resolution Error

      Dear Zoho Support Team, User ID : 20069458731 We are experiencing an issue with the Zoho Form embedded on our website (https://vitel.com.tr/satis-destek-formu/). The form is not loading, and the following error message appears in the browser: “forms.zohopublic.eu

    • Data backup retention question/

      My zohocrm subscription gives me 2 full data backups per month. I have a scheduled backup configured to run twice a month. I just went to download my backup and i can't find it, it ran about 9 days ago... From what i can tell with google zoho only keeps

    • Basic Apple Watch App

      Sometimes I leave my phone behind. I will get push notifications that tickets are updated etc.. It would be nice to at least view them and do a few basic functions. reassign. public reply. private comment.

    • Next Page