TLDR
In under five minutes you can create an always-on watchdog that detects escalation intent in customer feedback, analyzes emotional intensity and relationship trajectory, and alerts your team in Slack or email — often before the customer takes action.
What is Escalation Shield Agent?
Escalation Shield Agent is Enterpret's AI-powered early warning system that catches fire before it spreads. It continuously monitors every feedback stream in real time, identifies customers planning to bypass your support channels, measures emotional intensity, and alerts the right team — transforming potential churn events into trust-building moments.
Perfect for CX, Support, and Account teams who want to intervene proactively on high-risk accounts before escalations reach executives or social media.
How to setup an Escalation Shield Agent
From the Agents tab on Enterpret, click on Escalation Shield Agent to create a new Agent.
Step 1: Configure Feedback Filter (Optional)
Specify which feedback the agent should monitor. You can filter by:
Customer tier or segment (e.g., Enterprise accounts only)
Product area (e.g., Core Platform, Billing, Authentication)
Channel (e.g., Support tickets, Sales calls, Social media)
Tags or metadata (e.g., Priority customers, accounts > $100K ARR)
Example filters:
Monitor only Enterprise tier accounts with ARR > $50K
Exclude refund and billing-related feedback
Focus on support tickets and Zendesk conversations only
Note: If no feedback filter is specified, the agent will monitor all feedback by default for escalation risk.
Step 2: Configure Alert Destinations
Specify where alerts should be delivered. You can route different severity levels to different channels:
Critical alerts (high risk + high-value accounts): CEO/Leadership Slack channel, Account Owner email
High alerts (clear escalation intent): Support Manager Slack channel, Team lead email
Medium alerts (elevated risk): General escalations channel
Show Image
Note: Configuring at least one email or Slack channel as the alert destination is mandatory for creating an Escalation Shield Agent.
Step 3: Name and Activate Your Agent
Give your agent a descriptive name (e.g., "Enterprise Escalation Monitor" or "Product Escalation Watchdog") and click CREATE to activate.
Show Image
That's it! Your Escalation Shield Agent is now active and monitoring for escalation risk 24/7.
Show Image
Understanding Your Alerts
When the Escalation Shield Agent detects escalation risk, it generates context-rich alerts containing:
Alert Components
Customer's Exact Words: Direct quotes showing escalation intent or emotional intensity
Risk Factor Breakdown: What specifically triggered the alert (intent score, emotion score, sentiment shift)
Customer Context:
Customer tier and ARR impact
Subscription length and lifecycle stage
Product area and feature involved
Previous escalation history
Conversation Metadata:
Channel and timestamp
Agent involvement and response attempts
Thread history and resolution status
AI Confidence Scores: Transparency into model certainty
Direct Links: One-click access to source tickets in your support system
Sample Alert
Best-Practice Tips
Establish Clear Ownership: Assign an on-call rotation for escalation alerts to ensure every alert gets immediate eyes
Create Intervention Playbooks: Document response templates for common escalation scenarios (feature delays, bugs, billing issues)
Route by Severity: Send critical alerts (high-value accounts + high risk) directly to account owners or leadership channels
Close the Loop: Mark alerts as "handled" or "resolved" to build team accountability and improve accuracy over time
Start Narrow, Expand Later: Begin monitoring only your highest-tier accounts, then expand as your team builds confidence in response workflows
Weekly Review Ritual: Dedicate 15 minutes each week to review alert patterns and adjust thresholds based on team capacity
Use Thumbs Feedback: Mark every alert "helpful" or "not helpful" to improve the agent's precision for your specific business
Why This Works
Intent vs Sentiment: Traditional systems catch negativity after damage occurs. Escalation Shield Agent catches planning and preparation before customers act.
Configurable Precision: Every organization's escalation patterns differ. The system adapts to your specific risks, customer tiers, and team capacity.
Empirical Validation: Alert criteria emerged from analyzing real escalation scenarios, not theoretical models. The system reflects how escalations actually unfold in production support environments.
Proactive Intervention: Immediate alerts create intervention windows measured in hours, not days of damage control. You can de-escalate while the customer is still reachable and reasonable.
The approach transforms support from reactive firefighting to proactive risk management through prediction, configuration, and immediate action enablement.
What's coming next?
We're continuously expanding our AI Agents library — including real-time Newsfeed insights, Churn Risk alerts, Support Sentiment shifts, Close the Loop automation, and more.
Got an idea for an agent you'd love to see? Hit Create New and drop your suggestion. Your feedback shapes our roadmap!
