Confidence Tuning

Control when your AI escalates conversations to human agents.

Every AI response comes with a confidence score. Tuning these thresholds helps you balance automation with human oversight.

Understanding Confidence Scores

When your AI answers a question, it calculates a confidence score (0-100%) based on:

  • Content match quality β€” How well knowledge base content matches the question
  • Answer completeness β€” Whether the AI can fully address the question
  • Clarity of intent β€” How clear the customer's question is

Higher confidence = AI found highly relevant content and is sure about the answer.

Default Behavior

tahc uses three confidence zones:

ZoneScore RangeBehavior
High85-100%AI responds automatically
Medium60-84%AI responds but offers human option
LowBelow 60%AI immediately offers human help

Adjusting Thresholds

In Widget Theme Settings

Open Widget Settings

Go to Widget and edit your active theme.

Go to Behavior tab

Click on the Behavior tab.

Adjust handoff confidence

Set the threshold (0-1) for when to offer human help.

Save changes

Click Update Theme to apply.

Threshold Examples

SettingValueEffect
Very Conservative0.80AI escalates frequently
Balanced0.60Default behavior
Aggressive Automation0.40AI handles more independently
Maximum Automation0.25Rarely escalates

Lower thresholds mean more automation but higher risk of incorrect answers. Find the right balance for your use case.

Viewing Confidence in Dashboard

In Conversations

Each AI message shows its confidence score:

  • Green (85%+) β€” High confidence
  • Yellow (60-84%) β€” Medium confidence
  • Red (below 60%) β€” Low confidence

In Analytics

Track confidence trends:

  • Average confidence over time
  • Distribution of confidence levels
  • Correlation with customer satisfaction

When to Adjust Thresholds

Raise Thresholds (More Human Involvement)

Consider higher thresholds when:

  • Customers report incorrect AI answers
  • High-stakes decisions (financial, medical, legal)
  • Complex products with nuanced details
  • You're just getting started with AI

Lower Thresholds (More Automation)

Consider lower thresholds when:

  • AI performance is proven reliable
  • Simple, well-documented products
  • High chat volume overwhelming team
  • Knowledge base is comprehensive

Fine-Tuning Strategies

Start Conservative

Begin with higher thresholds:

  1. Set handoff confidence to 0.70
  2. Monitor for 1-2 weeks
  3. Review escalated conversations
  4. Gradually lower if AI performs well

Analyze Patterns

Look at your data:

  • Which topics have low confidence?
  • Are there patterns in escalations?
  • What content gaps exist?

Improve Content First

Before lowering thresholds:

  1. Check Knowledge Base > Gaps
  2. Add content for common low-confidence topics
  3. Test AI responses improve
  4. Then consider threshold adjustment

Topic-Specific Confidence

Use orchestrations for topic-based handling:

Sensitive Topics (Always Escalate)

Orchestration:

  • Condition: message_contains: refund, legal, complaint
  • Action: escalate_to_human

Well-Documented Topics (AI Handles)

Orchestration:

  • Condition: message_contains: hours, pricing, features
  • Action: switch_tone: confident

Technical Questions (Route to Experts)

Orchestration:

  • Condition: message_contains: API, integration, webhook
  • Action: notify_team: engineering

Measuring Impact

Key Metrics

Track these when adjusting thresholds:

MetricWhat to Watch
Resolution Rate% of chats AI resolves alone
Escalation Rate% of chats needing human help
CSAT ScoreCustomer satisfaction rating
Response AccuracyManual review of AI answers

Healthy Targets

For most businesses:

  • Resolution Rate: 60-80%
  • Escalation Rate: 20-40%
  • Accuracy: 95%+ on high-confidence responses

Common Issues

Too Many Escalations

If AI escalates too often:

  1. Check knowledge base coverage
  2. Review low-confidence topics
  3. Add more content for gaps
  4. Consider lowering threshold slightly

Incorrect AI Answers

If AI gives wrong answers:

  1. Find the affected topics
  2. Update or add knowledge base content
  3. Create orchestration rules for sensitive topics
  4. Consider raising threshold

Inconsistent Performance

If confidence seems random:

  1. Review content quality
  2. Check for duplicate/conflicting content
  3. Ensure consistent terminology
  4. Clean up outdated information

Best Practices

  1. Monitor continuously β€” Check metrics weekly
  2. Make small changes β€” Adjust by 0.05-0.10 at a time
  3. Improve content first β€” Before changing thresholds
  4. Use orchestrations β€” For topic-specific handling
  5. Review conversations β€” Read AI responses regularly

Next Steps

Was this helpful?