Advanced Rules (Rules Engine)

Advanced Rules (Rules Engine) is an add-on for Copilot for Agents.

Advanced Rules (Rules Engine) lets you define rules in AI Studio that monitor live voice and digital interactions and trigger guidance for the agent when a condition is met. A rule can trigger on keywords or phrases, on customer intent, on customer sentiment, or on interaction events such as the interaction starting or ending, a call being transferred, a hold, or silence.

When a rule's condition is met, its linked actions run automatically, for example showing a Text Card, a checklist or a Decision Tree (Guided Capture) flow, notifying a supervisor, or running a AI Agents (Cognigy) workflow.

Use Advanced Rules (Rules Engine) when agents need consistent, in-the-moment guidance for specific situations, such as compliance disclosures, vulnerable customers, escalation requests or payment issues.

For detailed guidance on choosing and writing keywords, phrases, and intents, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).

Supported Channels

Advanced Rules (Rules Engine) runs on voice and digital interactions. It does not run on email. Some interaction events (Call Transferred, Hold Placed, Hold Resumed and Silence Detected) apply to voice interactions only.

Manage Rules

Before you begin:

• Advanced Rules (Rules Engine) is enabled for your tenant. Contact your Account Representative.

• At least one Copilot for Agents profile exists.

• Your Studio script runs the Agent Assist action with that profile. See Modify Your Studio Script for Copilot for Agents.

• You have the Enlighten Agent Copilot Configuration permission. Contact your administrator if you cannot see Rules.

1. Click the app selector and select AI Studio > Rules. The application displays the Rules interface.

If divisions are enabled for your NiCE CXone system, the Rules list shows only rules in the divisions you have access to. You cannot view, edit, or manage rules in other divisions.

Choose the Right Trigger Type

Each rule uses one trigger type. Choose the type that matches what you want to detect:

Trigger type	Use it to detect
Keywords and Phrases	Exact wording such as product names, scripted lines and disclosures.
Intent Based Conditions	Meaning that customers express in many ways.
Interaction Events	The interaction starting or ending, a call transfer, hold, or silence.
Sentiment Based Conditions	A change or sustained level in customer sentiment.

For examples and best practices for keywords, phrases, and intents, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).

Create New Rule

1. In the Rules interface, click Add Copilot Rule.

2. In the General tab, do the following:

   1. In the Name field, enter a unique name for the rule.

      Rule names must be unique. Rule names must be 3 to 100 characters. The characters < > ' " & ; { } are not allowed. Use names that say what the rule detects, for example Escalation_Manager_Request.

   2. In the Description field (required, 10 to 500 characters), enter a short note for admins about what the rule is for. This field is not used to detect anything in the conversation.

   3. In the Notes field, add any optional comments or context for future reference. The Notes field is optional, up to 250 characters.

   4. If divisions are enabled for your NiCE CXone system, from the Division drop-down, select the division the rule belongs to. This field is required. The list shows the divisions you have access to. The application selects the Default division if you have access to it. Otherwise, it selects the first division in the list. If you have access to only one division, the field is read-only. Only Copilot for Agents profiles in this division can use the rule, and you can add only elements from this division as actions.

      • If the list of divisions cannot load, the application shows an error message and you cannot create the rule

   You cannot change the division after you create the rule. To use the rule in another division, create a new rule in that division.

3. In the Rule Logic tab, do the following:

   1. From the Rule Trigger drop-down, select what activates the rule. A rule uses one trigger type. Each rule uses one trigger type. You cannot combine trigger types, for example keywords and intent, in one rule. Until you select a trigger type, the tab shows no other settings and you cannot save the rule. After you select one, the tab shows only the settings for that type. Choose one of these options:

      • Keywords and Phrases: Activates the rule when the system detects specified text in the interaction transcript.

      • Intent Based Conditions: Activates the rule when the system identifies a specific customer intent.

      • Interaction Events: Activates the rule when an interaction event happens, such as the start or end of an interaction, a call transfer, a hold, or silence. Available when enabled for your tenant.

      • Sentiment Based Conditions: Activates the rule based on the customer's sentiment. Available when enabled for your tenant.

   2. If you selected Keywords and Phrases, do the following:

      1. In the Add Keywords or Phrases field, click Add Keywords to enter one or more keywords or phrases that the system should look for within the selected interval. Use Clear to remove previously added keywords or phrases. Each entry is 3 to 100 characters and must be unique. You can add up to 20 keywords or phrases per rule. Avoid single common words such as 'manager' or 'final', which appear in many unrelated conversations.

      2. In the Apply Rule When field, specify the condition that determines how the rule should evaluate the presence or absence of the entered keywords or phrases. Select one of the following options from the drop-down:

         • Any keyword or phrase is present: The rule activates if at least one of the selected keyword or phrase appears in the interaction.

         • All keywords and phrases are present: The rule activates only if every keyword or phrase you selected appears in the interaction.

         • Any keyword or phrase is missing: The rule activates if at least one of the selected keywords or phrases is not found in the interaction.

         • All keywords and phrases are missing: The rule activates only if none of the selected keywords or phrases appear in the interaction.

         Rules that check for missing keywords or phrases are evaluated after the observation interval ends (when the next customer or agent statement arrives) or when the interaction ends, whichever comes first. When no interval is set, they are evaluated when the interaction ends.

      3. In the Party That Activates Rule field, specify whose speech the system should evaluate when looking for the keywords. Select one of the following options from the drop-down:

         • Customer: Evaluate only customer utterances.

         • Agent: Evaluate only agent utterances.

         • Either Party: Evaluate utterances from the agent or customer.

         Choose Customer for rules about what the customer needs or feels. Either Party can also trigger on the agent's own words.

      4. In the Activation Threshold field, enter the number of times the rule’s condition must be met before the rule activates for the first time. Activation Threshold is from 1 to 10 (default 1). It applies to keyword and phrase rules that use 'Any keyword or phrase is present' or 'All keywords and phrases are present'.

      • An entry with a single word is a keyword. An entry with more than one word is a phrase. A keyword matches the exact whole word, ignoring capitalization. It does not match plurals, misspellings or abbreviations, so add each form you need as a separate entry. A phrase tolerates natural variations such as capitalization, filler words and repeated words, misspellings and transcription errors, and word forms such as plural and tense. For example, the phrase 'file a claim' matches 'I want to file a claim'. Phrase matching works on the words used. It does not reliably match synonyms or the same idea expressed in different words, and it does not recognize negation, so 'file a claim' also matches 'I didn't file a claim'. To detect meaning, use Intent Based Conditions.

      • Use keywords or phrases for exact wording such as product names, scripted lines and regulated disclosures. Use intent when customers can express the same thing in many different ways. For more examples, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).

   3. If you selected Intent Based Conditions, do the following. The application performs intent detection only on customer transcripts.

      1. In the Rule Intent field, describe the situation that should activate the rule, in one or two plain sentences of 3 to 200 characters. The application uses this text to detect the intent.

         • Writing effective intents: describe what the customer says or needs, and what to exclude.

           • Good: 'Customer explicitly asks the agent for a manager or someone more senior. Not complaints or other requests.'

           • Weak: 'Escalation.' For more examples, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).

      2. Use the Confidence Threshold slider or numeric field to define the minimum confidence score required for the detected intent to activate the rule. The supported range is 0.0 to 1.0, and the default value is 0.7.

         • The Confidence Threshold ranges from 0.2 to 1.0 in steps of 0.1, and the default value is 0.7. Higher values trigger only on clear statements and reduce false triggers. Lower values catch more indirect statements but trigger more often. For guidance on choosing a value, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).

         • The rule activates only when the detected intent confidence score is greater than or equal to the configured threshold.

         • Intent matching detects what the customer means, even when they use different words. For example, an intent for a customer asking for a manager also detects 'Can I talk to someone more senior?'

   4. If you selected Interaction Events, from the Event drop-down, select the event that activates the rule. The drop-down shows Select an interaction event until you select one. It groups the events under the channels they apply to: All Channels and Voice Only. The headings cannot be selected.

      • When an agent transfers a call, the Call Transferred rules of that agent activate. For the agent who receives the call, the transfer starts a new interaction, so that agent's Interaction Started rules activate.

      • If a profile has a Call Transferred rule and an Interaction Ended rule, and the interaction ends because of a transfer, only the Call Transferred rule activates.

      • The Observation Interval field and the Activation Limits section do not appear for Interaction Events rules.

        Learn more about the events in this step

        Option	Details
        Interaction Started	Listed under All Channels. Activates the rule once per interaction, when Copilot for Agents starts for the interaction.
        Interaction Ended	Listed under All Channels. Activates the rule when the interaction ends.
        Call Transferred	Listed under Voice Only. Activates the rule when the agent transfers the call to another agent.
        Hold Placed	Listed under Voice Only. Activates the rule when the agent puts the call on hold.
        Hold Resumed	Listed under Voice Only. Activates the rule when the agent takes the call off hold.
        Silence Detected	Listed under Voice Only. Activates the rule when there is no speech in a voice interaction for the time you set.

   5. If you selected Silence Detected, set these fields:

      1. From the Party that activates rule drop-down, select whose silence activates the rule. The default is Either Party.

         • Customer: Only customer speech resets the silence timer. Agent speech does not.

         • Agent: Only agent speech resets the silence timer. Customer speech does not.

         • Either Party: Speech from the customer or the agent resets the silence timer. Use this option to detect silence on both sides.

      2. In the Silence threshold (seconds) field, enter how many seconds of continuous silence activate the rule. You can enter 5 to 120 seconds. The default is 10.

      3. Leave Fire once per silence episode turned on, or turn it off. It is on by default.

         • On: The rule activates once for each continuous silence.

           A Silence Detected rule activates at most once per interaction, even when Fire once per silence episode is off.

         • Silence Detected rules work only on voice interactions. Silence Detected is listed under Voice Only in the Event drop-down. The rule never activates on digital interactions.

         • The application starts measuring silence when the interaction starts and stops when the interaction ends.

           Silence while the call is on hold counts as silence and can activate the rule.

   6. If you selected Sentiment Based Conditions, do the following. Sentiment rules use the customer's sentiment only. They run only when the Sentiment setting is turned on in the Copilot for Agents profile the rule is assigned to. You can create a sentiment rule before you turn on the setting:

      1. From the Sentiment Condition drop-down, select the condition that activates the rule.

         • Is Positive, Is Neutral, and Is Negative can activate from the first sentiment reading in the interaction.

         • Improved, Declined, Improved Sharply, Declined Sharply, and Changed compare the reading with the previous one. They never activate on the first reading.

         • Each sentiment rule activates once per episode. You cannot change this. For example, an Is Positive rule activates when the customer becomes Positive. It does not activate again while the customer stays Positive. It activates again only after the sentiment changes and then becomes Positive again.

           Learn more about the sentiment conditions in this step

           Option	Details
           Is Positive	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment becomes Positive.
           Is Neutral	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment becomes Neutral.
           Is Negative	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment becomes Negative.
           Improved	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment becomes more positive than the previous reading, for example from Negative to Neutral.
           Declined	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment becomes more negative than the previous reading, for example from Neutral to Negative.
           Improved Sharply	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment moves from Negative to Positive.
           Declined Sharply	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment moves from Positive to Negative.
           Changed	Activates the rule when the customer's sentiment changes in any direction.
           Held Negative	Activates the rule when the customer stays Negative for at least the time you set.

      2. If you selected Held Negative, in the Sentiment held for field, enter how long the customer must stay Negative before the rule activates. You can enter 15 to 300 seconds, in steps of 15. The default is 90. If you enter a value that is not a multiple of 15, the application rounds it to the nearest multiple of 15. The text under the field shows the time in minutes and seconds.

         • The time you set is a minimum. The application gets a new sentiment reading only when there is new speech in the interaction. The rule activates at the first Negative reading after the time has passed.

         • If the customer stays Negative but no new reading arrives, for example because nobody speaks, the rule does not activate.

         • Any reading that is not Negative resets the timer. The rule can activate again only after the customer leaves Negative and then stays Negative for the time you set.

   7. If you selected Keywords and Phrases or Intent Based Conditions, in the Observation Interval field, select the part of the interaction the rule checks. This setting does not trigger the rule. It limits the part of the interaction the rule checks. Intervals are measured in seconds from when Copilot starts monitoring the interaction. Observation Interval applies to keyword and intent rules, not to interaction event or sentiment rules. Choose one of the following options:

      • After – The application starts evaluating the transcript after a specified number of seconds from the start of the interaction. For example, check the transcript after 20 seconds until the end of the interaction.

      • Between – The application evaluates the transcript only within a defined start and end time (in seconds). For example, check only between 30 and 90 seconds.

      • Throughout Interaction – Choose this if no time-based condition is required. The system evaluates the entire transcript.

      • Within the First – The application checks the interaction only during the first number of seconds you specify, for example the first 30 seconds.

      Enter the required values based on the selected interval type. Values are in seconds, from 1 to 10000. For Between, the end value must be greater than the start value.
      

   8. The Activation Limits section defines how frequently the rule can trigger and how long it must wait between activations during a single interaction. This section appears for Keywords and Phrases, Intent Based Conditions, and Sentiment Based Conditions rules. It does not appear for Interaction Events rules. This section includes the following fields:

      • Occurrence Limit: The maximum number of times the rule can trigger within a single interaction. Once the rule has been triggered up to the Occurrence Limit, it will no longer be activated during that interaction.
        Default: 1. Range: 1 to 10. When testing, a rule with an Occurrence Limit of 1 triggers only the first time its condition is met; repeating the phrase later in the same interaction does not show the card again. Activation limits apply to keyword, intent and sentiment rules.

      • Cool Off Period: The minimum amount of time, in seconds, that must pass before this rule can be triggered again.
        Default: 60 seconds. Range: 1 to 120 seconds. Cool Off Period appears only when Occurrence Limit is greater than 1.

      • For sentiment rules, the Occurrence Limit limits how many episodes can activate the rule in one interaction. You can enter 1 to 10. The default is 1. The Cool Off Period can be 1 to 120 seconds and is counted from one activation to the next. If the Cool Off Period stops an activation, that activation does not count toward the Occurrence Limit.

   9. Click Save. The rule is created as Active. Link at least one action and attach the rule to a Copilot for Agents profile before testing. A rule with no active actions does not run.

4. In the Linked Actions tab, you can create a new action or link the rule to an existing action. To create a new action, see the Create New Action topic for details. To link the rule to an existing action, do the following,

   1. In the Linked Actions list, select the check box next to each action you want to link, or you can use the Search Actions box to find a specific action.

   2. Click Save.

Attach Rules to a Copilot for Agents Profile

1. Open the profile in AI Studio > Copilot for Agents Config.

2. Open the Rules tab.

3. Click Add Rule and select the rules.

4. Optional: drag rules to set their priority.

5. Optional: switch on Max rules per interaction and enter a number to limit how many rules can trigger in one interaction. Only the top rules in the list order trigger. Leaving it off lets all matching rules trigger.

6. Save the profile.

Only active rules run, even if an inactive rule is attached. Rules apply to new interactions that use that profile through the Studio Agent Assist action. For details, see Assign a Rule to a Copilot for Agents Profile.

Test a Rule

1. Make a test call or chat on a skill that uses the profile.

2. Say the trigger and note the time.

3. If no card appears, check the rule status, that the rule has an active action, the profile, the party setting, the observation interval and the occurrence limit.

4. Test cases that should trigger and similar cases that should not.

For a full testing and tuning checklist, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).

Activate a Rule

1. Identify the rule you want to activate in the Rules list.

2. Click the More options icon () next to the rule.

3. From the menu, select Activate.

4. The rule’s status changes to Active in the list.

An active rule runs only on new interactions that use a Copilot for Agents profile the rule is attached to.

Deactivate a Rule

1. Identify the rule you want to deactivate in the Rules list.

2. Check the Status column to confirm the rule is Active.

3. Click the More options icon () next to the rule you want to deactivate.

4. From the menu, select Deactivate.

5. In the Are You Sure? dialog box, review the profiles that will be impacted. Click Deactivate to confirm.
   Deactivating a rule stops it on all of these profiles. The rule stays attached to the profiles and runs again when you reactivate it. Interactions already in progress are not affected.
   

6. The rule’s status changes to Inactive in the list.

Edit a Rule

1. Locate the rule you want to edit in the Rules list.

2. Click the More options icon () next to the rule you want to edit.

3. From the menu, select Edit.

4. Make the necessary changes in the rule configuration screen.

   • If divisions are enabled, the Division field on the General tab is read-only. You cannot change the division of an existing rule. For rules created before divisions were enabled, the Division field shows Default and is read-only.

   • You can change the trigger type in the Rule Trigger drop-down. The application does not ask you to confirm. If you switch to another type and back before you save, the values you entered are kept. When you save, only the settings of the selected trigger type are saved.

   • For a Silence Detected rule, if you select another event, the silence settings are removed. If you select Silence Detected again, the fields show their default values.

5. Click Save to apply your changes.
   Changes apply to new interactions. Interactions already in progress keep the rule as it was when they started.

Filter Rules by Status

1. On the Rules page, click the Filter icon next to the search box.

2. Select one of the following options:

   • All to view all rules.

   • Active to view only active rules.

   • Inactive to view only inactive rules.

3. The list updates to show rules based on your selection. The applied filter appears above the list.

4. To remove the filter, click Clear All.

Create New Action

1. In the Linked Actions tab, click on Link Action.

2. In the Link Action dialog box, select an Action Type: Text Card, Checklist, Decision Tree (Guided Capture), Notify Supervisor, Workflow. Text Card and Checklist need no extra license. Decision Tree (Guided Capture) needs the Decision Tree (Guided Capture) add-on license. Workflow needs AI Agents (Cognigy).

3. Based on the selected type, additional fields may appear:

   • For Text Card, select a Text Card element created in AI Studio > Elements. The element must be active. Adaptive Card elements cannot be linked to a rule.

   • For a Checklist, select a checklist from the Select Checklist dropdown.

   • For a Decision Tree, select a decision tree from the Select Decision Tree dropdown.

     Each time a rule triggers a Decision Tree, NiCE CXone creates a new task session that's separate from any workflow session, even within the same interaction. If multiple rules with Decision Tree actions match at the same time, more than one Decision Tree can be triggered.

   • Notify Supervisor automatically notifies the assigned supervisor when the rule triggers. The notification includes the rule name and type, what triggered it (for example the matched keywords, the detected intent and confidence score, or the sentiment condition), and the interaction details such as the contact and agent.

   • For Workflow, select a published AI Agents (Cognigy) workflow from the dropdown. The selector displays the workflow name, Endpoint name, and Project name (if available). Only published workflows are available for selection. Select an Execution Mode:

     • Recommended shows the workflow to the agent, who chooses whether to run it.

     • Auto-Run runs the workflow as soon as the rule triggers.

     Workflow actions require AI Agents (Cognigy). The rule cannot be saved unless both a workflow and an execution mode are selected.

4. Click Link Action to add the new action to the existing list of actions. You can link up to 10 actions to a rule.

Edit an Action

1. In the Linked Actions tab, locate the action you want to modify.

2. Click the More options icon () next to the action name.

3. Select Edit from the dropdown options.

4. Update the action details such as Action Type and other related fields.

5. Click Update Action to apply your changes.

Activate or Deactivate an Action

1. In the Linked Actions tab, locate the action you want to modify.

2. Click the More options icon () next to the action name.

3. From the menu, select Activate.

4. The action’s status will change to Active.

   Similarly, you can deactivate a action.

Similarly, you can deactivate an action. A deactivated action does not run when the rule triggers.

Remove an Action

1. In the Linked Actions tab, locate the action you want to modify.

2. Click the More options icon () next to the action name.

3. From the menu, select Remove.

   The action is removed from the rule. Removing an action unlinks it from this rule only. The element it uses is not deleted. Click Save on the rule to apply the change.

Bulk Remove Actions

1. In the Linked Actions tab, select the action(s) you want to remove from the list.

2. Click the Remove Action button located next to the Link Action button.

3. Confirm the removal if prompted.

4. The selected action(s) will be removed from the rule.

Sort Actions by Name, Type, and Status

1. In the Linked Actions tab, go to the Linked Actions list.

2. Click the Action Name column header. The list sorts alphabetically in ascending order.

3. Click the column header again to sort in descending order.

   Similarly, you can sort by Action Type and Status.

Use Case

Troubleshooting

Problem	Possible cause	Solution
Rule never triggers	The rule is inactive, has no active action, is not attached to the profile, or the profile is not used in the Studio script.	Activate the rule and its action, attach the rule to the profile, and check that the Studio script runs the Agent Assist action with that profile.
Rule triggers too often	A common word or phrase, Either Party selected, or a confidence threshold that is too low.	Use more specific keywords or phrases, select Customer or Agent, or raise the confidence threshold.
Rule triggers only once	Occurrence Limit.	Raise the Occurrence Limit.
Card not shown	The Text Card element is not active.	Activate it in Elements.
Missing-keyword rule did not trigger yet	It is evaluated after the observation interval ends or when the interaction ends.	Wait for the interval to end or the interaction to end.

For more troubleshooting of keyword, phrase, and intent rules, see Keywords, Phrases, and Intent in Advanced Rules (Rules Engine).