Rules

The Rules engine within AI Studio allows you to define custom rules that monitor live customer interactions for specific keywords and phrases. When these keywords or phrases are detected, the engine automatically triggers helpful actions or suggestions to assist agents in real time. detected, the engine automatically triggers helpful actions or suggestions to assist agents in real time. Rules can also trigger on interaction events, such as the start or end of an interaction or a hold, on silence in a voice interaction, and on customer sentiment. Rules can also trigger AI Agents (Cognigy) workflows, either as a recommendation to the agent or as an auto-executed workflow, providing deterministic, rule-driven automation alongside existing action types.

The engine is powered by the Realtime Insights Orchestrator (RTI), which monitors live interactions, detects defined keywords, phrases, or conditions, triggers relevant actions or suggestions, and delivers them to the agent through the Copilot interface.

The Rules engine offers several key benefits that enhance its usability and effectiveness. It is customizable, allowing tenants to define their own rules and actions based on specific business needs. The engine is highly flexible, supporting a wide range of triggers and responses to suit various interaction scenarios. It is also integrated seamlessly with other Copilot for Agents features such as Real-time Summary, Sentiment Analysis, and Automated Summary (AutoSummary), ensuring a unified experience. Lastly, the engine is scalable, built to adapt to evolving business requirements and diverse interaction types across different industries.

Manage 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.

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 not exceed 250 characters.

   2. In the Description field, enter a brief explanation of what the rule does.

   3. In the Notes field, add any optional comments or context for future reference.

   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. 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.

      • Sentiment Based Conditions: Activates the rule based on the customer's sentiment.

   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.

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

      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.

      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.

   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, enter the intent that activates the rule. The intent name supports up to 100 characters. You can optionally enter a description and example utterances. Each field supports up to 500 characters.

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

   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 time range in the call transcript that the application should monitor for rule evaluation. This setting does not trigger the rule. It only defines when in the call the application should begin checking for the selected keywords or phrases. Choose one of the following options:

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

      • 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 – Specify a time frame (for example, the first 30 seconds) within which the rule should trigger.

      Enter the required values based on the selected interval type.
      

   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.

      • Cool Off Period: The minimum amount of time, in seconds, that must pass before this rule can be triggered again.

      • 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 and you can link actions to these rules.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 from the dropdown menu, for example, Text Card, Checklist, Decision Tree, Notify Supervisor, Workflow and so on.

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

   • For Text Card, choose a Card Type.

   • 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.

   • The Notify Supervisor action is available to notify a supervisor during an active agent interaction. The notification is triggered based on configured rules and logic matches. The notification can include contextual information about the interaction, such as:

     • Keywords detected during the conversation.

     • Fraud indicators.

     • Other details associated with the matching rule.

   • 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. In the Execution Mode select how the workflow should execute when the rule triggers:

     • Recommend — The workflow is recommended to the agent (the agent can choose to run it).

     • Auto-Run — The workflow is automatically executed without agent intervention.

     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.

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.

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.

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