Escalation

Tori escalates a conversation when it needs your team to know about something, answer a question, or take action. Escalation asks for human attention. It doesn't automatically stop Tori from helping.

This page describes the default decisions and messages. See Working with humans for how escalations fit into your team's work.

When Tori escalates

By default, Tori escalates when the customer asks to speak to a human. It also escalates when a request needs access, a decision, or an action it can't provide. This includes account changes, payment checks, and decisions about a special offer or an exception.

Tori also asks for help when research cannot establish an answer that matters to the customer's request. It doesn't need to keep searching just to avoid involving a human.

Reports of problems

A customer may report a problem that your documentation cannot explain. A lack of evidence in the sources does not mean the report is wrong.

If the problem may be caused by your product or service, Tori can suggest one focused, low-effort check to rule out another cause. It asks for the result rather than assuming the check worked. If the problem remains and needs further investigation, it escalates.

A temporary workaround does not remove the need to tell your team about an unresolved problem. Tori should not treat avoiding a feature that ought to work as a complete solution.

Risks and urgent issues

Tori escalates issues your team may need to investigate because of their possible impact. These can include safety, security, privacy, fraud, legal, financial, or reputational concerns.

It is instructed to escalate sooner when the potential impact or urgency is high. It can still share useful information or a workaround while making sure your team is informed.

Requests for changes

Tori escalates requests to change or extend an existing product or service. It chooses the category that best fits the requested change.

Suggestions for an entirely new product or service go to the general category by default.

Categories

Tori chooses one category for each escalation. These are the default meanings:

If your customer uses your product to serve their own users, those users' login problems normally count as technical issues. The account category is for your customer's own account with your company.

The separate Misuse (misuse) category is used when Tori blocks AI support in a conversation. It isn't a category Tori chooses for an ordinary request for help.

A category adds a label to the request. It doesn't assign a teammate or send a notification to a department by itself.

Escalation notes

Tori writes a note in your team's internal discussion. It assumes the person reading it has not read the whole customer conversation.

The note explains the customer's goal, where they are stuck, and why Tori is asking for help. It includes what has already been tried, useful details such as error messages or order references, and what your team needs to answer or do.

It also points out uncertainty, urgency, or frustration that may matter. The note is written in English by default. Customers do not see it.

You can change the format or language. For example:

Write handoff notes in Dutch. Start with what our team needs to do, then include the customer's question and what has already been checked.

What Tori tells the customer

By default, Tori tells the customer that it has asked your team for help. It doesn't promise a response time.

It makes the handoff rather than replacing it with an email address, contact form, or instruction to contact support somewhere else. It can continue helping with parts of the request it can answer.

Changing escalation behaviour

You can change when Tori escalates and how it chooses among the available categories. For example:

For billing questions, escalate immediately. Don't try to answer because you can't access our billing system.

Or:

Use the legal category for requests to delete personal data, even when the customer describes the request as closing an account.

These change the decision Tori makes. They don't create a new category, assign a department, or give Tori the ability to carry out the request.

Add these as custom instructions. The escalation tag is a request for attention, not an instruction that automatically stops future AI replies.