Now Assist for CSM - Service recommendations for interactions

[FernandoCastro]

Reduce agent cognitive load during case creation by surfacing relevant service definitions based on interaction context

Service Recommendation for Interactions is a Now Assist skill that helps agents select the appropriate service definition when creating a case from an interaction. The skill analyzes interaction context and suggests the most relevant services on the case type selector, reducing the cognitive effort required when there may be dozens or hundreds of options to choose from.

Service definitions work with case types to provide different types of service requests. This connection is commonly used by agents to pick a service during case creation. By surfacing AI-driven recommendations, this skill reduces both the time spent filtering through options and the risk of creating cases with the wrong case type, which can cause routing delays and rework.

 

Key Capabilities

• Context-aware service suggestions: Analyzes interaction details including short description, chat summary, and voice transcripts to recommend the most relevant service definitions.

• Integrated into case type selector: Recommendations appear directly in the case type selector when agents create a case from an interaction, without disrupting the natural workflow.

• Reduced filtering effort: Eliminates the need for agents to manually search through extensive service definition lists during case creation.

• Configurable recommendation count: Out of the box, the skill returns up to 4 recommendations. Admins can customize this number using Now Assist Skill Kit.

• Improved case routing accuracy: Reduces cases created with incorrect case types, minimizing delays caused by misrouting.

Implementation

Activation in Now Assist Admin Console

1. Navigate to Now Assist Admin Console > Skill List
2. Locate Service Recommendation for interactions
3. Click to open the activation panel
4. Configure user access by specifying roles permitted to use the skill (defaults: sn_csm_case_types.service_definition_viewer and sn_esm_agent)
5. Configure role restrictions to define which data and resources the skill can access when invoked (default: sn_csm_case_types.service_definition_viewer)
6. Click Turn on

Prerequisites

• CSM Case Types plugin activated

• Service definitions created and associated with case types

• Interaction records with context available (short description, chat summary, or voice transcripts)

• Users must have appropriate roles assigned to access the skill

Customization with Now Assist Skill Kit

Administrators can customize the skill behavior using Now Assist Skill Kit. A common customization is adjusting the number of recommendations returned.

To customize the recommendation count:

1. Navigate to Now Assist Skill Kit and ensure the correct scope is selected
2. Open the Service Recommendation for interactions skill
3. Go to the Prompts section
4. Clone the default prompt (the default prompt specifies "provide your recommendation as an array of up to 4")
5. Modify the cloned prompt to your requirements (for example, change to return only 1 recommendation)
6. Save the cloned prompt
7. Run tests to validate the changes
8. Click Make it default and Finalize
9. Publish the skill and select which finalized prompts to include
10. Changes take effect when agents create new cases from interactions

Key Best Practices

• Maintain well-structured service definitions with clear, descriptive names and accurate case type associations

• Use consistent naming conventions across service definitions to improve recommendation relevance

• Instead of building large case type hierarchies, use service definitions to group categories of case types and let AI decide the best fit for the customer profile

• Start with the default configuration (up to 4 recommendations) and adjust based on agent feedback

• Regularly review service definitions as your service catalog evolves to keep recommendations accurate

• Monitor cases created with incorrect case types before and after enablement to measure impact

How It Works

When an agent creates a case from an interaction record:

1. The skill retrieves available context from the interaction, including short description, chat summary, and voice transcripts
2. Now Assist analyzes this context against your configured service definitions
3. The case type selector displays recommended services (up to 4 by default)
4. The agent can select a recommended service or continue with manual selection
5. Case creation proceeds as usual with the selected case type and service definition

This approach is particularly valuable for organizations with large service catalogs where agents would otherwise need to scroll through dozens or hundreds of options.

Measured Success and Outcomes

Outcome	How It Supports Agents	Key Metric
Reduced case creation time	Agents spend less time searching through service definition lists	Avg. time to create case (seconds)
Improved routing accuracy	Correct service selection on first attempt reduces rework and transfers	% of cases requiring reclassification
Decreased cognitive load	AI surfaces relevant options instead of requiring manual filtering	Agent satisfaction score (ASAT)
Fewer routing delays	Reduced cases created with wrong case type	Avg. time to first response
Faster agent onboarding	New agents can select appropriate services without memorizing the catalog	Time to proficiency for new agents

 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Where do agents see service recommendations? Recommendations appear in the case type selector when agents create a case from an interaction. The suggested service definitions display based on context available from the interaction record.

2. What context does the skill use to generate recommendations? The skill analyzes available interaction data including short description, chat summary, and voice transcripts.

3. How many recommendations appear by default? The default configuration returns up to 4 service recommendations. Administrators can customize this number using Now Assist Skill Kit.

4. Does this replace manual service selection? No. Recommendations are suggestions that help agents make faster, more informed decisions. Agents retain full control to select any service definition, whether recommended or not.

5. Can I customize the number of recommendations? Yes. Use Now Assist Skill Kit to clone and modify the default prompt. You can adjust the prompt to return fewer recommendations (such as 1) based on your requirements.

6. What if no recommendations appear? If insufficient context exists to generate confident recommendations, the agent will see the standard service definition selector. Enabling chat summarization and call summarization skills can improve context availability.

7. Does this work with custom case types and service definitions? Yes. The skill works with both out-of-the-box and custom configurations, provided service definitions are properly associated with case types.

8. Is this feature available for all CSM customers? Service Recommendation for Interactions requires Professional Plus or Enterprise Plus subscription as an add-on feature, available in the Zurich Q4 Store release.