The case for enabling the 'Resolution Notes Generation' AI Skill

Matt Dodd · 7 hours ago

Why Resolution Notes Matter
and why activating the resolution notes generation AI skill makes sense..

Occasionally, some organizations choose not to switch on (or even switch off) the Resolution Notes Generation AI skill. There are a variety of reasons, but one of them i keep hearing is to prevent them being sent via the notification that goes to the requester/end-customer when the incident or case is resolved. That choice quietly weakens the AI features that depend on them. Here is why it matters, and how to keep the value while keeping control of what customers see.

In this article

The problem
The impact of not activating it
AI capabilities that use resolution notes
Workarounds
Choosing an approach

The problem

I've had a number of customer conversations that have uncovered the practice of leaving the default Resolution Notes Generation AI skill switched off, or disabling it on purpose. The common reason is simple: resolution notes appear in the default notification sent to the requester or end-customer. Some teams say they don't want AI-generated text reaching customers without review.

The concerns are reasonable, and they are typically worried about:

Inaccurate or overly technical wording reaching end users
Internal details, such as system names or workarounds, being exposed
Loss of control over the tone of customer communications
Generated text going out before an agent has checked it

But the feature was designed so that the Resolution notes are a high-value data asset. It powers much of the wider AI experience and is a critical component of the context that AI requires to perform accurate and valuable responses. Turning it off to protect the notification has consequences across the platform. In this AI-world that is so very dependent on context, this can be an important missed step.

The impact of not activating it

Resolution notes are final record of how a problem was solved. When they are missing or thin, the AI capabilities that rely on that record get weaker.

Without resolution notes	Effect
Resolved records have empty or minimal close notes	AI Summaries of records where the resolution notes state 'resolved' or 'closed' lack substance for AI (or human agents looking at a similar incident) to draw any insights or potential solutions from.
Search has less resolution context	AI Search answers are less precise or absent when attempting to draw on similar past issues
Similar-record matching has less to compare	'Get Similar Incidents' returns weaker matches or nothing at all.
No solution history for agents	Agents repeat investigations that were already solved
Knowledge creation has less source material	Fewer knowledge article candidates come from resolved work

In practice, the customer keeps the risk they wanted to avoid, and also loses the value of the feature.

AI capabilities that use resolution notes

These capabilities rely on resolution notes or closed-record content:

Summarization for resolved and closed records: Produces a concise summary of what happened and how it was fixed
AI Search: Uses resolution content as extra context when answering questions about past issues
Get Similar Incidents: Uses resolution notes as a reference to find and compare related records
Knowledge article generation: Drafts knowledge content from resolved work
Agent assist and suggested resolutions: Recommends fixes based on how similar issues were resolved before
Trend and pattern analysis: Groups recurring issues by their documented resolution approach
AI Agents and Agentic Workflows that leverage the above (and other) capabilities to perform their own tasks and activities - including those that can be custom-built by your creators or proposed by the AI Agent Advisor.

Check the current release notes for the exact capability list and any version requirements.

Workarounds

The customer's real concern is the notification, not the note. Separating the two opens up several options.

Option 1: Change what the notification sends

Edit the resolution notification template so it sends a generic, customer-friendly message instead of the contents of the resolution notes field.

Example: "Your request has been resolved. Log in to the portal to view the details."
Full resolution notes stay internal, and the customer still gets a clear signal.

Option 2: Send a separate, customer-safe summary

Create a dedicated customer-facing resolution field, or use a short, reviewed summary, and point the notification at it.

Internal resolution notes, which AI uses, stay complete and technical.
The customer receives only the approved summary.

Option 3: Use conditional notifications

Add conditions so resolution notes are sent only for certain categories, priorities, or request types.

Example: Send full notes for internal IT categories, and a generic message for external-facing or sensitive ones.

Option 4: Review before resolving

Keep generation on, and require the agent to review and edit the generated notes before resolving the record.

The AI draft saves time, and the agent acts as the quality gate.
This suits teams that want human approval without losing AI value.

Option 5: Remove resolution notes from the notification

Remove the resolution notes block from the email template entirely.

The customer gets the resolution status and a link to the record.
AI still receives the notes for internal use. This is the simplest option, but the customer gets the least detail.

Option 6: Use less technical values

Where the customer only needs a plain-language outcome, send a friendly resolution category or outcome field instead of narrative notes.

Example: "Resolved: Access restored" or "Resolved: Information provided"
The customer gets a clear result without technical detail.

Choosing an approach

Customer concern	Recommended option
Fear of technical wording	Option 2 or 6
Fear of internal details leaking	Option 1 or 5
Need for consistent quality control	Option 4
Mixed audience with different needs	Option 3

Summary

Resolution notes are one of the more high-value inputs in the Generative AI/Otto ecosystem. The notification concern can be solved without giving up AI value. Decouple the internal resolution record from the customer message, and the customer keeps control of what they see while the platform keeps the context it needs.