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Common questions about global rules. For full documentation, see Rules.
Global rules set consistent agent behavior across all interactions. Use them for tone, scope, and task-specific instructions.Examples:
  • “Always remain professional and empathetic, even when the customer is frustrated.”
  • “Only answer questions about [service]. For anything else, say: ‘I can only help with [service]-related questions.’”
Keep global rules concise so the model can follow them consistently.Best practices:
  • State the most important rules first.
  • Combine overlapping rules into a single, clear instruction.
  • Remove redundant or contradictory rules.
  • Regularly audit your rules against actual agent behavior using conversation review.
Yes — specific examples are more reliable than general instructions. The more concrete you are about what the agent should say, the more consistently it will follow the rule.Instead of: “Be empathetic.”Use: “When a customer expresses frustration, respond with empathy before problem-solving. Example: ‘I completely understand your concern, and I want to make sure we get this sorted for you.’”
Yes. You can use channel and language tags to filter content and rules:
  • <channel:voice> — applies only to voice calls
  • <channel:webchat> — applies only to webchat
  • <language:en> — applies only to English interactions
This is useful for multi-channel agents (where voice and chat may need different handling) and multilingual agents (where certain phrases or instructions only apply in specific languages).
These are common patterns that benefit from explicit global rules:
  • Small talk: “If the user makes small talk, briefly acknowledge and redirect to the task.”
  • Silence / no input: “If the user does not respond, prompt them once, then offer to transfer to an agent.”
  • Broken or unintelligible input: “If you cannot understand the user’s request after two attempts, offer to transfer to a human agent.”
These rules help the agent handle real-world edge cases that are especially common in voice interactions.
Identify high-risk situations (like refunds, cancellations, or emergencies) and add clear rules or dedicated topics.Example for refunds: “Route all refund-related queries to a support specialist.”
Always test risky scenario handling in sandbox before deploying to production.
Last modified on March 27, 2026