Virtual agents have become a key part of modern customer service strategies, helping contact centres improve efficiency, reduce costs, and provide faster support.
However, these benefits only materialize when virtual agents successfully resolve the right interactions.
When escalation rates to human advisors become too high, customers can become frustrated and agents are left handling everything from simple requests to highly complex issues.
To find out more, we asked Jonathan “Kenu” Escobedo, Customer Success Manager at Miarec, to explain how contact centres can reduce unnecessary escalations while creating a smoother and more effective customer journey.
Video: Virtual Agent Escalations: Design Virtual Agents Around Intent Not Just Key Words
Watch the video below to hear Jonathan explore how to minimize unnecessary escalations from virtual agents while improving the overall customer journey, focusing on why contact centres should design their virtual agents around intent and not just keywords:
With thanks to Jonathan “Kenu” Escobedo, Customer Success Manager at Miarec, for contributing to this video.
This video was originally published in our article ‘Are Your Virtual Agents Escalating Far Too Many Queries?’
How to Reduce Virtual Agent Escalations and Improve Customer Journeys
Virtual agents should make customer service easier, not create additional friction, as Jonathan explained:
“Virtual agents can improve speed and efficiency, but only when they resolve the right interactions. When escalation rates to human agents are too high, customers get frustrated and agents are left handling everything from simple requests to complex issues.”
The key is ensuring that customers are only transferred to human advisors when it genuinely adds value.
Here are three practical ways contact centres can reduce escalations while improving customer satisfaction:
1. Design Virtual Agents Around Customer Intent, Not Keywords
One of the most common reasons virtual agents fail is because they focus on keywords rather than understanding what the customer is actually trying to achieve, and many escalations occur because:
- The virtual agent identifies keywords correctly
- But misunderstands the customer’s underlying goal
- The customer feels misunderstood and requests a human advisor
To reduce these unnecessary transfers, contact centres should analyse real customer conversations and identify the most common reasons customers escalate.
“Design virtual agents around intent, not just keywords. One of the fastest ways to reduce unnecessary escalations is to move beyond keyword automation and design virtual agents around customer intent.
Many escalations happen because the bot recognizes key words but fails to understand what the customer was actually trying to accomplish.
Organizations should analyse real conversation data to identify the most common reasons customers escalate. Then build flows around those high-volume intents.
For example, instead of a generic billing path, the virtual agent should distinguish between disputing a charge, updating a payment method, and requesting an invoice.
The more precisely the virtual agent understands the customer’s goal, the more confidently it can resolve the issue without being handed off. This also improves the customer journey because people feel understood earlier in the interaction and are less likely to keep asking for a live agent.”
For example, rather than creating a single generic billing journey, a virtual agent should distinguish between:
- Disputing a charge
- Updating payment details
- Requesting an invoice
The more accurately the virtual agent understands customer intent, the more likely it is to resolve the issue without human intervention.
This also improves the customer experience, as customers feel understood earlier in the interaction and are less likely to ask for an advisor.
2. Create Smarter Escalation Rules
Reducing escalations does not mean preventing customers from reaching a human advisor. Instead it means ensuring that escalations happen for the right reasons, as Jonathan continued:
“Give virtual agents smarter escalation rules. Reducing escalations doesn’t mean trapping customers with virtual agents. It means creating smarter rules for when escalation is actually necessary.
A strong virtual agent strategy defines which issues the bot should fully resolve, which issues it should partially handle before transfer, and which issues should go directly to a human.
For example, the virtual agent can authenticate the customer, collect context, identify the issue, and suggest next steps before involving an advisor.
Escalation should be based on signals like customer frustration, repeated failed attempts, high-value accounts or complex situations.
This reduces unnecessary transfers while protecting the customer experience. The goal is not to fully eliminate human support but to make sure human advisors are available in situations where they add the most value.”
A strong virtual agent strategy clearly defines:
- Which issues can be fully resolved by the bot
- Which issues should be partially handled before transfer
- Which situations require immediate human involvement
To reduce effort for both customers and advisors, before transferring a customer, the virtual agent can often authenticate the customer, gather relevant information, identify the issue, and suggest possible next steps.
Escalation decisions should also be driven by intelligent signals such as:
- Customer frustration
- Repeated failed attempts
- High-value customer accounts
- Complex or sensitive issues
The goal is not to eliminate human support but to ensure advisors focus on situations where they can deliver the greatest value.
3. Use Analytics to Continuously Improve Virtual Agent Performance
Every escalation provides valuable insight into how virtual agents can be improved, so rather than viewing transfers as failures, contact centres should treat them as learning opportunities.
“Continuously improve virtual agents using analytics. Every escalation should be treated as a learning opportunity.
Organizations should regularly review why customers are being transferred from virtual agents to human advisors and categorize those reasons into patterns.
Are customers escalating because the bot misunderstood the intent, because the knowledge article was incomplete, or because the process itself requires human approval?
Once these patterns are visible, teams can prioritize improvements that have the greatest impact on call volume and customer satisfaction.”
Teams should regularly analyse why customers are being transferred and group those reasons into common categories, for example:
- Did the virtual agent misunderstand the customer’s intent?
- Was the supporting knowledge content incomplete?
- Did the process require human approval?
- Was the issue too complex for automation?
By identifying these patterns, contact centres can prioritize improvements that will have the greatest impact on both customer experience and operational efficiency.
Over time, this creates a cycle of continuous improvement where virtual agents become smarter, more accurate, and more effective.
Turning Escalations Into Better Customer Experiences
The most successful virtual agent strategies are not focused solely on reducing transfers; instead they are focused on ensuring customers get the right support at the right time.
By improving intent recognition, implementing smarter escalation rules, and using analytics to drive continuous improvement, contact centres can reduce unnecessary hand-offs while maintaining a positive customer experience.
The result is a more efficient operation, better use of human advisors, and a customer journey that feels faster, smoother, and more intuitive from start to finish.
Author: Robyn Coppell
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson
Published On: 24th Jul 2026
Read more about - Video, Agentic AI, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation, Customer Experience (CX), Customer Service, Handling Customers, Jonathan Kenu Escobedo, MiaRec, Service Strategy, Technology Enablement Strategy, Technology Roadmap, Videos
