Intent Detection
Identifying what a customer is trying to accomplish from their message, so the system can route or answer appropriately.
Glossary/Intent Detection
Intent detection is the process of working out what a customer actually wants from what they wrote — for example distinguishing a billing question from a technical issue, or a sales enquiry from a complaint. It's a foundational step for both routing conversations to the right place and choosing the right answer.
Traditional systems relied on keyword matching, which struggled with phrasing and typos. Modern conversational AI infers intent from meaning, so 'my payment didn't go through' and 'the charge failed' are recognised as the same need. Accurate intent detection powers smarter routing, automation triggers and analytics.
Related terms
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