Guidelines

Guidelines are rules that control how your AI agents behave in specific situations. Use guidelines to customize agent responses, enforce business policies, and ensure consistent customer experiences across all channels.

Accessing Guidelines

Navigate to AI Settings > Guidelines in your Alhena dashboard to view and manage your guidelines.

Creating a Guideline

Click Add Guideline to create a new guideline. Each guideline has the following fields:

Trigger

The trigger defines when this guideline applies. Write a clear description of the situation or condition that should activate this guideline.

Examples:

• "When a customer asks about return policies"

• "When the customer mentions a competitor product"

• "When the conversation is about pricing or discounts"

• "When a customer expresses frustration or dissatisfaction"

Be specific with triggers to ensure guidelines activate in the right situations. Vague triggers may cause guidelines to apply too broadly or not at all.

Action

The action defines what the AI should do when the trigger condition is met. Write clear instructions for the desired behavior.

Examples:

• "Explain that returns are accepted within 30 days with original receipt. Offer to start the return process if the customer has their order number."

• "Acknowledge the competitor but focus on our product's unique benefits. Do not disparage competitors."

• "Never offer discounts unless the customer has a valid promo code. Direct them to our newsletter for exclusive offers."

Actions support rich text formatting including:

• Markdown for formatting (bold, lists, headers)

• Code blocks for specific scripts or templates

• Links to reference internal resources

Agent Assignment

Select which agents should follow this guideline. You can assign a guideline to:

• All agents - The guideline applies universally

• Specific agents - Select one or more agents from the multi-select dropdown

Use agent assignment to create specialized behaviors. For example, assign pricing guidelines only to your Product Expert Agent, or return policy guidelines only to your Order Management Agent.

Channel Scope

Control which communication channels the guideline applies to:

• All channels - Guideline applies everywhere

• Specific channels - Select from:

  • Website (chat widget)

  • Email

  • Instagram

  • Facebook Messenger

  • WhatsApp

  • Slack

  • Discord

Channel-specific guidelines let you tailor responses to each platform. For example:

• Use emojis on social channels but not in email

• Provide shorter responses on chat, longer on email

• Adjust formality based on channel expectations

Business Hours Scope

Define when the guideline should be active:

• Always - Guideline applies at all times

• Within business hours - Only applies during your configured business hours

• After hours - Only applies outside business hours

Business hours are configured in your account settings.

Use cases:

• After hours: "Let customers know that human support is available during business hours (9am-5pm EST) and offer to have someone follow up"

• Within hours: "Offer to connect the customer with a live agent for complex issues"

Guideline Examples

Return Policy Guideline

Trigger: When a customer asks about returns, refunds, or exchanges

Action:

Explain our return policy:
- Items can be returned within 30 days of purchase
- Items must be unused and in original packaging
- Refunds are processed within 5-7 business days

If the customer wants to start a return, ask for their order number and email address.

Agents: Order Management Agent, General Support Agent

Channels: All channels

Hours: Always

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Social Media Tone Guideline

Trigger: Any customer interaction on social media

Action:

Use a friendly, conversational tone with appropriate emojis. Keep responses concise and engaging. Use line breaks for readability. Sign off with a friendly closing.

Agents: All agents

Channels: Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp

Hours: Always

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After Hours Transfer Guideline

Trigger: When a customer requests to speak with a human

Action:

Let the customer know our support team is currently offline. Collect their email address and a brief description of their issue. Assure them a team member will follow up within one business day.

Agents: Human Transfer Agent

Channels: All channels

Hours: After hours

Best Practices

Keep guidelines focused

Each guideline should address one specific scenario or behavior. If a guideline becomes complex, split it into multiple focused guidelines.

Write clear triggers

Specific triggers lead to more predictable behavior. Instead of "When discussing products," use "When a customer asks for product recommendations in the electronics category."

Test your guidelines

Use the playground to verify guidelines work as expected. Try variations of customer queries to ensure the trigger activates appropriately.

Review regularly

Business policies change. Review guidelines quarterly to ensure they reflect current policies and procedures.

Don't overload with guidelines

Too many guidelines can create conflicts or unpredictable behavior. Start with essential guidelines and add more only when needed.

Use guidelines, not FAQs

Guidelines are for behavioral rules, not factual information. Add factual content to your knowledge base instead of creating guidelines with FAQ-style content.

Legacy Interface Note

Some accounts created before the agentic update may see a simplified guidelines interface without agent assignment or channel/hours scoping. Contact support to upgrade to the full agentic experience.