Direct answer
Triage is the step that decides what happens next to an incoming enquiry: who should see it, in which queue and how urgently. It is separate from writing the reply. A small set of questions about the enquiry answers it, and the answers go on the record as fields so that routing can follow them. Triage can be done by a person, by an assisted step that suggests an outcome for a person to confirm, or a mix. It is not a promise of full automation or a stated accuracy, and anything unclear should go to a human. This page describes the process so you can decide how much of it to assist.
The enquiry types to separate
Most businesses receive a mix in the same inbox or form. Separate at least these:
- New sales enquiries from people who might buy
- Support requests from existing customers
- Supplier and partner messages
- Existing customers with a commercial question
- Spam and irrelevant messages
The triage questions
Keep the questions few and answerable from the message itself. What is this about? Is the sender an existing customer? Is it a request for something, or information? Does it need a specific specialist? Is there a stated deadline? If the same question cannot be answered from most messages, either ask it on the form or leave it out. For sales enquiries, deeper questions belong to AI lead qualification, which follows triage rather than replacing it.
Fields that decide routing
Record the triage result as fields, not as free text: enquiry type, existing customer or not, service area and urgency flag. Routing then works from those fields, whether by rule or by a person. The next question, who is responsible, belongs in your first-response rule, and how enquiries are divided is described in lead routing automation.
Manual or assisted path
A person can triage a low volume of enquiries perfectly well. As volume grows, an assisted step can suggest the type and routing fields from the message for a person to confirm or correct. You choose where the line is. Some teams let the assisted step act on clear cases and send the rest to review; others always confirm. We do not claim an accuracy figure for any assisted step, and you should test one against your own real messages before relying on it. The wider service is described under AI sales operations automation.
The unclear bucket and the review queue
Some messages will not fit any type. Give them a defined home, an unclear queue that a named person checks, instead of forcing a guess. Add a human review queue for anything the assisted step is unsure about. The queue should show why the item was sent there, so the reviewer starts with context, and reviewer decisions can be used to tighten the rules. The pattern is the one described in AI-to-human handoff.
Keeping a record
Keep the original message, the triage result, who changed it and when. A record lets you see which types you receive, catch a routing rule that is not working and answer "what happened to my message?" from a customer. Link the enquiry to the existing customer record where there is one, to avoid duplicates.
What LATYNEX builds
We configure the triage fields, the routing rules, the unclear bucket and the review queue in the systems you already use, and connect them to the form or inbox where enquiries arrive. See customer inquiry automation for the related service.
Questions
Is triage the same as replying?+
No. Triage decides where an enquiry goes and how urgently. The reply is a separate step.
Can triage be fully automated?+
We do not promise that. Clear cases can be handled by rules or an assisted step, and unclear ones should go to a person.
How accurate is assisted triage?+
We give no accuracy figure. Test any assisted step on your own real messages and keep a review queue for uncertain items.
What about messages that fit nothing?+
Send them to a named unclear queue rather than guessing. Someone checks it and decides.
Where do we start?+
List the enquiry types you receive, the questions that separate them and who handles each. That is enough to begin.