What is a Support Agent?
Get unblocked instantly. Stay in flow forever. TierZero Support Agent responds to queries in your #ask-eng and #ask-infra channels. It goes beyond searching docs to investigate live systems, cross-reference telemetry, and store tribal knowledge from past answers. Tribal knowledge scales without burning out the people who hold it.How It Works
1
Ask
Engineers ask questions directly in Slack. “How do I roll back service X?” “What’s the runbook for database failover?” No context-switching, no ticket filing, no waiting.
2
Ground Truth
TierZero searches Notion, Confluence, runbooks, code repos, past incidents, and Slack history. It goes beyond docs by cross-referencing live telemetry, deployment state, and code to give answers that are actually current.
3
Measure
Track deflection rate, CSAT, and question categories out of the box. See which topics need better documentation, which answers get thumbs-down, and fine-tune the agent’s behavior without writing code.
Key Capabilities
Investigates Live Systems
Not just doc retrieval. Support Agent queries your actual infrastructure:- Build logs and CI/CD pipelines
- Observability platforms (Datadog, New Relic, etc.)
- Recent code commits and deployments
- Service configurations and dependencies
Per-Channel SOPs
Maximum customizability per team. Configure different behaviors for different channels:- #ask-eng can focus on code and deployment questions
- #ask-infra can prioritize infrastructure and system health
- Each channel can have its own instructions and knowledge sources
Insights Dashboard
See what’s working and tune what isn’t:- Question analytics and trending topics
- Deflection rate tracking
- Knowledge gap detection, highlighting topics where the agent struggles
- CSAT scores from team feedback
Standard Operating Procedures
Execute common ops tasks directly from Slack with guardrails:- Restart pods, clear caches, scale deployments
- Junior engineers handle routine operations safely
- Senior engineers stop being a human API
Gets Smarter Over Time
Learns from feedback:- Thumbs up/down on responses improves future answers
- Common questions get faster, more accurate responses
- New tribal knowledge is captured automatically
Use Cases
Reduce Interruptions for Senior Engineers
- Challenge: Senior engineers spend hours answering the same questions repeatedly.
- How it works: Support Agent monitors your ask channels and responds with accurate, context-rich answers by investigating live systems.
- Outcome: Senior engineers stay focused on building while the team still gets expert-level answers. 85% of questions answered without escalation.
Faster Onboarding
- Challenge: New team members don’t know where to find information or who to ask.
- How it works: New engineers ask questions in Slack and get immediate, detailed answers with links to relevant code, docs, and systems.
- Outcome: Faster ramp-up time and reduced dependency on specific team members. Median response time under 30 seconds.
Preserve Tribal Knowledge
- Challenge: Critical knowledge lives in people’s heads and is lost when they leave.
- How it works: Every question and answer becomes part of TierZero’s knowledge base, building institutional memory over time.
- Outcome: Knowledge persists even as team composition changes.
How to Create a Support Agent
Step 1: Select Slack Channel
Choose the Slack channel where your support agent will respond to messages.- Go to Support Agents and click “Create Support Agent”
- Select a public Slack channel to monitor
- The channel must be public and TierZero must be able to join it
Step 2: Review Instructions & Categories
Review and customize the auto-generated instructions and categories for your support agent.- TierZero analyzes the channel history to understand the types of questions asked
- Instructions: Review and edit the auto-generated instructions that guide how the agent responds
- Categories: Review the auto-detected question categories for your channel
- Wait for processing to complete before continuing
Step 3: Review
Review your configuration and create the support agent.- Set a name for your support agent
- Review all settings
- Click “Create Agent”
After Creation
Monitoring Responses
- View all conversations in the Support Agent details page
- See response quality metrics and feedback
- Track deflection rate and CSAT scores
Refining Instructions
- Edit instructions based on response quality
- Add or modify categories as new question types emerge
- Use feedback to continuously improve
Best Practices
1. Start with High-Volume Channels- Begin with channels that get the most questions
- This maximizes impact and provides more data for improvement
- The auto-generated instructions are a starting point
- Customize them based on your team’s specific needs and terminology
- Ask team members to react to responses (thumbs up/down)
- Use feedback to continuously improve answer quality
- Pay close attention to the first few days of responses
- Make adjustments quickly based on any issues you see