Test and deploy your agent

Setting up Signals and Notifications

Setting up Signals and Notifications in Unless allows you to proactively engage your customers by delivering timely, relevant messages inside your product. Signals detect important user behaviors or conditions, and Notifications use those triggers to surface messages directly to end users, enhancing their experience and driving desired actions without waiting for them to ask.

understanding signals

Signals are automated triggers that the Customer Agent monitors within each Moment of the customer journey, such as Acquisition, Retention, Sales expansion, or Support. They detect key events like churn risk, upsell intent, or content gaps by continuously reading Living Context and conversation behavior.

There are three main types of Signals:

• Risk Signals: Identify potential problems like churn risk or dropping satisfaction. These can notify your team or trigger Procedures to address issues.
• Intent Signals: Detect buying intent or qualification fit, helping route customers to the right account owner.
• Quality Signals: Highlight negative feedback or repeated unanswered questions to improve your knowledge base.

You can use default detection rules provided for each Signal or customize them by combining Audience membership, Living Context values, or behavior signals. Once a Signal’s conditions are met, it can automatically fire linked actions such as Procedures or Notifications.

configuring signals

To set up Signals:

1. Go to Deploy > Signals in your dashboard.
2. Select the Moment (lifecycle stage) you want to configure, such as Retention or Sales expansion.
3. Enable the Signals relevant to your goals, for example, turning on “Churn risk” for Retention.
4. Review and adjust the default detection rules to fit your business context.
5. Add custom rules if needed to refine when the Signal fires.
6. Link the Signal to actions like Procedures or Notifications to automate responses.

If a Signal is not firing as expected, verify that it is enabled for the correct Moment, the conditions match your data, and the required Living Context fields are connected.

understanding notifications

Notifications are proactive, in-app messages delivered by the Customer Agent directly inside your product. They appear where your customers already are, without requiring them to initiate contact. Notifications can be shown in three delivery surfaces:

• A dedicated inbox inside the Customer Agent (beta)
• A badge on the AI button (beta) indicating new messages
• Snackbar banners — small, dismissible strips appearing on screen

Notifications are tied to Moments and fire when their configured conditions are met, such as a Signal triggering or a usage threshold being reached.

configuring notifications

To create and manage Notifications:

1. Navigate to Deploy > Notifications for the Moment you want to configure.
2. Click “New notification” and provide a descriptive name.
3. Define the trigger condition, which can be linked to Signals, usage thresholds, tenure milestones, or custom rules.
4. Write the message content that the AI will deliver to the user.
5. Choose the delivery method (inbox, badge, or snackbar).
6. Toggle the notification on to activate it.
7. Save your changes.

You can also configure Notifications within lifecycle stages to ensure messages are contextually relevant to the user’s current journey phase. For example, welcome messages during Acquisition or upgrade offers during Sales expansion.

linking signals to notifications

One powerful use case is linking Signals to Notifications so that when a Signal fires, the Customer Agent automatically delivers a relevant message to the user. To do this:

1. Open the Signal you want to link.
2. Attach a Notification to it.
3. Select the delivery channel (in-app alert, team channel, or email) and specify recipients.

This setup enables the agent to proactively inform customers about important events like upgrade opportunities or churn risks.

best practices and testing

To avoid overwhelming users, set frequency caps on Notifications, such as limiting upgrade offers to once per week or once per session. Keep messages concise and actionable to maximize engagement.

Before going live, use the Preview feature to test how Notifications appear:

1. Open Test > Preview.
2. Select the Moment or lifecycle stage and the Notification.
3. Trigger the condition to see the message as customers would.

Regularly review notification performance and adjust content or triggers based on user interaction data.

conclusion

By effectively setting up Signals and Notifications in Unless, you transform your Customer Agent from a reactive tool into a proactive assistant. Signals detect critical user behaviors and conditions, while Notifications deliver timely, relevant messages inside your product. This combination helps you engage customers at the right moments, improve retention, drive sales expansion, and provide better support—all seamlessly integrated into the user experience.