Test and deploy your agent

Setting up Signals and Notifications

Signals and Notifications work together to turn your Customer Agent from a reactive tool into a proactive one. Signals are the triggers the agent watches for, while Notifications are the messages it delivers when those triggers fire. This article walks you through setting up both, linking them, and testing the result.

Understanding the relationship

A Signal is a condition the agent monitors, such as churn risk, upsell intent, or a drop in satisfaction. A Notification is the proactive, in-product message that appears when that condition is met. You configure each separately, then link them so the Signal fires the Notification.

Signals come in three broad categories, varying per Moment:

• Risk Signals - churn risk in Retention, dropping satisfaction in Support, refund risk in Sales expansion
• Intent Signals - upsell readiness in Sales expansion, qualification fit in Acquisition
• Quality Signals - negative feedback, repeated unanswered questions, low resolution

Each Signal type ships with default detection rules. These are good enough to start, and you can tune them once you have data. You can also layer custom rules on top, combining Audience membership, Living Context values, or behavior signals.

Configuring a Signal

To set up a Signal:

1. Open Deploy > Signals and pick the Moment you want (Retention, Support, Sales expansion, etc.)
2. Switch on the Signal you want to use, such as “Churn risk”
3. Review the default detection rules and adjust thresholds for your business
4. Optionally add custom rules that combine Audiences or Living Context values
5. Link the Signal to an action: a Procedure, a Notification, or a route to the team

Every Signal can fire one or more linked actions. Each Signal logs to the audit trail, so you can trace what fired and why.

Creating a Notification

Notifications are proactive, in-app messages the Customer Agent delivers to end users. They are not emails, push notifications, or Slack alerts. They appear where the customer already is.

To create a Notification:

1. Open Deploy > Notifications for the Moment you want
2. Click “New notification”
3. Give it a name
4. Write the condition (when to fire)
5. Toggle it on

For each Notification you can configure:

• Name - what it is called in the dashboard
• When - the condition that triggers it, tied to a Signal, usage threshold, tenure milestone, or custom rule
• Enabled/disabled toggle - turn it off without deleting it

All Notifications are scoped to a Moment. The Expansion Moment might have “Upgrade to Pro offer” or “Annual billing savings”. The Support Moment might have “We fixed the issue you reported”.

Linking a Signal to a Notification

To send a Notification when a Signal fires:

1. Open the Signal you want to use
2. Link a Notification to it
3. Pick the channel (team channel, in-app alert, email) and the recipients

The Notification then fires automatically when the Signal’s conditions are met. The agent does not wait for customers to ask; it surfaces the right message at the right time.

Delivery surfaces

Notifications appear in three places:

• Dedicated inbox in the Customer Agent (beta) - the customer opens the agent and sees waiting notifications
• Badge on the AI button (beta) - a visual indicator that the agent has something to share
• Snackbar banners in the customer’s product - a small, dismissible strip that appears on screen

Testing your setup

Use the Preview feature to test how notifications appear to users:

1. Open Test > Preview
2. Select the Moment and notification you want to test
3. Trigger the condition to see the notification render as users would see it

Best practices

• Set frequency caps per notification to avoid spam. For example, show an upgrade offer at most once per session, or once per week per customer.
• Keep messages concise and actionable
• Ensure notifications provide genuine value, not just promotional content
• Review notification performance regularly and adjust based on engagement

Troubleshooting

If a Signal is not firing in production, check three things: the Signal is switched on for the right Moment, the conditions actually match your data, and the dependent Living Context fields are connected.

Conclusion

Signals and Notifications form the core of proactive customer engagement in Unless. By configuring Signals to detect meaningful moments and linking them to well-crafted Notifications, you can surface the right message at the right time without waiting for customers to ask. Test your setup with Preview, set frequency caps to avoid fatigue, and review performance regularly to keep the experience valuable.