Create compound topic rules

Rules for compound topics include other topics, and can identify when phrases were mentioned specifically by the customer or the agent in conversational data. For compound topics, Text Analytics rules tag feedback at the comment level. Rules for compound topics can also identify silence and overtalk in voice data captured by Speech.

Each rule includes the following sections:

1. On the Topics screen, click a compound topic to open it for editing.

   The rule builder opens, with a new rule ready for editing.

   

   Note: If your instance is configured to support topics for conversational and non-conversational data, each rule includes a Specify Speakers in the Rule property, as shown in the image above. When that property is on, the rule applies only to conversational data, and you must select a speaker (agent or customer) for each line in the rule. When that property is off, you cannot select speakers in the rule.

   If your instance includes only conversational data the Specify Speakers in the Rule property does not appear, and you must select a speaker for each line in the rule. If your instance includes only non-conversational data the Specify Speakers in the Rule property does not appear, and you cannot select speakers in your rules.

   For more information about configuring the type of data supported in topics, see Topic Settings section in Topics screen.

2. In the If section, select a topic mentioned.

3. If the Specify Speakers in the Rule is on, specify a speaker that mentioned the selected topic, from Agent, Customer, or Agent or Customer (if it does not matter who mentioned the topic).

4. To add a line for another topic, click Add topic, and then select a topic and speaker for that line.

   You can add up to three topics in a rule.

   Note: Topics in a rule are considered in the order they appear, so add topics in the order you need.

5. If your rule includes more than one topic, select the proximity of the mentions from the following options:

   • The same phrase — All mentions must occur in the same phrase for the rule condition to me met.

   • A specific number of phrases — All mentions must occur within a number of phrases you specify for the rule condition to be met. If you select this option, a property appears that (when on) forces the rule to count only consecutive phrases from a specific speaker. When off, consecutive phrases from both speakers are counted after the first topic is mentioned.

   • Any number of phrases — All mentions must occur, regardless of proximity to each other, for the rule condition to be met.

     For example, the following image shows a rule that looks for customer mentions of the Staff - Attitude topic, followed by customer mentions of the Staff - Front Desk topic, with those mentions occurring within five phrases.

     

6. If the rule is for conversational data, and if you want to specify a specific place in the interaction where the topics were mentioned, turn on The topics were mentioned at a specific point in the interaction.

7. In the When section, select a place in the conversation the topic mentions occurred, from the following options:

   • At the beginning of the interaction — The topic mentions must occur within a specific number of phrases or a specific percentage of the total number of phrases, starting from the beginning of the interaction.

   • At the end of the interaction — The topic mentions must occur within a specific number of phrases or a specific percentage of the total number of phrases, starting from the end of the interaction.

   • Silence — The topic mentions must occur within a specific number of phrases, either before, after, or between a duration of silence you specify. For example, you might want the rule to trigger only when the topic mentions occur after a silence longer than 30 seconds. This option is available only for use with Speech.

   • Overtalk — The topic mentions must occur within a specific number of phrases, either before, after, or between a duration overtalk you specify. For example, you might want the rule to trigger only when the topic mentions occur after the agent and customer talk over each other for at least 5 seconds. This option is available only for use with Speech.

8. Optionally, turn on the Only count phrases mentioned by property to count only consecutive phrases from a specific speaker. When off, consecutive phrases from both speakers are counted.

   For example, the rule in the following image shows the rule in the previous example with logic limiting its results to the first 40% of all phrases.

   

9. Click Save.

   The rule builder updates to show your new rule at the bottom of the screen. For saved rules, topics are highlighted in blue, speakers are highlighted in red, and phrase counts are highlighted in green. Use the icons to the right of a saved rule to edit, duplicate, or delete that rule.

   

10. In the Preview panel to the right of the rule, read some of the comments captured by the new rule to verify you are capturing the phrases you intended to capture.

    Note: For compound topic rules, the Preview panel shows comments only for the published and active standard topics in the compound rule.

    For more detailed information about the comments panel and how to assess phrases, see Using the Comments and Preview panels section in Topics screen.

11. If you want to create another rule for the compound topic, click Add Rule. Otherwise, click Close to return to the Topics screen.

Using the Preview panel

In the Preview panel, you can read some of the comments captured by all rules and verify that they are capturing the phrases you intended to capture.

For example, the following image shows a compound topic with the comment preview panel displayed:

Select a rule to preview total results from that single rule, and optionally turn on the Show unique matches property to limit the comments shown to those that are unique to that rule only.

Thus, in the Preview panel there are 3 preview types:

1. By default you can see some of the comments captured by all rules.

2. If you select one rule, you can see the total result of comments filtered by that selected rule.

3. If you turn on the Show unique matches property, you can see the unique comment results for the selected rule.

Click Refresh to update the Preview panel with comments associated with the selected topic. Consider refreshing the comments in the following situations:

• You have not assessed the topic for an extended period of time.

• You added new phrases or dictionary terms (user features) to your instance.

• You changed a rule or added a new rule that is not reflected in the rule record counts.

• Text Analytics does not automatically update the record counts.