What is automated resolution rate?
Automated resolution rate is the percentage of customer service conversations that an AI agent resolves completely, with no human agent involved. It is the headline metric for AI customer service. Vendors calculate it in different ways, so a figure is only comparable when its denominator and its definition of "resolved" are stated.
Also called: automation rate, AI resolution rate, full automation rate
Why automated resolution rate matters
Automated resolution rate, also called automation rate or AI resolution rate, shows how much customer service work an AI agent completes on its own. It drives the business case for AI, because every fully resolved conversation is one an agent does not need to touch.
The same name can describe very different numbers. Three choices change the result:
The denominator: all conversations, only the conversations the AI handled, or only the contact reasons the AI is set up to automate.
What counts as resolved: confirmed by the customer, assumed when the customer does not come back within a set window, or checked after the conversation.
Whether partial automation counts, such as an AI collecting order details before handing over to an agent.
How it's calculated
Automated resolution rate = conversations fully resolved by AI with no human handoff ÷ total conversations × 100
Worked example: a brand receives 10,000 conversations in a month. The AI agent handles 6,000 of them and fully resolves 4,200. Measured against all conversations, the automated resolution rate is 42%. Measured against the conversations the AI handled, it is 70%. Some tickets are deliberately not handled by AI agents, so it can be unfair to measure AI performance for tickets they would never answer.
Example
Rapha fully resolves 74% of its automated email conversations with DigitalGenius. That rate is measured against automated email conversations, which is a common way to report it and a good illustration of why the denominator matters when comparing figures.
Automated resolution rate and DigitalGenius
DigitalGenius reports automation and resolution rates in its dashboard, and teams can question those metrics in plain English, for example "Why did automation dip yesterday?"
FAQ
Is automation rate the same as resolution rate?
Not always. Some vendors divide resolved conversations by all conversations and call it automation rate, then divide by the conversations the AI was involved in and call it resolution rate. The second number is higher, so check which one a vendor is quoting.
Does a customer have to confirm a resolution?
It depends on the platform. Some count a resolution only when the customer confirms it. Others assume a resolution if the customer does not ask for more help within a set window, such as 72 hours for email. Assumed resolutions produce higher rates.
Why do vendors report different automated resolution rates?
They use different denominators, different resolution windows and different rules on partial automation. Some also exclude contact reasons that are never automated. Ask for the formula before comparing a vendor's figure with your own.
· By Iain Moss