How does call deflection work?
Deflection happens at the moment a customer decides to contact you. A phone menu might offer to text a link to the help centre while the caller waits, a contact form might suggest matching articles as the customer types, and a chatbot or voice agent might answer before a ticket is raised.
A simple deflection rate divides the number of self-service sessions that end without a ticket or call by all self-service sessions, then multiplies by 100. Platforms define it in their own ways. Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 documentation, for example, counts “bot deflected conversations” as conversations an AI agent resolved without escalating to a service representative, as checked on 8 October 2026.
Is deflection the same as resolution?
No. A session that ends without a ticket might mean the customer got the answer, gave up or phoned instead. Counting every one as a success flatters the self-service channel and hides the customers it failed.
Check deflection against outcomes: repeat contacts from the same customer, satisfaction surveys and a weekly sample of conversations. Keep a clear route to a person beside every self-service option, so customers who need one can still reach your team.
Does Kawl Now deflect calls?
Kawl Now has no phone number for customers to call, so it doesn’t deflect phone calls in the contact-centre sense. It is a self-service channel on your website: visitors ask product questions aloud and hear answers from knowledge your team has approved.
It doesn’t measure deflection. It doesn’t identify callers or connect to your help desk, so it can’t tell whether someone contacted your team after a call. Each conversation is saved as a transcript, so you can see what people asked and whether the agent answered, said it didn’t know, pointed them to your usual contact options or offered a person.
Name your contact routes in the agent’s instructions and keep them on the page. Handover to a person is an early release: your team verifies a UK or US phone number and turns handover on for the support or sales agent, and whoever answers hears a private briefing first. Customer routing is still being tested, so don’t make it the only route to your team.
Common questions
What is the difference between call deflection and ticket deflection?
Call deflection aims to meet a need without a phone call to your support team, and ticket deflection aims to meet it without a support ticket or email. Both rely on self-service, such as help centre articles or an AI agent, and both should be checked against whether the customer’s need was met.
How do you measure ticket deflection?
Count how many people use a self-service option and how many of them go on to raise a ticket about the same issue. The share who don’t is your deflection rate. Confirm it with surveys or a sample of conversations, because some of those people gave up rather than found an answer.