A practical guide on how to use Freshdesk AI chatbots to deflect tickets

If you’re in customer support, you know the feeling: the ticket queue is overflowing, customers expect answers yesterday, and you can't just throw more people at the problem. It’s a tough spot to be in.

This is exactly why so many teams are looking at AI. The idea is pretty simple: let a chatbot handle the easy, repetitive questions so your team can focus on the stuff that actually requires a human brain.

This guide will walk you through exactly how to use Freshdesk AI chatbots to deflect tickets, focusing on their built-in tool, the "Freddy AI Agent." We’ll go through the setup step-by-step.

But let's be real, just flipping an "AI" switch isn't a magic fix. While Freshdesk’s tools are a decent place to start, they have their limitations. So, we'll also talk about how to work around some common issues to make sure you're actually reducing your ticket volume, not just creating new headaches.

What you'll need before you start

Jumping straight into building an AI without a little prep is a recipe for a frustrating afternoon. Before you start clicking around in the settings, you’ll want to have a few things lined up.

Here’s a quick checklist of what you'll need:

• A Freshdesk Pro or Enterprise Plan: The Freddy AI features we're talking about are part of Freshdesk's paid plans. If you're on a lower-tier plan, you won't see these options in your admin settings.

• A decent knowledge base: This one is a big deal. Most AI bots, Freshdesk's included, learn from your help articles. If your documentation is outdated, incomplete, or just plain confusing, your AI will be too. Your bot is only as good as the information it learns from.

• Clear goals for what you want to achieve: Don't just aim for "fewer tickets." Get specific. A much better goal is something like, "Deflect 20% of our 'password reset' questions within the first month." That gives you something real to measure your success against.

• Admin access to your Freshdesk account: Pretty straightforward, you’ll need the right permissions to actually get in and set everything up.

Setting up your Freshdesk AI chatbot: A step-by-step guide

Got all your prep work done? Great. Let's get this bot built. Here’s how to get your Freshdesk AI chatbot running and ready to start deflecting tickets.

Step 1: Turn on your Freshdesk AI agent

Your first move is to find and activate the AI. In your Freshdesk admin panel, head over to the "AI Agent Studio." This is where you’ll manage all your automation.

You’ll be prompted to create a new agent. It’s a simple process: give your bot a name (something friendly that fits your brand voice) and pick its main language. This whole initial setup should only take a minute or two.

Step 2: Connect your knowledge sources

Now it's time to teach your AI. By default, Freshdesk’s AI Agent learns from the solution articles you have in your help center. You just need to connect it to your existing knowledge base. You can also add other public URLs, like a blog or an FAQ page from your main website.

Step 3: Tell the bot when to jump in

You don't want your AI popping into every single conversation. You need to give it some rules of engagement. In Freshdesk, you do this by setting up trigger rules.

These rules are based on ticket details. For example, you can tell the AI to activate only when an email ticket comes in with words like "refund," "password reset," or "order status" in the subject. You can get creative and use other things too, like where the ticket came from or any custom fields you have set up.

My advice? Start with one high-volume, low-effort ticket type. Get that one working perfectly, then add more. If you try to automate everything at once, you’ll end up with a bot that’s not particularly good at anything.

Step 4: Give the AI some personality

Your bot should sound like it belongs on your team, not like a generic robot. Go to the "AI Agent Responses" section to tweak its messages. You can edit the welcome message, the "how did I do?" feedback request, and the classic "I'm not sure, let me get a human for you" message.

The eesel AI Copilot can be customized to match your brand's voice and connect to other systems for personalized answers.

Matching your brand's voice is key for a good customer experience. But just changing a few lines of text only gets you so far. The best AI doesn't just share articles; it actually does things. For that kind of flexibility, you need a platform that can take action. For instance, the AI Agent from eesel AI lets you build custom actions that connect to your other systems through APIs. That means your bot can do things like check an order status in Shopify or look up user details in your own database, giving real-time, personalized answers instead of just a link to a help doc.

Step 5: Plan the handoff to a human

No AI is perfect, and your customers should never feel like they're stuck in a loop with a bot. Having a clear and easy way to talk to a person is absolutely essential.

In Freshdesk's settings, you can set up this handoff. You can customize the message the bot sends when it’s transferring the chat and make sure the ticket gets sent to the right agent or team. The smoother this process is, the happier your customers will be.

Best practices and common mistakes

Just getting the AI turned on is only half the battle. To make it great at deflecting tickets, you need to manage it well. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind and some common mistakes you’ll want to steer clear of.

Start small, then build on your wins

The single biggest mistake I see teams make is trying to automate everything on day one. It's a tempting idea, but it almost never works out. You end up with an AI that's mediocre at a bunch of things instead of being excellent at one thing.

Instead, pick one or two of your most common and repetitive ticket types. Think "where is my order?" or "how do I reset my password?" Pour all your effort into making the AI an absolute expert at solving just those issues. Watch its performance, get feedback, and make adjustments. Once it's successfully deflecting a high percentage of those tickets, you can move on to the next category. This slow-and-steady approach builds momentum and makes sure you're always providing a good experience.

Test it safely before you go live

Launching a new AI can feel a bit scary. What if it starts giving out wrong answers and makes customers angry? It's a legitimate concern, and honestly, testing is often the trickiest part. Freshdesk’s setup often means you have to test with a small group of live customers, which feels risky if the bot isn’t quite ready.

eesel AI's simulation mode allows for risk-free testing of the AI agent on historical tickets before going live.

A much safer way to do it is to simulate how it will perform first. This is where dedicated platforms really stand out. For example, eesel AI has a simulation mode that lets you test your AI against thousands of your real, historical tickets in a completely safe environment. You can see exactly how it would have replied to past customer questions, spot any weaknesses, and get a precise, data-backed prediction of your deflection rate. It takes all the guesswork out of the launch so you can go live with confidence.

Keep an eye on performance and your knowledge base

An AI isn't a "set it and forget it" kind of tool. You have to keep tabs on how it's doing. Use Freshdesk's analytics to watch key numbers like your ticket deflection rate, first-contact resolution, and customer satisfaction scores for conversations with the bot.

Pay special attention to the chats where the bot failed and a human had to step in. These failures are a goldmine of insights. They usually point to a gap in your knowledge base. If your help articles are out of date, your bot will be giving out-of-date answers. Modern AI tools can help with this too. eesel AI can automatically spot these knowledge gaps from failed conversations and even help you write new documentation by drafting articles based on successful solutions from your human agents. It helps turn knowledge management from a chore into a smart, proactive process.

Is Freshdesk's built-in AI the best tool for ticket deflection?

Freshdesk's Freddy AI is a solid choice for teams who are just starting to explore automation. It's built right in, and for handling simple questions by referencing a knowledge base, it can work just fine. But as your automation needs get a little more complex, you might start to feel its limitations.

Here’s a quick comparison of how Freshdesk's native AI stacks up against a more powerful, dedicated platform like eesel AI.

At the end of the day, Freshdesk is good at reciting information from your knowledge base. But if you want an AI that can truly resolve issues by taking action, you’ll probably need something more. With eesel AI's custom actions, you can build automated workflows, not just chatbots. The AI can look up dynamic information, update tickets, and talk to your other tools to solve problems right away.

And finally, there's the cost. Usage-based pricing models can lead to surprise bills, especially when you have a busy month. With eesel AI's transparent pricing, you get a flat, predictable fee, which makes budgeting and scaling a whole lot easier.

Deflecting tickets the smart way

Setting up a Freshdesk AI chatbot to deflect tickets is definitely doable. It's all about activating the Freddy AI Agent, connecting it to your knowledge, defining its rules, and making sure there’s always an easy escape hatch to a human.

But remember, great ticket deflection is a process of constant improvement, not a one-time project. It means you have to monitor, test, and tweak your approach over time. While Freshdesk's own tools give you a good starting point for basic deflection, teams looking for a faster setup, more control, risk-free testing, and powerful automation will likely want a dedicated platform working alongside it.

This video explains how a chatbot in a Freshworks product can automate and deflect tickets from the helpdesk.

Ready to see what’s possible beyond a standard knowledge base bot? eesel AI lets you simulate an AI agent on your real support tickets and gives you a personalized deflection report in minutes. You’ll see exactly which tickets you can safely automate away. Start your free trial with eesel AI today.