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AI customer support glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms you will see across the Support Oasis product, blog, and pricing.
AI Agent
An autonomous software agent that can resolve customer support tickets without a human in the loop.
Read definitionAI Copilot
An AI surface that assists human agents by drafting replies, summarizing threads, and suggesting next steps.
Read definitionAuto-resolution
When AI fully resolves a customer support ticket without a human reply.
Read definitionConfidence threshold
The minimum confidence score AI must reach before sending a reply autonomously.
Read definitionApproval gate
A required human approval step for specific AI actions regardless of confidence score.
Read definitionAudit log
A per-ticket record of every AI decision, including the reply, the action, the confidence, and the source citations.
Read definitionOutcome-based AI pricing
AI billing tied to fully resolved tickets, not seats or attempts.
Read definitionHuman in the loop
An AI design pattern where humans retain control over decisions even when AI is doing most of the work.
Read definitionFirst contact resolution (FCR)
The percentage of tickets resolved on the first reply, without follow-up exchanges or escalations.
Read definitionFirst response time (FRT)
The elapsed time between a customer's first message and the first reply, whether from AI or a human agent.
Read definitionCustomer satisfaction (CSAT)
A survey-based score, usually 1 to 5 or 1 to 7, that measures how satisfied a customer was with a single support interaction.
Read definitionNet Promoter Score (NPS)
A 0-to-10 survey question that measures how likely a customer is to recommend you, scored as percent promoters minus percent detractors.
Read definitionCustomer effort score (CES)
A 1-to-7 survey score that measures how hard a customer had to work to get their issue resolved.
Read definitionService level agreement (SLA)
A defined commitment to respond or resolve within a target time, often by channel and priority.
Read definitionTicket deflection rate
The percentage of customer requests resolved by self-service or AI before reaching a human agent.
Read definitionAverage handle time (AHT)
The average time an agent spends actively working on a single ticket, including reply and lookup time.
Read definitionResolution time
The total elapsed time from a ticket being opened to being marked resolved, including wait periods.
Read definitionBacklog
The set of unresolved tickets at any given point in time, typically tracked as total open and aging open.
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