Real-time agent assist is software that guides a support agent during a live conversation with suggested replies, next steps and relevant knowledge. Where QA measures and coaches afterward, assist acts while the conversation is happening.
In short
- It reads or transcribes the conversation and reacts to the customer’s intent.
- It is one category within conversation intelligence.
- Its impact is per interaction, not across the full volume.
- It complements QA and coaching rather than replacing them.
How real-time agent assist works
Real-time agent assist runs alongside the agent while a conversation is live, reading or transcribing the interaction as it happens and reacting instantly.
1. Follow the conversation live
The software transcribes a call or reads a chat in real time, tracking what the customer is asking for as the conversation moves.
2. Detect intent and context
It recognizes the topic, the customer’s intent and moments that call for a specific action, such as a policy step or a compliance disclosure.
3. Surface guidance on screen
Based on that context, it prompts the agent with suggested responses, the next best step or the right knowledge article, so the agent can act without leaving the conversation.
Real-time agent assist vs QA and conversation intelligence
Agent assist and QA solve different problems at different moments. Assist helps in the moment on a single conversation. QA and conversation intelligence measure and coach quality across all conversations at scale, after the fact. Tools such as Balto and Cresta work in that first moment.
| Dimension | Real-time agent assist | QA and conversation intelligence |
|---|---|---|
| When it acts | Live, during the conversation | After conversations, continuously |
| What it does | Prompts the agent in the moment | Scores quality and coaches agents |
| Scope | The single conversation in progress | Every conversation, at scale |
| Main benefit | Faster resolution on this interaction | Consistent quality and coaching across the team |
How Kaizo relates to real-time agent assist
Kaizo is not a live in-call prompting tool. It focuses on measuring and coaching quality across all conversations, after they happen and at scale, native to Zendesk and Salesforce. The two approaches are complementary: assist can help an agent during a single interaction, while Kaizo shows leaders how quality trends across every interaction and turns that into per-agent coaching. At UiPath, Kaizo automated 100% of QA with 200% ROI, because the team acted on complete conversation data rather than a handful of live moments.
Frequently asked questions
Is real-time agent assist the same as QA?
No. Agent assist guides an agent live during a conversation, while QA measures the quality of conversations after they happen. They work at different moments and can complement each other: assist helps in the moment, QA coaches across every conversation at scale.
Does Kaizo do real-time agent assist?
Kaizo focuses on measuring and coaching quality across all conversations rather than live in-call prompting. It runs after conversations, at scale, so leaders can see quality trends and coach agents on complete data rather than a single live interaction.
Is real-time agent assist part of conversation intelligence?
Yes. It is one category within conversation intelligence, focused on the live interaction. Other parts of the field, such as interaction analytics and QA, focus on analyzing and coaching across the full volume of conversations after the fact.
Can real-time assist and QA be used together?
Yes, and they often are. Assist helps agents resolve conversations as they happen, while QA and coaching measure quality across every conversation afterward, so the team improves both in the moment and over time.
