How Control Tower works end to end
Control Tower sits beside Intercom. It listens for conversation updates, scores support risk, alerts your team when the latest message is risky, and gives managers a workspace for follow-up.
- A customer sends a message in Intercom.
- Intercom sends a webhook update to Control Tower.
- Control Tower stores the conversation event and evaluates the latest message.
- Built-in and custom rules update the current score and the full conversation score.
- If the current message is high or critical risk, Control Tower sends push and optional Slack alerts.
- The conversation appears in the risk feed when its full conversation score is high or critical.
- A manager reviews the timeline, risk signals, audit trail, and QA result.
- The manager can escalate, resolve, reopen, reassign, mention, sync, or run QA.
Catch high-risk conversations early
The risk feed is the manager's command center for high-risk Intercom conversations. It shows active issues first, keeps resolved history, and loads older items as you scroll.
What you see
- Active, Resolved, and All feed tabs.
- Customer name, company, risk label, and latest message preview.
- Full conversation score and current message score.
- Matched signals such as human-help intent or escalation risk.
How scoring works
The full score represents accumulated risk across the thread. The current score represents the latest assessed customer message. The feed uses the full score, while alerts use the current risky message.
How to use it
Open the highest-risk card, compare the latest risk with the full thread risk, then decide whether to escalate, resolve, reassign, mention a teammate, or sync the latest Intercom context.
Escalate to Intercom with context
Escalation turns detection into action. When a manager clicks Escalate, Control Tower can add internal context to Intercom and route the conversation using your configured defaults.
What escalation can do
- Add an internal escalation note.
- Apply your configured escalation tag.
- Assign to a configured Intercom admin or team.
- Record the action in Control Tower's audit trail.
What the note includes
The escalation summary can include the full conversation score, latest message risk, customer context, matched reason, and recommended follow-up so the next teammate does not start cold.
What to configure first
Set the escalation tag, optional admin ID, and optional team ID in Settings. Control Tower keeps local escalation state so the dashboard remains clear even when native Intercom priority fields are not available.
Review context, QA, and resolution history
Managers need more than an alert. Control Tower keeps the thread, audit trail, QA result, webhook trace, status changes, and resolution history together.
Conversation context
Open the timeline to read every captured message and internal note. Use Sync when you need to refresh from Intercom before making a decision.
QA review
Run QA to review support quality, matched patterns, knowledge gaps, unresolved signals, and manager recommendations. QA is a review aid for managers, not a replacement for human judgment.
Resolve and reopen
Resolve moves an item out of the Active feed and into Resolved history. Reopen brings it back when follow-up is needed. The history stays available for later review.
Build rules around your real support risks
Every support team has its own danger signals. Control Tower combines built-in rules with organization-specific custom phrases and adjustable thresholds.
Built-in rules
Built-in rules cover common support risks like refunds, outages, billing failures, login problems, angry customers, and human-help intent.
Custom phrases
Add phrases that matter to your team, such as product-specific failure terms or internal escalation language. Custom phrases are matched literally, not as regex.
Thresholds
Set the score boundary for high and critical risk. Scores accumulate across matched signals, and the preview bar shows how those scores map to risk levels.
Configure alerts and launch in minutes
Settings bring alerts, Slack delivery, escalation defaults, organization controls, and subscription management into one place.
Push and Slack alerts
Install the PWA to receive phone alerts. Optionally add a Slack webhook and cooldown so your team gets urgent alerts without repeated noise for the same conversation.
Escalation defaults
Set the tag, assignee, and team used during escalation. These defaults make handoff consistent and reduce manual steps during an urgent issue.
Plans and usage
View the active plan, usage for the month, upgrade or downgrade options, and billing management. Payments and subscription management are handled through Paddle.
Feature map
Use this table when you want to understand what each major feature does and where it fits in the workflow.
| Feature | What it does | When to use it | Important detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Risk feed | Lists high and critical conversations. | Daily triage and manager review. | Older items load as you scroll. |
| Full score | Shows accumulated thread risk. | Understand total severity. | Used for feed inclusion. |
| Current score | Shows latest-message risk. | Understand why an alert fired. | Used for push and Slack alerts. |
| Escalate | Adds handoff context to Intercom. | When a teammate or manager must take over. | Uses configured tag, admin, or team when available. |
| Run QA | Reviews quality, patterns, and recommendations. | After a risky or complex support conversation. | Supports human review; it does not replace it. |
| Resolve/Reopen | Moves items between active and historical workflows. | Close follow-up or bring back an issue. | History remains accessible. |
| Custom rules | Adds organization-specific risk phrases. | When built-in rules need local coverage. | Matches literal phrases. |
| Notifications | Sends push and optional Slack alerts. | When current messages are high or critical risk. | iOS requires PWA install. |
Common questions
Short answers for reviewers, admins, and support managers evaluating Control Tower.
Why can a conversation show high full risk but low current risk?
The full conversation score is accumulated across the thread. The current score is only the latest assessed message. A harmless latest message can be low while the overall conversation remains high because earlier messages contained risk signals.
When does Control Tower send notifications?
Notifications are sent when the current message is high or critical risk. Control Tower does not notify repeatedly just because an old conversation already has a high full score.
Does Control Tower replace Intercom?
No. Control Tower is a monitoring, scoring, alerting, QA, and escalation workspace for Intercom conversations. Intercom remains the system of engagement for customer messaging.
Can I add rules for my business?
Yes. Add custom literal phrases in Settings. They combine with the built-in rules and your configured thresholds to score conversations.
What happens after I resolve a conversation?
It leaves the Active feed and remains available in Resolved and All history. You can reopen it later if more follow-up is needed.
How do phone alerts work?
Install Control Tower as a PWA and allow notifications. On iPhone, open Control Tower in Safari and add it to the Home Screen. On Android, use Chrome's install option.