Sentiment and emotion
Use estimated visitor sentiment and emotion to help decide which conversations need attention.
What it is
Sentiment estimates whether a visitor's messages are positive or negative. INSIDE uses recent conversation text to produce a running signal and can show it through visitor avatars. Emotion analysis is a separate estimate when the required service is available.
Who uses it and why
Operators use the signal as a prompt to read a conversation closely. Supervisors use it to spot visitors who may need attention. Powerfront adapts the vocabulary to the language used on your website.
Where to find it
Look for sentiment cues on visitor avatars on the Floor. Powerfront manages configuration under Settings › General Settings › Sentiment, on the Sentiment Settings screen, and can change it for you.
How it works
INSIDE analyses visitor text and updates the conversation's running sentiment. The ordinary analysis can use an available analysis service or a vocabulary-based fallback that considers recent messages.
An enabled Conversation Summary feature with Analyze Sentiment can supply AI sentiment instead. The ordinary per-message analysis is skipped for conversations using that option. Its vocabulary rules and recent-message behaviour should therefore not be assumed to govern AI sentiment.
A strong positive or negative signal can remain visible across several nearby messages. The display therefore need not change immediately after one neutral sentence. Email uses different handling: its recent analysis resets after more than five minutes without a message and does not use the same persistent strong-sentiment behaviour.
When Show train the bot options is enabled, operators can select message text and record positive or negative sentiment through the selection tools.
Configure it
Ask Powerfront to enable Enable sentiment analysis and save the settings.
Ask Powerfront to update the three vocabulary lists, using one word or phrase of up to two words per line. Words to ignore takes precedence over positive or negative overrides. A term entered in both positive and negative lists is removed from both override lists.
Ask Powerfront to enable Enable Negative Sentiment Analysis Handover only with the relevant bot handling configured.
For AI sentiment, operators with the Settings or Developer role can configure Analyze Sentiment in Settings › AI › Features › Conversation Summary. Summary timing and AI account settings are managed with that feature.
Settings
| Setting | Where | Applies to | Default | Who can change it | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analyze Sentiment | Settings › AI › Features › Conversation Summary | website | Off | Settings role, Developer role | Uses AI conversation summary sentiment in place of the ordinary per-message analysis for matching conversations. |
| Sentiment Rules | Settings › AI › Features › Conversation Summary | website | Not set | Settings role, Developer role | Provides the editor for AI sentiment instructions; confirm effective saved instructions with Powerfront support. |
| Enable sentiment analysis | Settings › General Settings › Sentiment | website | Off | Powerfront | Enables sentiment analysis and the associated visitor avatar behaviour. |
| Show train the bot options | Settings › General Settings › Sentiment | website | Off | Powerfront | Lets operators label visitor message sentiment through the message selection tools. |
| Enable Negative Sentiment Analysis Handover | Settings › General Settings › Sentiment | website | Off | Powerfront | Enables the configured bot handover behaviour for negative sentiment. |
| Words to ignore | Settings › General Settings › Sentiment | website | Not set | Powerfront | Excludes listed words and phrases from the website's sentiment vocabulary. |
| Words with positive sentiment | Settings › General Settings › Sentiment | website | Not set | Powerfront | Treats listed words and phrases as positive in vocabulary-based analysis. |
| Words with negative sentiment | Settings › General Settings › Sentiment | website | Not set | Powerfront | Treats listed words and phrases as negative in vocabulary-based analysis. |
Limits and good to know
- Sentiment and emotion are estimates, not confirmed satisfaction or resolution outcomes. Read the message before deciding how to respond.
- Very short conversations may not contain enough text for the fallback analysis.
- AI summary sentiment becomes eligible after more than two visitor messages, or when the conversation is closed or resolved. It also depends on when the summary runs, so early conversations may have no fresh signal.
- Emotion information may be absent when its analysis service is unavailable.
- Website vocabulary overrides can change the result, including for words that have a special meaning in your business.
Depends on and works with
+1 more · used by
- AI assistance, translation and sentiment reportsEnhances
Sentiment processing supplies initial, ending and overall sentiment.
View all connections as a list
This feature uses
- Roles and permissionsConfigured by
Sentiment configuration is an administrator-only screen.
- AI conversation summariesConfigured by
Conversation Summary settings can select AI sentiment in place of ordinary per-message analysis.
- Floor avatar indicatorsEnhances
Visitor avatars display sentiment cues on the floor.
- Virtual Assistant task pauses and handoverEnhances
Configured workflows can hand conversations to an operator when negative sentiment is detected.
- AI assistance, translation and sentiment reportsRelated
Sentiment reports help supervisors review the estimates recorded for conversations.
Used by
- Floor search and filtersEnhances
Sentiment supplies Happy and Unhappy filters where these are shown.
- Floor avatar indicatorsEnhances
Sentiment information can affect visitor appearance.
- Business Feed message highlightsEnhances
Manual sentiment marking can share the excerpt selector.
- Visitor event targeting conditionsEnhances
Sentiment can be used to target happy or unhappy visitors.
- Virtual Assistant task pauses and handoverEnhances
Configured sentiment-based handover can provide another transfer trigger.
- Email event rules and actionsEnhances
Sentiment can be used in ticket conditions.
- AI conversation summariesRelated
AI sentiment from Conversation Summary replaces ordinary sentiment analysis for that conversation.
- Autonomous AI performance reportsEnhances
Ending sentiment can narrow the historical table.
- AI assistance, translation and sentiment reportsEnhances
Sentiment processing supplies initial, ending and overall sentiment.
FAQ and troubleshooting
Why does a visitor still look negative after a neutral reply?
The running signal considers recent messages and can retain strong sentiment for several messages.
Why is a product term treated as negative?
Ask Powerfront to add it to Words to ignore or review the positive and negative vocabulary lists.
Why is there no emotion signal?
Emotion analysis requires an available service. Ask Powerfront support to check availability for your setup.