Routing spam based on topic

Using the spam topic to keep junk out of the queue, with the caution that suppressing tickets automatically deserves.

Using the spam topic to keep junk out of the queue, with the caution that suppressing tickets automatically deserves.

Set it up

1. Create a view showing tickets labelled as spam.
2. Read it for two weeks without acting on it.
3. If it is accurate, add a trigger that moves them out of the main queue.
4. Keep checking that view.

Move, do not delete

Send them to a group or a status where they are out of the way and still recoverable. Deleting on an automatic label means a misclassified customer message is gone with no trace.

The failure mode is silent

A wrongly suppressed ticket produces no complaint, because the customer thinks they contacted you and you think nobody wrote. It surfaces weeks later as a customer who says they never got a reply.

That asymmetry is why this rule deserves more caution than its benefit suggests.

Read the suppressed pile weekly

Five minutes scanning subjects. Genuine messages stand out immediately, and the check is what makes automatic suppression safe to run at all.

Watch the borderline cases

Short messages, unusual addresses, and anything in a language you rarely see are the ones most likely to be misjudged. So are first messages from new customers, which are exactly the ones you cannot afford to lose.

Combine with something else

Spam topic plus no prior tickets from that requester is far safer than the topic alone. A returning customer is very rarely spam whatever the label says.

See also

• Creating views by topic, language or sentiment
• Turning parts of triage off
• Improving the quality of your topics