# How to Simplify Customer Escalation with Automation
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**Business Goal**: Enable agents to initiate issue escalations to second-level support teams while engaging in customer conversations.
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When more complex customer issues arise, this Workflow enables first-level agents to easily escalate issues using a Shortcut button. Customers will be routed to the selected second-level team, along with a summary of the issue. This helps second-level agents to quickly understand customer problems and improve resolution time.
#### Benefits of Simplifying Customer Escalation with Automation
* Streamline internal business processes by automating the routing system.
* Improve collaboration between teams by ensuring a smooth flow of information.
* Reduce customers downtime by routing more complex issues to specialized agents.
#### Workflow Setup
Learn how to use the Workflow Template to set up an automated issue escalation process:
* Select the Issue Escalation Workflow Template.
* Configure the Shortcut Trigger.
* Automatically route Contacts to the selected team and assign to an agent.
**Select the Issue Escalation Workflow Template**
In the **Workflows** module, click **+ Add Workflow** > Click **Issue Escalation** > Click **Use Template**.
**1.** [**Trigger**](https://help.respond.io/workflows/workflow-triggers): The Workflow starts when the agent selects the Shortcut button from the Messages module.
Under *Shortcut Configuration*, the shortcut name and description can be edited.
Under *Shortcut Form*, you can set up the form that will be displayed when the agent selects the shortcut. In this template, the form allows the agent to select the second-level support team and fill in a summary of the issue.
In this example, we have added two teams:
* Billing
* Technical Support
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To speed up the resolution process, switch the **Required** toggle on for the *Summary of Escalation* so that the agent is required to provide a description of the issue before escalation. This summary gives the second-level agent a better understanding of the issue before continuing the conversation with the Contact.
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**Automatically route Contacts to the selected team and assign to an agent**
**2. Route Contact to Selected Team:** This is a [Branch](/ismessenger/modules/workflow.md) step to route Contact to the second-level support team that the agent has selected in the previous step. If the agent has selected the *Billing* or *Technical Support* team, the Contact will be routed to Branch 1 or Branch 2 respectively.
**3. Assign to Billing Team** or **Assign to Technical Support Team**: This is an [Assign To](/ismessenger/modules/workflow.md) step that allows you to set up the auto-assignment based on your [strategy preferences](/ismessenger/sales-use-cases/how-to-route-leads.md).
**4. Escalation Summary to Billing** or **Escalation Summary to Technical Support:** This is an [Add Comment](/ismessenger/modules/workflow.md) step where the second-level agent who is assigned to the Contact will receive a notification that includes the comment and the summary of the issue.
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Once you have completed the setup, click **Save** and **Publish** to activate the Workflow.
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#### How It Works: Issue Escalation Workflow
First-level agent, Yong, is unable to solve a complex technical issue faced by a customer. Yong decides to escalate this issue to the right team for assistance.
1. From the Messages module, Yong clicks the **Shortcut** button > Selects the **Escalate to the Billing or Technical Support Team** Shortcut.
1. A form is displayed:
* *Escalate to Team*: In the dropdown, Yong selects **Technical Support**.
* *Summary of Escalation*: Yong provides a description of the issue.
1. Yong clicks **Start**. A notification is displayed to indicate that the workflow has been initiated and the Contact is transferred to the second-level agent in the Technical Support team.
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