How SI Chooses Channels and Actions
Six possible actions, chosen in real time based on what works for each contact
What It Is
Every time SI decides to engage a contact, it chooses from six possible actions:
Send Email — A full personalized email (typically 100-200 words), composed from the contact's context, brand voice, RK items, and available content. Goes through quality control before delivery.
Send SMS — A plain-text message (up to 480 characters), designed to be conversational and direct. Also goes through quality control.
Trigger Call — An outbound AI phone call via Phona, scheduled during business hours in the contact's timezone. Uses a configured call flow that defines the AI agent's personality and objectives.
Micro-Conversation — A brief 1-3 sentence touch using a specific RK item (conversation starter or talking point). Lighter than a full email, designed to keep the brand present without the weight of a long message. Has its own separate cadence limits.
Escalate to Human — SI stops automation for this contact and creates a notification for the contact owner with full context: engagement score, recent interactions, talking points, and suggested actions. Used when the moment requires personal attention.
Skip — Do nothing now. SI schedules a re-check and records why it chose to wait. Sometimes silence is the right answer.
Why It Matters
Channel selection is one of the most impactful decisions SI makes. The same message delivered through the wrong channel gets ignored. A prospect who never opens emails but replies to every SMS needs to be texted, not emailed. A high-value contact in the WIN phase who is evaluating a proposal needs a human call, not an automated message.
Traditional automation systems are almost always single-channel — email. They cannot switch to SMS when email fails. They cannot trigger a phone call when the moment calls for a personal touch. They cannot stay quiet when silence is more appropriate than another message.
SI evaluates every channel option on every decision and picks the one most likely to produce a response from this specific contact at this specific moment.
How It Works
SI considers six factors when selecting a channel:
Engagement score communication dimension — If the communication sub-score is low (contact does not open/click emails), SI interprets this as email fatigue and shifts to SMS or phone.
Engagement score trend — A declining trend combined with ignored emails triggers a channel switch. SI does not keep doing what is not working.
Contact opt-outs — Email opted out → SI uses SMS. SMS opted out → SI uses email. Both opted out → SI uses phone or escalates to human. All opted out → SI cannot reach the contact and skips.
Channel verification — Email not verified → SI cannot email (risk of bounce). No phone number → SI cannot SMS or call. SI only uses channels where the contact's information is verified and available.
Cadence limits — Each channel has its own per-period limit (configured per pipeline phase). If the email limit is reached this period but SMS still has quota, SI uses SMS. This prevents over-reliance on any single channel.
Signal urgency — Some signals demand immediate, high-touch responses. A pricing page visit combined with a high engagement score might trigger an immediate human escalation rather than another automated email.
The Anti-Repetition System
SI tracks every asset (content article, video, testimonial, graphic) and every RK item it has ever used with each contact. It will never share the same asset twice with the same contact. It will not reuse an RK item within 90 days. If the same approach was tried in the last 30 days, SI chooses a different one.
This means SI's communication stays fresh across months of engagement — even with a modest RK library and content catalog, the combination of different items, channels, and approaches creates variety that no template sequence can match.
Examples
A contact has opened 0 of the last 5 emails but replied to 2 of the last 3 SMS messages
SI sees the communication dimension is low for email but strong for SMS. On this cycle, SI chooses SMS with a micro-conversation — a brief, conversational touch referencing a relevant talking point. The email channel is effectively deprioritized for this contact until engagement recovers.
A contact's engagement score is 90 and rising, and they just booked a meeting
SI recognizes this as a high-intent moment. Instead of sending another automated message, SI escalates to the contact owner with a human handoff notification: "Brandon is a highly engaged SQL showing buying signals — meeting booked, proposal evaluated, sentiment positive. Recommended action: personal outreach before the meeting." The human walks into the meeting prepared.
SI has reached the weekly email limit for a contact in the FIND phase
The FIND phase is configured for 2 emails per week. Both have been sent. But SI detects a new engagement signal (form submission). Since email quota is exhausted, SI checks SMS — the FIND phase has 0 SMS configured. SI records a skip with a note: "Signal detected but all channel quotas exhausted for this period. Will process on next available window." No over-communication occurs.
