Overview
Collaborative Mode in AP Helpdesk ensures that all automated responses generated by SmartBot are subject to human review before being sent to vendors or internal requesters. This mode provides oversight, accuracy, and compliance for all AP communications, especially for sensitive or complex requests.
When Collaborative Mode is enabled, AP Helpdesk creates Review tasks for all inbound emails that require user validation. This includes emails from enrolled, unenrolled, internal, and unknown senders (for invoice submissions). The system performs intent detection on every email, and tasks are created even for unknown senders to ensure no critical AP document is missed.
In the Task Details view, a “Ready for Review” banner is displayed when there are pending human actions required before a response can be sent. This visual indicator helps users quickly identify tasks that are awaiting their input.
Workflow
Email Received and Intent Detected
Every inbound email is analyzed for business intent (e.g., Request for Payment Status, Invoice Submission).
Intent detection is performed regardless of sender type.
For unenrolled or unknown senders, processing is limited to record matching and initial intent detection; no draft reply is generated.
Task Creation and Assignment
A Review task is created for each qualifying email.
The task appears in the Tasks List with a status of “New.”
To take action (edit, discard, or send a reply), you must first assign the task to yourself by clicking Assign To Me in the Task Details panel.
Email Section Actions
The email panel in Task Details provides several actions to help you manage and respond to inbound requests efficiently:
- Reply: Send a response to the sender using the SmartBot draft reply or a manually composed message. Note: To edit or send the SmartBot reply, the task must be assigned to you.
- Forward: Forward the email and its contents to another recipient for escalation or additional review.
- Print to PDF: To access the Print to PDF option, click the More (three dots) menu in the email panel. Select Print to PDF to generate a PDF version of the email and its thread for record-keeping or offline review.
Ellipses (Three-Dot Menu) Actions: At the top of the email section, click the three-dot menu to access additional features:
- Sort Emails: Sort the email thread by Oldest First or Newest First. This allows you to review the conversation in your preferred order.
- Task Suppression:
Apply Task Suppression: Select Apply Task Suppression to prevent new tasks from being created from future inbound emails until all current tasks are marked as DONE.
Lift Task Suppression: If task suppression is already active, you will see an option to Lift Task Suppression, allowing new tasks to be generated from incoming messages again.
- Internal Sender Emails Hyperlink: Click the Internal Sender Emails hyperlink to be redirected to the mailbox and the specific email thread associated with the task. This allows you to review the original message context directly.
- View Metadata: Click View Metadata to display detailed metadata for the email and task. This includes technical information such as message ID, sender type, processing state, detected intent, attachments, and record match status.
Draft Reply Handling
If the sender is enrolled or an authorized internal contact, and the detected intent supports a draft response, SmartBot generates a draft reply.
The draft reply includes relevant details (such as invoice number, date, amount, and due date) and is displayed beneath the email thread for review.
You can edit the draft reply, add attachments (e.g., payment status CSV, remittance advice PDF), or discard the draft if it is not applicable.
Editing or Discarding the Draft Reply
Only the assigned user can edit or discard the SmartBot draft reply.
If you choose to discard the draft reply, you can click Done at the top right of the Task Details view to complete the process and mark the task as finished.
All actions, including edits, sends, discards, and status changes, are recorded in the Task History for audit and compliance.
Approval and Completion
No SmartBot response is sent until after you review and approve the draft reply by clicking Reply (to send) or Done (after discarding).
Once the task is marked as Done, it becomes read-only and is removed from the default view (unless the Status filter is adjusted to include Done tasks).
Figure 1. Collaborative Mode - Ready for Review