Collect → Identify → Ask What's Missing → Tag → Create Ticket

Omnichannel Intake and Triage

Pulls requests in from email, SMS, and the portal, identifies the resident and unit, asks for whatever detail is missing, and creates a complete, correctly-tagged ticket ready for dispatch.

The Problem

The lead was real. The detail was missing. The ticket sat.

A resident sends an email: "The kitchen thing is broken again." Your coordinator reads it, tries to figure out which unit, which appliance, and whether it's urgent. They call back to ask. No answer. The ticket sits incomplete for a day. Maintenance gets a vague work order. A tech shows up with the wrong parts.

What Changes

Your coordinator's morning - with the agent running.

The agent reads the email, identifies the unit from the resident's record, and sends a quick text: "Which appliance - dishwasher, faucet, or something else?" and "Is there water leaking right now?" The resident replies in 30 seconds. The agent creates a complete ticket - right trade, right priority, right unit details. Your coordinator opens a clean work order ready for dispatch.

Humans stay in control: Your coordinator reviews and dispatches every ticket. The agent handles the collecting, the identifying, and the back-and-forth that fills in missing detail. It produces a complete record, your team makes the call.

HOW THE AGENT WORKS

TRIGGERLLMAPIDECISIONACTIONWAIT

TRIGGERMessage ArrivesEmail, SMS, or portal submission

LLMRead & UnderstandLLM extracts intent, unit hints, urgency

APIIdentify ResidentMatch sender to resident + unit in PMS

DECISIONDetail Complete?

LLMAsk What’s MissingSend targeted follow-up question

LLMTag & CategoriseAssign trade, priority, unit details

ACTIONCreate TicketWrite complete work order to PMS

ACTIONFlag for ReviewSurface to coordinator for dispatch

The agent doesn't make the repair decision. It collects what's missing and produces a complete record. Your team still reviews and dispatches. The agent removes the back-and-forth, not the judgment.

HOW TO BUILD IT

Three levels of depth. Pick the one that matches where you are.

For the ops person who needs to understand what's involved and brief their team.

Your ChannelsEmail, SMS, portal

The AgentWorkflow engine + LLM

Your PMSResidents, units, tickets

WHAT YOUR TEAM PROVIDES ONCE

Channel access - the inboxes, numbers, and portal feed requests come from
Resident directory - so the agent can match a sender to a unit
Required fields per request type - what a complete ticket needs
Trade and priority taxonomy - how requests get tagged
Follow-up templates - the approved wording for missing-detail questions

What happens day-to-day: Residents message you however they like. The agent reads each one, works out who and what, asks the one question that's missing, and files a clean ticket. Your coordinator opens complete work orders instead of half-formed messages to decode.

For the IT person or technical lead who needs to scope the integration.

INQUIRY SOURCES

Email inbox

Inbound SMS

Resident portal

WORKFLOW ENGINE (N8N)

Trigger

LLM - Understand request

PMS API - Identify resident

Branch - detail complete?

LLM - Ask + tag

PMS API - Create ticket

Notify coordinator

CONNECTS TO

PMS (Yardi / AppFolio / RealPage)Read: resident directory. Write: complete tickets

Email + SMS (IMAP / Twilio)Read inbound, send follow-up questions

Resident portalRead: submitted requests

Notifications (Slack / email)Surface ready tickets to the coordinator

WITHOUT PMS API

Agent reads from a shared inbox and posts tickets to a sheet. Resident matching is manual or skipped. The missing-detail chase still runs unattended.

WITH PMS API

Agent matches residents against the live directory and writes complete tickets straight into the PMS. Best experience.

For the person who wants to build this agent step by step. Each node below maps to an n8n workflow node.

TRIGGERNode 1

Trigger - Email / SMS / Portal

IMAP on the resident inbox + Twilio inbound + portal webhook, normalised into one payload.

Output: { sender, channel, raw_message, attachments, received_at }

LLMNode 2

LLM - Understand Request

Extracts intent, any unit/appliance hints, and urgency from free text.

Output: { intent, unit_hint, item, urgency, missing_fields[] }

You read an inbound resident message and extract a maintenance request.

Return:
- intent: maintenance / question / complaint / other
- item: what is broken or asked about, in a few words
- unit_hint: any unit reference in the message, or null
- urgency: emergency / high / normal
- missing_fields: list any of [unit, specific_item, active_damage, access] not stated

Respond ONLY with valid JSON. No explanation.

--- MESSAGE ---
{raw_message}

INPUT

"The kitchen thing is broken again."

OUTPUT

{
  "intent": "maintenance",
  "item": "unspecified kitchen appliance",
  "unit_hint": null,
  "urgency": "normal",
  "missing_fields": ["unit", "specific_item", "active_damage"]
}

APINode 3

HTTP Request - Identify Resident

Look up the sender (email/phone) in the PMS to resolve resident name and unit.

Output: { resident_name, unit_id, lease_status }

DECISIONNode 4

Condition - Detail Complete?

IF missing_fields is empty → go straight to tagging. ELSE → send a targeted follow-up and wait for the reply.

Output: Branch: COMPLETE (tag + create) or INCOMPLETE (ask, then continue)

LLMNode 5

LLM - Ask & Tag

Sends the one or two questions that close the gaps, then tags trade and priority once the reply lands.

Output: { trade, priority, unit_id, complete_description }

You turn a resident request plus their reply into a clean, tagged ticket.

Given the original message, the resident's reply, and the unit record, return:
- trade: one of [plumbing, hvac, electrical, appliance, general, pest, life_safety]
- priority: emergency / high / normal (emergency only for active damage or safety)
- complete_description: a clear one-paragraph work order description
- access_notes: any entry instructions

Respond ONLY with valid JSON.

ORIGINAL: {raw_message}
REPLY: {resident_reply}
UNIT: {unit_record}

OUTPUT

{
  "trade": "appliance",
  "priority": "normal",
  "complete_description": "Unit 214 dishwasher not draining, standing water in the bottom. No active leak onto floor.",
  "access_notes": "Resident home after 5pm, no pets"
}

APINode 6

HTTP Request - Create Ticket

POST the complete work order to the PMS with trade, priority, unit, and description. Status: "Ready for dispatch".

Output: Complete ticket created in the PMS.

ACTIONNode 7

Notify Coordinator

Send the coordinator a one-line summary with approve/dispatch.

Output: Coordinator notified, ticket ready to dispatch.

MVP vs Advanced — Where To Start

MVP — START HERE

Single inbox (email only)
LLM extraction only
Manual resident match
One fixed follow-up question
Ticket to a shared sheet
Coordinator alert by email

ADVANCED — ADD LATER

Full Video Walkthrough Coming Soon

From a vague message to a clean ticket - step by step.

Everything on this page is free to learn.

When you're ready to build — do it yourself or bring us in.

Book a call to scope this

OTHER AGENTS IN LEASING & MARKETING

Proactive Status Update and Escalation

Sends milestone updates automatically, escalates stalled cases

Resident Update Blaster

Sends status updates tied to ticket milestones, automatically

Notice and Template Agent

Drafts standardised notices with required wording in place

Resident Concierge

Answers questions, opens requests, routes to the right team

Frequently asked questions

Omnichannel Intake and Triage is an AI agent that collects from every channel, asks what's missing, and creates clean tickets.

The lead was real. The detail was missing. The Omnichannel Intake and Triage addresses this — it collects from every channel, asks what's missing, and creates clean tickets.

No — your team stays in control. Your coordinator reviews and dispatches every ticket. The agent handles the collecting, the identifying, and the back-and-forth that fills in missing detail. It produces a complete record, your team makes the call.

This is 3 of 7 agents in Resident & Tenant Services. → · Explore all 10 departments →