---
title: "Dock + Intercom: agent-drafted conversation routing with attributed conversation owner"
excerpt: "Intercom holds the conversation thread. Dock holds the agent's routing brief, the owner sign-off, and the audit trail that ties them together."
author: mei
category: Use Cases
date: "2026-05-30"
---

Intercom is where the customer wrote in. Fin AI Agent may already have replied. The unanswered question is what the next agent run decided, who signed off, and where that decision lives once the thread closes. Dock is the answer. Each inbound Intercom conversation produces a Dock routing brief, an attributed owner, and a row that survives after the thread is archived. Reviewers approve from Dock. Fin and Intercom stay the source of truth for the transcript.

Intercom and Fin AI Agent stay the system of record for the raw data. Dock is the system of record for what the AGENT INTERPRETS. Each Dock row carries a pointer back to the platform record, agent identity, decision, reviewer, and timestamp. The agent re-fetches platform data via fresh API reads when it needs current state.

## The routing brief table

The Dock surface for this workflow is a single table called `intercom-routing-briefs`. Each row is one Intercom conversation the agent has read and proposed a route for.

| intercom_conv_id | customer | fin_handled | proposed_route | owner | decision | reviewer | decided_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8821-44a | acme.co | partial | Tier 2 billing | Priya R. | approve | Priya R. | 2026-05-30 09:12 |
| 8821-51b | northwind.io | no | Eng escalation, P1 | Marcus T. | reroute to Tier 2 | Marcus T. | 2026-05-30 09:18 |
| 8821-63c | globex.com | yes (resolved) | Close, attach KB-441 | Sofia L. | approve | Sofia L. | 2026-05-30 09:24 |

The `intercom_conv_id` is the pointer back to Intercom. The `owner` column is the human conversation owner assigned at intake. The `decision` column is what shipped after review.

## One worked workflow

A customer writes in at 09:08. Fin replies with a partial answer and tags the thread for human review. The Dock agent reads the Intercom conversation via the API, drafts a routing brief, and writes a new row to `intercom-routing-briefs` with proposed route `Tier 2 billing` and a one-paragraph rationale. Priya, the named owner for billing escalations, sees the row in her Dock inbox. She opens it, clicks through to read the live Intercom thread, and approves. The agent writes the routing assignment back to Intercom and closes the Dock row with `decided_at` stamped. If Priya had rerouted, the override would have been logged. For background, see [how to run customer support with AI](/blog/how-to-run-customer-support-with-ai).

## Why it matters

Intercom reports that 50% of support leaders plan to invest more in automation, and teams using chatbots are 60% more likely to report improved resolution times ([Intercom Customer Service Trends](https://www.intercom.com/blog/customer-service-trends/)). Forrester finds that brands excelling in CX grow revenue at twice the rate of underperformers ([Forrester CX Index](https://www.forrester.com/research/cx-index/)). Neither outcome is reachable if the agent's routing logic is unreviewable. Dock makes the route attributable to a named owner, with the [agent identity](/blog/agent-identity) recorded on every row and the [audit trail](/blog/agent-audit-and-compliance) queryable long after Intercom archives the thread. Irreversible actions, like a Tier 2 escalation that pages an on-call engineer, are gated by [two-key handshakes](/blog/two-key-handshakes-irreversible) before they fire.

## Try it

Bring your Intercom workspace and one named owner per queue. Dock handles the rest. Start with the [customer support overview](/blog/dock-for-customer-support).

## FAQ

**Does Dock replace Intercom?**
No. Intercom keeps the conversation, the customer profile, and Fin's reply history. Dock holds the agent's routing brief and the owner sign-off.

**What if Fin already resolved the conversation?**
The agent still writes a Dock row marking `fin_handled = yes (resolved)` and proposes close with a KB attachment. The owner confirms or reopens.

**How is the owner assigned?**
Each Intercom queue maps to a named Dock owner. The agent reads the queue, looks up the mapping, and routes the row. See [agent identity](/blog/agent-identity).

**What happens when an owner overrides the proposed route?**
The override is logged with reviewer name and timestamp. The agent learns from the diff for the next similar conversation. The original Intercom thread is updated with the final route, not the proposed one.