Back sync is one of the most important steps in getting ServiceAI up and running. This article explains what back sync does, how to choose the right date range, and what to expect during the process.
- What is Back Sync?
- Choosing the Right Data Range
- Triggering a Back Sync
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Back Sync?
When you connect your ticketing system to ServiceAI, the integration begins syncing new tickets as they come in. Back sync handles the historical side. It pulls in tickets from before your integration was set up to build out ServiceAI's context library.
That context library includes tickets, notes, technicians, companies, and users. The more relevant historical data ServiceAI has, the better it can score tickets, surface patterns, and provide meaningful AI-assisted responses. If a ticket type was resolved a year ago and you've back synced that far, ServiceAI will have that resolution in its context and can correlate it to similar issues coming in today.
Choosing the Right Date Range
Back sync is a balancing act. Too little data and ServiceAI doesn't have enough context to give good answers or produce meaningful reporting.
Too much data introduces a different problem. Pulling in years of old tickets means the AI is working with information that may be outdated, irrelevant, or reflective of processes and practices your team has long since moved past. In short, it will pollute your pool of answers.
The sweet spot is generally 6 months to 2 years. The right answer depends on when you feel your team hit its stride with better notes, more consistent processes, and a more current roster of technicians.
Cleaner, more recent data will outperform a larger volume of messy historical tickets every time.
Note: Tickets created before this date will be excluded, even if recently updated.
Triggering a Back Sync
When you first set up ServiceAI and connect your ticketing system, you'll be prompted to configure your Back Sync date. The back sync option is triggered using the purple arrow button on the Integrations overview screen. Clicking it opens a date picker where you select how far back you want to pull tickets.
To access this after initial setup:
- In ServiceAI, go to Settings via the gear at the top navbar.
- Under the Integrations section, locate your connected ticketing system.
- Click the purple Back Sync button (the arrow icon in the Back Sync column).
- Select your desired start date and kick the sync off using the Start Back Sync button.
What to Expect During the Process
To avoid rate limiting and prevent overloading your PSA, ServiceAI drips tickets in gradually rather than pulling everything at once. Because back syncs typically involve thousands of tickets, a full sync can take anywhere from several hours to a few days, depending on the date range and ticket volume.
It's worth starting this process as early as possible. The sooner ServiceAI has historical context, the sooner you'll start seeing useful AI insights and accurate scoring.
As back syncing takes place, you will see your ticket count from the left-hand side grow a little bit every few seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I start with a small date range and expand it later?
Yes, and this approach is actually preferred. You can back sync a few months of data, let ServiceAI run for a while, and then set an earlier date and back sync again to pull in more history. Starting smaller gives you a chance to set up exclusion rules before a larger volume of data comes in, which helps keep your dataset clean.
See ServiceAI Exclusions for more details.
Where does the back sync pull tickets from?
Back sync pulls from the same source configured in your Ticket Settings. If your connected PSA supports board or queue filtering, the back sync will only pull tickets from the boards and queues you've selected there.
If you change the boards/queues between back sync cycles, different context will be stored in the created ticket database.
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