\(Legacy\) Case and incident deflection in Virtual Agent for NLU

concept brazil Updated Sep 10, 2026 2 min read case-incident-deflection-virtual-agent-nlu.md

Virtual Agent provides several self-service options for your user that can help deflect tickets.

Deflection occurs when a user asks a question or makes a request that doesn't result in a ticket or human assistance. There are many ways that your customers can self-serve, including using AI Search and reading Knowledge articles. Virtual Agent provides a number of ways for your users to serve themselves.

Issue Auto Resolution

When a user creates an issue, the Issue Auto Resolution application uses machine learning and NLU to identify the criticality of the issue, the intent, and an appropriate Virtual Agent topic for an automatic resolution. If a Virtual Agent topic isn’t found, Issue Auto Resolution does an AI Search to return the most appropriate Knowledge articles, FAQs, or catalog content. The deflection content is then delivered to the user through the configured response channel, such as email, short messaging service (SMS), or the Virtual Agent chat widget.
Conversational subflows and conversational actions

Create conversational subflows and actions in Workflow Studio and use them in Virtual Agent conversations.
Use the deflection topic block

Use the pre-built deflection topic block in Virtual Agent to track the issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user.
(Legacy) Using Issue Auto Resolution
You can proactively deflect issues and expedite the resolution process for your agent and user with the Issue Auto Resolution (IAR) application. Through machine learning and Natural Language Understanding (NLU), users get immediate self-service and can access Virtual Agent topics, Knowledge articles, and catalog items.
(Legacy) Using the deflection topic block to track deflections in Virtual Agent
Use the pre-built deflection topic block in ServiceNow® Virtual Agent to track the issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user. Incident deflection patterns and metrics can help you optimize and analyze the effectiveness of Virtual Agent.

Parent Topic:(Legacy) Exploring other Virtual Agent for NLU features

39 lines · 3.7 KB Wrap lines

---
title: \(Legacy\) Case and incident deflection in Virtual Agent for NLU
description: Virtual Agent provides several self-service options for your user that can help deflect tickets.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/conversational-interfaces/case-incident-deflection-virtual-agent-nlu.html
release: brazil
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Exploring other Virtual Agent NLU features, Build and deploy NLU conversations, \(Legacy\) Virtual Agent for NLU, Conversational Interfaces]
---

# \(Legacy\) Case and incident deflection in Virtual Agent for NLU

Virtual Agent provides several self-service options for your user that can help deflect tickets.

Deflection occurs when a user asks a question or makes a request that doesn't result in a ticket or human assistance. There are many ways that your customers can self-serve, including using AI Search and reading Knowledge articles. Virtual Agent provides a number of ways for your users to serve themselves.

-   **[Issue Auto Resolution](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/auto-resolution-va.md)**

    When a user creates an issue, the Issue Auto Resolution application uses machine learning and NLU to identify the criticality of the issue, the intent, and an appropriate Virtual Agent topic for an automatic resolution. If a Virtual Agent topic isn’t found, Issue Auto Resolution does an AI Search to return the most appropriate Knowledge articles, FAQs, or catalog content. The deflection content is then delivered to the user through the configured response channel, such as email, short messaging service \(SMS\), or the Virtual Agent chat widget.

-   **[Conversational subflows](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/managing-conversational-subflows.md) and [conversational actions](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/virtual-agent/managing-conversational-actions.md)**

    Create conversational subflows and actions in Workflow Studio and use them in Virtual Agent conversations.

-   **[Use the deflection topic block](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/deflections-virtual-agent.md)**

    Use the pre-built deflection topic block in Virtual Agent to track the issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user.


-   **[\(Legacy\) Using Issue Auto Resolution](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/auto-resolution-va.md)**  
You can proactively deflect issues and expedite the resolution process for your agent and user with the Issue Auto Resolution \(IAR\) application. Through machine learning and Natural Language Understanding \(NLU\), users get immediate self-service and can access Virtual Agent topics, Knowledge articles, and catalog items.
-   **[\(Legacy\) Using the deflection topic block to track deflections in Virtual Agent](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/deflections-virtual-agent.md)**  
Use the pre-built deflection topic block in ServiceNow® Virtual Agent to track the issues that Virtual Agent helped to resolve or actually resolved for a user. Incident deflection patterns and metrics can help you optimize and analyze the effectiveness of Virtual Agent.

**Parent Topic:**[\(Legacy\) Exploring other Virtual Agent for NLU features](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/conversational-interfaces/exploring-other-vad-features-nlu.md)