One calm queue for every parent email.

Parent questions used to pile up across shared inboxes and personal ones. This gives the front office a single, quiet view of every enquiry — and what each one is waiting on. Behind it, an AI help-desk agent triages each new email the moment it lands, drafts a reply from the school's own answers, and escalates anything sensitive to a person.

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Today's queueFront office
8 open · 4 need attention
Marco Bianchi
TKT-2041 · YEAR 9 · TRIP CONSENT
Waiting on consent form
2d
Grace Owusu
TKT-2040 · YEAR 11 · EXAM ACCESS
Drafting reply
1d
David Ellison
TKT-2039 · YEAR 7 · FEES
New enquiry
3h
Noah Smith
TKT-2037 · YEAR 8 · TIMETABLE
Answered
Emails this month
1,240
Avg. first reply
2.1 hrs
Replies drafted by the agent
310
Escalated to a person
18
In brief

Challenge, approach, outcome.

01

Challenge

Parent questions arrived everywhere — the shared office inbox, teachers' personal inboxes, the odd voicemail. The same questions got answered five different ways, sensitive messages sometimes sat unseen for a day, and no one could see the whole queue. Front-office staff lost mornings to triage.

02

Approach

One shared help-desk with an AI agent, built on the Microsoft 365 the school already runs. The agent reads each new email, tags the topic, drafts a reply from the school's own approved answers, and flags anything sensitive for a person — who approves every reply before it sends. No new system for parents to learn, no inbox left unwatched.

03

Outcome

Every parent email in one calm queue, most routine questions drafted the moment they land, and sensitive ones routed to the right person instead of sitting unseen. Hours of triage handed back to the office each week — and a person still signs off on every reply. The data stays in Canada.

Why it exists

From five scattered inboxes to one shared queue.

Before · in the inboxes

"Did anyone answer the Bianchi trip email? I think Tom might have…"

After · in the help-desk

One enquiry, one thread, visible to the whole office — with an agent drafting the reply.

NewParent asked about the Year 9 tripMon 08:12
AgentAuto-tagged Trip consent · matched to studentMon 08:12
AssignedPicked up by Sarah M.Mon 09:05
AgentFlagged missing: consent form, medical noteMon 15:40
AgentDrafted the reminder — waiting for you to sendThu 11:30
ReadyBoth forms received from the parentFri 08:41
The AI help-desk agent

An agent drafts the reply. A person sends it.

Behind the calm queue, an AI agent works every new parent email the moment it lands — reading it, drafting from the school's own answers, and keeping the thread moving. It only stops for a person when a message needs real judgment.

STEP 01
Reads & tags
Reads each new parent email, identifies the topic, and matches it to the right student record — before anyone opens the inbox.
Agent
STEP 02
Drafts the reply
Writes a reply from the school's own approved answers and names anything still needed from the parent — ready for you to send.
Agent
STEP 03
Keeps it moving
As parents reply, it advances each thread and closes the routine ones — so nothing sits forgotten in an inbox.
Agent
STEP 04
Escalates the sensitive
Safeguarding, a complaint, anything delicate — it stops and routes to the right person instead of answering. You decide.
You
The enquiry lifecycle

Eight calm stages. No inbox chaos.

01
New
A parent email has just landed. Tagged by topic, not yet picked up.
Agent · auto-tagged
02
Assigned
A member of the office team has taken it on.
Office
03
Waiting
Something is needed from the parent — a form, a date, a detail.
Agent can remind
04
Follow-up
A reminder has been drafted or sent. Waiting on the parent.
Outlook draft
05
Ready
Everything needed is in. The reply is queued to send.
Ready
06
Drafting
A person is tailoring the reply before it goes out.
In progress
07
Answered
The reply has gone and the thread is closed.
Complete
08
Escalated
Sensitive or complex — routed to the right person, never auto-answered.
Escalated
Two things it does well

The agent's replies. Connected to your records.

The agent · replies

The reply knows what's missing.

The agent reads the enquiry, picks the right recipient, and drafts an Outlook reply that names the specific details still needed. You confirm before anything goes out — nothing sends on its own.

Reply preview · Marco BianchiOutlook draft
Re: Year 9 trip — a couple of things we still need
To: the parent · from: office@maplegrove.ca
Hi — thanks for your message about the trip. Before we can confirm Marco's place, we still need:
  • Signed consent formMISSING
  • Medical / dietary noteMISSING
Microsoft · SharePoint · Graph

Lives inside your Microsoft 365.

Sign in with a school Microsoft 365 account. Student records pull from your existing SharePoint, replies go out through Outlook on your behalf, and roles come from the directory — no parallel system to maintain.

Student folder · Marco Bianchi● Synced from SharePoint
PDFEnrolment record.pdfOn file
DOCYear 9 trip letter.docxOn file
IMGConsent form.jpgOn file
Medical / dietary noteNot yet received
Architecture at a glance

Designed to sit inside Microsoft 365.

ENTRA ID
Sign in with M365
Single sign-on via Microsoft Entra. Each person's role — office, teacher, head of year — is resolved from the directory.
Auth
GRAPH API
Outlook replies on your behalf
The agent's replies become Outlook drafts via Microsoft Graph. You approve; they send from the office mailbox as a threaded reply.
Mail
SHAREPOINT
Records stay where they are
Student records mirror your existing SharePoint. The portal references them; it doesn't duplicate. Data stays in Canada.
Docs
The portal

A calm workspace for the whole queue.

Click any row to open the enquiry and see what the agent has done. Click Remind to see the reply the agent drafted. The filter chips work too.
AI help-desk agent · working
All New Assigned Waiting Drafting Ready Answered Escalated
#
Parent
Stage
Need
Owner
Last
Action