Salesforce has transitioned Agentforce to a pay-per-resolution pricing model, a significant shift focused on outcomes rather than activity. This document clarifies the specifics of this new model and its implications for developers and administrators.
Understanding Resolution in Agentforce
The core of the new model is the definition of a "billable resolution." This framework prioritizes the customer's experience of successful issue resolution. A resolution is formally defined as an interaction that meets the following criteria:
- Minimum Interaction: The session includes at least two message exchanges between the user and the agent, meaning it was not abandoned.
- Feedback Sentiment: The final user feedback is not explicitly negative.
- Successful Conclusion or Positive Feedback: The interaction concludes without the user escalating to a human representative, or the final feedback is explicitly positive.
This outcome-based approach aligns Salesforce's billing with customer success. If a user escalates to a human representative and incurs additional costs, the Agentforce Help Agent session is not billed, even if the agent performed useful functions. Explicit user feedback is key.
Cost of a Resolution
A billed resolution incurs a fixed cost of $2 USD or 400 Flex Credits. This price is static and does not fluctuate based on the number of Agentforce actions or Data 360 queries performed during the session.
This predictability allows businesses to forecast costs based on expected session volume and resolution rates. Session duration is also a factor:
- Messaging Channels: 2 hours
- Voice Channels: 10 minutes
Agent-Initiated Closures and Disputes
An Agentforce agent aims to resolve queries within the session. If a customer is unsatisfied and requests escalation, the agent will attempt to connect them to a human representative. If no representative is available, a case will be created.
An inquiry is considered resolved and billed if:
- The conversation exceeds two turns.
- The user does not provide feedback or request escalation.
- The session duration limit (2 hours for messaging, 10 minutes for voice) is exceeded.
Closing a tab or leaving a session does not automatically constitute a resolution, as Salesforce cannot determine the user's intent or subsequent actions outside the platform.
Dispute Resolution
To minimize misunderstandings, Salesforce provides a deterministic set of rules for defining resolutions. In the event of a dispute, Salesforce can furnish detailed reports including session counts, resolution metrics, and turn-by-turn transcripts to verify adherence to the defined rules.
Traditional Agentforce Pricing Models
Prior to the resolution-based model, Agentforce offered several pricing structures:
1. Flex Credits
This is a consumption-based model where you purchase credits. The cost is $500 per 100,000 credits. This grants access to customer-facing agents, employee-facing agents, Agentforce Voice, Digital Wallet, and Agentforce Vibes.
Each action consumes credits from a shared pool. Individual actions are metered:
- Agentforce Actions: 20 Flex Credits
- Agentforce Voice Actions: 30 Flex Credits
2. Conversations Model
This model costs $2 per conversation and includes customer-facing agents and Digital Wallet.
Buying Models (Traditional)
- Pre-Purchase: Purchase a set amount of usage for the entire contract term upfront. Usage depletes this balance, offering potential savings.
- Pre-Commit: Commit to a baseline usage without upfront payment. Higher commitments unlock greater value. Billed monthly in arrears, with a true-up at term end to reconcile estimated vs. actual usage.
- PayGo: No upfront commitments. Pay only for actual usage, billed monthly in arrears.
All these models can integrate with Digital Wallet for usage tracking.
Agentforce Add-ons and Editions
Additional options are available for employee-facing use cases:
- Add-ons for Sales, Service, and Field Service: $125 per user per month. Includes unmetered employee Agentforce usage, full suite of Salesforce AI, AI-powered analytics, and Prompt Builder.
- Add-ons for Agentforce Industries Clouds: $150 per user per month. Includes everything in Sales/Service add-ons, plus industry-specific AI.
- Agentforce 1 Editions (Sales, Service, Field Service, Industries): Starting from $550 per user per month. Includes the respective add-ons and 2.5 million Flex Credits per org per year.
- Agentforce User License: $5 per user per month. Allows company-wide deployment for all employees, requiring Flex Credits and providing Agentforce access.
Key Takeaways
- Salesforce Agentforce now offers a pay-per-resolution pricing model at $2 per resolution.
- A resolution is defined by specific criteria including minimum interaction, non-negative feedback, and successful conclusion without human escalation.
- This model aligns billing with delivered value, eliminating charges for unfulfilled resolutions or escalations.
- Traditional Flex Credit and Conversation-based pricing remain available, offering flexibility.
- Various add-ons and editions cater to specific business needs, particularly for employee-facing scenarios.
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