Thomas — triage routine lettings enquiries and flag sensitive cases.

The branch job

Lettings enquiries are not just "any other admin job". A "when is the deposit protected", a "my boiler is leaking", a "rent is late" and a "I'm locked out" can all arrive in the same morning.

Lettings staff have to sort the routine from the urgent, escalate the sensitive, and reply quickly enough that the tenant or landlord knows the agency is on it. A wrong tone or a missed flag can land the agency in trouble.

The GAIS Landlord/Tenant Enquiry Assistant is designed around that admin job for Northern Ireland estate agencies — and that is exactly why it sits in the sensitive candidate slot.

The old way

A typical lettings inbox creates small bits of work:

• skim the inbox and spot routine vs. sensitive vs. urgent;
• draft a quick acknowledgement so the tenant / landlord isn't left guessing;
• list the missing information needed to act;
• flag repairs, emergencies, deposit and arrears signals to the right person;
• avoid making any legal, safety or advice commitment;
• decide whether the partner or manager should see this first.

None of this is glamorous. That is why it is a sensitive candidate — it always needs the right human on the loop.

What the assistant receives

For a first demo, the assistant uses fictional or dummy lettings enquiries only.

A later controlled pilot could define approved inputs such as:

• enquiry text from the tenant / landlord / applicant;
• property reference and any tenancy context (already approved by the partner);
• approved branch wording and tone;
• approved escalation list (e.g. emergency / repair / deposit / arrears / harassment).

The first demo does not need CRM access, mailbox access or real tenancy data.

What the assistant prepares

• a calm acknowledgement draft, suitable for routine enquiries;
• missing-information questions so the next reply can be solid;
• an escalation flag when the wording looks like an emergency, repair, deposit, arrears or safety signal;
• a "do not advise" note when the question starts to look legal or compliance-flavoured.

That gives staff a cleaner starting point. It does not remove the human decision.

What staff still approve

Staff still check:

• whether the urgency flag is correct;
• whether the acknowledgement avoids any legal or advice commitment;
• whether the missing-information list is appropriate;
• whether the partner or manager needs to see it first;
• whether anything should be sent at all.

The assistant does not press send.