Human Handoff
SupportWhen automation is not enough, the conversation moves to a real person — without losing a single message of context.
How it works
- 1
The visitor chats with the AI
- 2
They click “Request Human”, or simply type something like “I need a human”
- 3
The agent detects it and raises a handoff request
- 4
The request appears in your Inbox with a live counter
- 5
A team member takes over and the AI steps back
The Agent Console
Dashboard → Inbox is the live console. From there your team can:
- See incoming requests the moment they arrive
- Read the full chat history before replying
- Take over instantly — the visitor never repeats themselves
- See visitor info beside the chat: pages viewed, location, device, known facts
- Return to AI when the issue is resolved, handing routing back to the agent
When the chat goes back to the AI
A customer must never be stuck waiting on a person who is not coming back, so two clocks run automatically:
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| The agent has been silent for 30 minutes | The chat returns to the AI and the customer is told. Applies whether the agent replied once and left, or never replied at all |
| Nobody claimed the handoff request for 24 hours | The request is discarded and the AI takes over again |
The 30-minute clock measures the agent's silence, not the conversation's — a customer who keeps sending messages does not keep the chat locked in Human mode.
If a customer writes in after the agent has already gone quiet for 30 minutes, the AI takes over immediately and answers that message rather than making them wait for the next sweep.
An agent can always hand the chat back sooner with Return to AI.
Note
A handoff request nobody has claimed stays open for a full day on purpose — the customer asked for a person, and a request your team could still answer in the morning should not be thrown away after an hour.
Notifications
- A dashboard notification with an unread count on the Inbox item
- Email notifications, if enabled, to the assigned team
- An optional sound alert so nobody misses a waiting customer
Routing & access control
- Requests go to the agent the conversation belongs to
- Team members only see the agents assigned to them
- Once a conversation is claimed, other agents see it as taken
Why it matters
- No dead end when the AI cannot help
- Faster resolution, because context is already there
- The visitor never feels handed around
- Every handoff is logged, so you can see where the AI needs training