When the assistant cannot help, it alerts your team.
Go to Customize, then AI Settings, and turn on Human handoff.
What happens when it is on
The assistant hands the chat over when it reaches the edge of what it knows, or when a customer asks to speak with a person.
When that happens:
- The assistant tells the customer it is connecting them with your team.
- The conversation is marked as needing attention.
- You get notified by email, push notification, or both, depending on your notification settings.
- The conversation appears in the Escalated tab in Conversations.
- An AI written summary appears at the top, so you can catch up quickly.
The assistant can also offer your contact form, phone number, or booking link, if you have set one up.
What happens when it is off
The assistant keeps trying to answer from what it knows. If it truly cannot help, it says so, but no one is notified, and the conversation may sit unread.
Only turn handoff off if no one is monitoring the inbox.
After you take over
When you open the conversation, turn off AI replies for that chat so the assistant does not reply over you.
For full instructions, see Take over and reply yourself.
When you are done, turn AI replies back on and the assistant will resume for that customer.
Test it
In Test AI Responses, ask something you know is not in your knowledge base, or type:
can I speak to a human
You will see an extra note explaining that, in a live conversation, you would be notified to take over.
What to read next
See Escalations for what to do when your first handoff comes in.