Not every conversation can be handled by AI. Human Handoff ensures that your customers always have access to a real person when needed.
Triggering a Handoff
User Request
Users can trigger a handoff by asking for a “human”, “real person”, or “agent”.
AI Trigger
The AI can be instructed to trigger a handoff if it detects:
- High user frustration.
- Complex technical issues.
- High-value sales opportunities.
How it works
- Request — The handoff is triggered (by the user or by the AI following your instructions).
- Availability — The system checks whether your team is in schedule / online for live chat, or whether you use ticket-only or never available paths.
- Routing — If live chat is available, online agents get a notification in the Live Chat panel. If not, the visitor sees your offline or ticket flow (email capture, ticket id, etc.).
- Acceptance — For live chat, an agent accepts the conversation and the AI pauses for that thread.
- Conversation — The human speaks with the visitor in the widget, or continues over email / ticket, depending on channel and configuration.
Configuration
Open the Agent Editor for your chatbot and click on the Handoff tool to configure it.
Enable/Disable
Turn handoff on or off for each agent individually.
Instruction
Customize the instruction that tells the AI when to trigger a handoff (e.g., “Offer a handoff if the user asks for a human or if the issue is too complex to resolve”).
Offline Message
Set a message to show when no human agents are available:
“All our agents are currently offline. Would you like to open a ticket instead?”
Lead Capture
When no agents are online, the handoff tool can capture the user’s contact information:
- Lead Capture Prompt: The message asking for their info (e.g., “I’d love to have someone follow up with you. Could you share your email?”).
- Success Message: Confirmation after they provide details (e.g., “Thanks! A team member will reach out shortly.”).
Availability Schedule
Configure when your team is available for live chat. The system uses this schedule to determine whether to show agents as “available” or use the offline message.
Open Handoff Settings
In the Agent Editor, click the Handoff tool.
Set Timezone
Enter your team’s timezone.
Configure Weekly Schedule
For each day of the week:
- Enable/Disable the day.
- Set start and end times.
- Add multiple time slots for split shifts (e.g., 9 AM–12 PM and 2 PM–6 PM).
Use the Copy to other days feature to quickly apply the same schedule across multiple days.
Never Available Mode
If you want to completely disable live availability (but still allow ticket-based handoff), enable the Never Available toggle. The offline message and lead capture will always be shown.
Ticket-only mode (async support)
Some teams prefer not to promise a live chat window. With ticket-only style configuration, when a customer asks for a human the flow can:
- Collect email (and context already in the thread).
- Issue a clear ticket id (e.g.
TKT-0001) so the customer knows they are in the queue.
- Let your team respond by email or from the Tickets area in the dashboard when they are ready—without staying online in the widget.
Use this when your support model is async (email-first or backlog-driven) instead of real-time chat. Combine it with your availability schedule so outside business hours visitors automatically get the ticket path instead of waiting for a live agent.
See also Tickets.
Dashboard notifications
When handoffs or tickets need attention, agents using the dashboard can receive in-app notifications (for example: new ticket, reopened ticket, assignment, or manual ticket creation). Keep the dashboard open in a pinned tab during support shifts if your workflow relies on these alerts.
FreshChat Integration
If you use FreshChat, handoff conversations can be routed there instead of the built-in live chat:
- Configure your FreshChat credentials in Settings → Integrations (see Integrations).
- In the Handoff tool settings, enable the FreshChat toggle.
- Handoff conversations will be created in your FreshChat workspace.
