Agent Takeover: Human Handoff from AI
How and when a human agent takes over from the AI chatbot. Escalation keywords, auto-escalation after N messages, inbox workflow, and resuming AI responses.
What Is Agent Takeover?
Agent Takeover is when a human agent steps in to replace the AI chatbot in a website chat conversation. The AI stops responding and the human agent takes full control of the conversation.
When Does Takeover Happen?
There are three ways an AI conversation gets escalated to a human:
1. Escalation Keywords
In the AI Agent settings, you can define escalation keywords — comma-separated words that trigger an immediate handoff. Common examples:
- "speak to agent", "human", "representative", "help", "complaint"
- "medewerker", "mens", "klacht", "probleem"
When a visitor's message contains any of these keywords, the AI immediately stops and transfers the conversation to the human inbox.
2. Auto-Escalation After N Messages
You can set a maximum number of AI messages (1-10) before automatic escalation. For example:
- Set to 3: After 3 AI responses, the conversation is transferred to a human agent
- Set to 10: The AI handles up to 10 exchanges before transferring
This prevents the AI from going in circles on complex issues.
3. Manual Takeover by Agent
Any team member can manually take over an AI conversation from the inbox:
- The website chat conversation appears in the inbox like any other conversation
- You can see the AI's responses in the chat history
- Simply start typing and sending a reply — this sets the "agent is active" flag
- The AI immediately stops responding for this conversation
What Happens During Takeover
When a human takes over:
- The
agentIsActiveflag is set to true on the conversation - The AI stops generating responses for this specific conversation
- The visitor sees the human agent's messages instead
- The full AI conversation history remains visible in the inbox
- Other conversations continue to be handled by AI normally
What the Visitor Sees
The takeover is seamless for the visitor. They don't see a "you've been transferred" message unless you choose to send one. The conversation simply continues with human responses.
Behavior & Escalation Settings
Configure takeover behavior on the AI Agent page (sidebar) under Behavior & Escalation:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Escalation Keywords | Comma-separated words that trigger immediate handoff |
| Auto-Escalate After | Number of AI messages before auto-transfer (1-10) |
| Can Handle Order Questions | If off, order-related queries are escalated immediately |
| Can Handle Support Questions | If off, support questions are escalated immediately |
AI Across Multiple Channels
The AI agent doesn't just work on the website chat widget. It also supports:
- Instagram DMs — AI responds to direct messages on your connected Instagram account
- Facebook Messenger — AI handles Messenger conversations
- WhatsApp — AI can respond in WhatsApp conversations (via automation triggers)
- Email — AI categorizes and routes emails (via the AI Categorize & Assign automation action)
Agent takeover works the same way across all channels — once a human starts replying, the AI steps back.
AI Analytics & Monitoring
Track how your AI performs in Analytics:
- AI Agent Handled % — percentage of conversations fully resolved by AI
- AI Fully Handled — conversations that never needed human intervention
- Avg AI Response Time — how fast the AI responds
- Stacked bar chart — visual comparison of AI-handled vs. human-handled conversations