Hand the conversation over to a person at the right moment
Human takeover pauses the chatbot when a customer needs a real person. Your team gets notified, the conversation jumps to the top of the Inbox, and the bot stops talking over you.
This is for anyone running the chatbot alongside a human team. It covers when takeover starts, what the bot does while it lasts, and when the bot comes back.
Step by step
Turn human takeover on
Go to Settings > Artificial Intelligence > Human takeover > Active. It is on by default. With it on, takeover is triggered automatically when the chatbot fails to understand, or when the user explicitly asks for a human. Takeover also happens whenever a human agent replies.
Decide what the bot does during takeover
Turn on Disable chatbot if you want the bot switched off completely once a person steps in. Leave it off and the bot behaves as described below, coming back once the last replying agent is offline.
Write the fallback message
Set the Fallback message under Settings > Artificial Intelligence > Human takeover. It replies automatically when the user writes again during takeover, so nobody is left in silence while they wait for your team.
Limit takeover to your working hours
Settings > Artificial Intelligence > Human takeover > Disable outside office hours turns takeover off outside office hours, or when all your agents are offline. Use it so customers are not handed to a team that is not there.
Trigger takeover from a specific question
In Chatbot > Training > Q&A, open a question and use Set data and actions to add the human takeover action. The answer then hands the conversation to your team every time that question is asked.
Add the tool function for an OpenAI Chat
If you use an OpenAI Chat, add this tool function in the chat's settings: {"name":"sb-human-takeover","description":"I want to contact a human support agent or team member. I want human support.","parameters":{"type":"object","properties":{},"required":[]}}
Settings reference
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Active | Turns on automatic takeover when the chatbot cannot understand the question or the user asks for a human; it is on by default. |
| Disable chatbot | Switches the chatbot off completely once takeover happens, instead of letting it resume later. |
| Fallback message | The automatic reply sent when the user writes again while a person is handling the conversation. |
| Disable outside office hours | Stops takeover from triggering outside office hours or when every agent is offline. |
Good to know
Takeover follows your agents, not a timer
While takeover is active, the chatbot is disabled for as long as the last replying agent is online. If no agent has replied yet, the chatbot stays active.
The bot returns quietly
Once takeover ends, the chatbot resumes, but it sends no fallback messages for 10 days within that conversation. Archiving or deleting the conversation fully re-activates the chatbot.
The fallback message is rate-limited
It is sent at most once every 30 minutes, and only when the user's message arrives more than 30 minutes after the last agent reply. Short bursts of messages will not produce repeated replies.
Very short messages do not trigger it
A request is only sent when the user's message is longer than 3 characters and contains at least two words. A one-word reply will not start takeover.
Your Inbox order changes
Conversations the bot answered correctly are marked read and moved to the bottom of the Inbox. On takeover, the conversation is marked unread and moved to the top.
More of your setup wakes up
After takeover, further user messages within 10 days trigger agent notifications, the follow-up and offline messages become active, and queue and routing start working if you have configured them.
Common questions
Does the customer have to press a button to reach a person?
Why has the chatbot started answering again after my agent replied?
The chatbot is still replying even though nobody has taken over. Why?
How do I bring the chatbot back to a conversation completely?
Can I stop takeover happening when my team is away?
Can a particular question always go straight to a person?
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