Managing conversation handoff and handback

In this article, we’ll explain messaging conversation handoff and handback, the actions that can
change the first responder in a conversation from an AI agent to a live agent, and back
again.


Handoff is removing the AI agent as the conversation’s first responder and making an
agent the first responder.

Handback is removing a live agent as the first responder in a conversation, clearing the
way for the AI agent to be the first responder when the customer starts a new
conversation. Handing a conversation back to the AI agent is, effectively, ending
one conversation, clearing the way for a new conversation to address a new problem
or support request.

This article includes the following topics:

Understanding handoff events
Understanding and managing
handback events
Additional settings to
consider



Understanding handoff events

When the conversation is handed off to a live agent, those agents are notified of the pending
support request based on the account’s established routing flow, and the AI agent can no longer
respond to the conversation.
An agent remains the first responder until the ticket associated with the
conversation is closed.



Understanding and managing handback events

Conversation handback is initiated when the status of the ticket associated with the conversation
is changed from Solved to Closed. Then, when the customer begins a new
conversation, the AI agent becomes the first responder again. It’s important to
note, however, that the AI agent does not automatically send the first message in a
subsequent conversation. The returning customer must send a message to initiate a
response from the AI agent, which will then attempt to find a conversational
shortcut. If no shortcut is found, the AI agent will respond according to normal
free-text entry behavior. See Conversational shortcuts and article suggestions for
more information.
Until the status of the ticket is changed to
Closed, a customer
returning to the messaging channel while the ticket is still marked Solved would
find the previous conversation still active, and the agent would still be the first
responder. The customer would be unable to start a new conversation to address a new
support request. By default the time between a solving and closing a ticket is four
days, which can cause some confusion for customers returning to your messaging
channel.
You can avoid this scenario in two ways:


Adjusting your default
automation
Creating a trigger to manage
handback timing




Adjusting your default automation

Automatically updating a Solved ticket status to Closed is managed
through a default Support automation,
Close ticket 4 days after status is set
to solved.
You can
edit this automation
to manage how
much time passes before the ticket status changes to Closed. You may want to
change the time frame to close the ticket within the following hour or you can
extend the time to up to 28 days after the ticket is Solved. To close a ticket
immediately, see the trigger recipe in the following section.



Creating a trigger to manage handback timing

You can also
create a trigger
to automatically
close solved tickets, essentially overriding the default automation.
To do this, you’ll need to add a tag (such as
close
) to any
ticket that has its status changed to
Solved.
Then, create a trigger that fires on any ticket with the added tag and
closes the ticket. The trigger should have the following properties:


Condition: Tags | Contains at least one of the following | close

Action: Status | Closed


If you are using CSAT to gauge customer satisfaction in messaging, it’s important to note that
the survey is sent immediately when the ticket status is set to Solved. If you
are using CSAT surveys, we recommend that you keep at least a small time buffer
between solving and closing a ticket, to avoid any conflicts. See About the CSAT (customer satisfaction) user experience for email and messaging for more information.




Additional settings to consider

There are a number of settings that, while not directly related to
messaging handoff or handback actions, can impact how they perform, and how your end
users experience them.


Out-of-office triggers
can set a customer’s expectations for
when a live agent might engage them in the conversation. See
Creating an out-of-office message in a Web
Widget or mobile SDK
for more information.
Out of office triggers
only fire after handoff occurs.

Continuous conversations
let you automatically send email
notifications to end users who have left a conversation in a Web Widget before
it was concluded. See
Enabling customers to continue their
conversation over email
for more information.

Routing settings manage how a messaging conversation and its associated ticket are passed
from the AI agent to a live agent or group, after a handoff event occurs. See
About routing in messaging for more
information.



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