Escalation & Handover
How conversations are transferred from AI to human agents.
Escalation Triggers
There are three ways a conversation can be escalated:
1. Manual button
The widget shows a "Talk to human" icon button next to the input area. Clicking it immediately escalates the conversation via POST /conversations/:id/escalate.
2. Explicit user request
If the user types a phrase like "I need a human", "talk to agent", "позовите оператора", or similar — the system detects this before calling the AI and immediately escalates. Supported in English and Russian.
3. AI-detected handover
After the AI generates a response, the system checks for low confidence signals, fallback usage, or phrases like "contact our support team". If detected, the conversation is automatically escalated alongside the AI's response.
What Happens After Escalation
| Behavior | Details |
|---|---|
| AI responses | Stopped. All new user messages are saved as follow-ups and forwarded to the team. |
| Widget UI | Shows a "Waiting for agent" banner. Input field is disabled. A "Continue with AI" button lets the user resume AI conversation if needed. |
| Notifications | In-app notification is created for the support team. Email alert is sent if configured. |
| Zendesk ticket | If Zendesk is connected, a ticket is automatically created with the full conversation transcript. |
| Auto-resolve | After an agent replies, auto-resolve countdown starts (default 30 min, configurable per channel). |
The escalation message language matches the user's language. If the user writes in Russian, the escalation confirmation will be in Russian. If in English — in English.