Human Handoff
Know exactly when AI needs backup—and step in live.
Airgentic Human Handoff lets your team monitor customer conversations in real time, detect when attention is needed, and take over instantly without losing context. AI handles the routine. Humans step in when nuance, empathy, or judgment matters most.
The problem:Why this matters
Even strong AI needs an escalation path. If AI is customer-facing, handoff cannot be an afterthought.
- Some customers want reassurance from a real person
- Some questions need human judgment, not just retrieval
- Some conversations show frustration before they become complaints
- Without live visibility, teams only discover failures after the moment has passed
The solution
Airgentic Human Handoff keeps humans in the loop without slowing down the AI.
Your team gets a live view of active conversations across services, with real-time updates and clear signals when intervention may be needed. Agents can monitor, claim a conversation, pause the AI, reply manually, and hand the conversation back when appropriate. The system supports three service modes: AI Only, Human-Supported AI, and Human Only.
Why it works
Live monitoring
active conversations update automatically without refreshing
Clear escalation signals
attention flags surface issues before they escalate
Instant take-over
pause the AI and reply as a human in the same thread
Flexible operating modes
choose where AI leads, where humans support, and where humans handle everything
No context switching
full transcript, agent info, message count, and customer location are visible in one place
How it works
- Monitor live conversations — See active conversations across services in a real-time dashboard, including status, assigned agent type, conversation preview, timing, and message volume.
- Spot conversations that need attention — Airgentic highlights chats when a customer gives a thumbs down, the AI fails to answer, negative sentiment is detected, or the customer explicitly asks for a human. These conversations are surfaced visually and counted in the “Needs Attention” summary.
- Take over instantly — Open the conversation, claim it, and pause the AI. The customer is notified that a human agent has joined, and your agent can reply directly in the thread.
- Resume or reassign when ready — Once the issue is resolved, resume the AI so it can continue from the next customer message, or release the paused conversation so another human can take it over.
- Stay alerted without babysitting the screen — Toast notifications and audio alerts let your team know when a conversation requires attention, even if they are elsewhere in the admin console.
Service modes for every operational model
Human Handoff adapts to the way your team wants to work.
This lets you run different services with different levels of autonomy, from full automation to full manual control.
AI Only
the AI handles all conversations without intervention
Human-Supported AI
the AI leads, while agents can monitor, step in, and handle escalations
Human Only
automated responses are disabled until a human replies
Where Human Handoff shines
Customer service teams
intervene on frustrated or unresolved conversations before they turn into complaints
Local government
give residents a human path for sensitive or complex service enquiries
Technical support
step in when troubleshooting requires interpretation or reassurance
Sales conversations
rescue high-intent prospects when the AI reaches the edge of its scope
High-risk communications
keep humans close to conversations involving policy, exceptions, or unusual cases
What human agents can see
Each live conversation card gives enough context to act quickly:
- Whether the AI is active or paused
- Which specialist agent is handling the chat
- The customer’s detected location
- The opening question
- Start time and message count
Inside the conversation panel, agents can review the full transcript with clear separation between user messages, AI responses, human messages, and system notifications.
Governance & control
Human Handoff is not just a chat inbox. It is controlled intervention.
Claiming controls
if another agent has already claimed a conversation, that is clearly shown
Explicit AI pause/resume
humans decide when the AI should stop and when it should continue
Mode-based control
set services to AI-led, human-supported, or human-only
Operational visibility
live counters show active conversations, items needing attention, and conversations currently paused for human handling
Example use cases
- Unsatisfactory AI answer — A customer asks for help, receives an unsatisfactory answer, and gives a thumbs down. The conversation is flagged instantly and a support agent steps in.
- Sensitive resident enquiry — A resident asks a sensitive question about a council matter. The service runs in Human-Supported AI mode so staff can intervene whenever needed.
- Technical edge case — A troubleshooting conversation reaches an edge case. An agent takes over, resolves the issue, then resumes the AI for follow-up.
- Service disruption — During an incident, a team sets a service to Human Only so all responses are handled manually until things stabilise.
The result
Human Handoff gives you the speed benefits of AI without giving up accountability, empathy, or operational control.
Customers get fast answers when AI can help, and real people when it matters. Your team gets a safer, more scalable way to run AI in production.
FAQs
Does Human Handoff require agents to refresh the page?
No. The Human Handoff screen maintains a live connection to the conversation server and updates automatically.
What do the connection status indicators mean?
A green dot means you’re connected and receiving live updates. Yellow means the page is connecting. Red means the connection was lost—the page attempts to reconnect automatically.
What do the stats bar counters show?
Active Conversations is the total in progress across services. Needs Attention counts conversations flagged for human review. Paused (Human) counts conversations where a human has taken over and the AI is paused.
What triggers a handoff or attention flag?
A conversation can be flagged when the customer gives a thumbs down, the AI cannot answer (non-answer), negative sentiment is detected, or the customer explicitly requests a human.
Can multiple agents try to take over the same conversation?
Yes, but once a conversation is claimed, other agents are shown who owns it and the Take Over button is disabled until it’s released.
What’s the difference between Resume AI and Release?
Resume AI hands the conversation back to the AI from the next customer message. Release drops your claim without resuming the AI, so another agent can take over while the conversation stays paused.
Can the AI resume after a human steps in?
Yes. An agent can resume the AI at any time, and the AI will continue from the next customer message. A system message is shown to the customer.
Can we disable AI completely for a service?
Yes. Services can be set to Human Only, which disables automated responses until a human replies. You can also use AI Only (no handoff) or Human-Supported AI (standard handoff mode).
Will I get notified if I’m on another admin page?
Yes. When a conversation needs attention, a toast notification and sound alert appear even if you’re elsewhere in the admin console—so you don’t need to keep Human Handoff open.
What information do agents see for each conversation?
Each card shows status (AI Active or Paused), the specialist agent type, customer location, opening question preview, start time, and message count. Opening a conversation shows the full colour-coded transcript.
Get started
Ready to see Airgentic on your site?
Still have questions?
Ask our AI — get cited answers about human handoff, live support, and escalation.