Human Handoff Documentation

What human handoff means in Zynli

Handoff is not forwarding a customer to a generic support queue. When escalation triggers, a human agent joins the same live chat conversation with the full thread history, knowledge base citations, API lookup results, and flow run logs — so the customer does not repeat themselves.

Live chat takeover: agent joins the widget conversation in real time
Full context transfer: thread, KB sources, workflow results passed to agent
Optional ticket creation: numbered ticket on kanban board linked to chat
Agent inbox: monitor live conversations and take over proactively

When Zynli should escalate

Automation should handle routine, high-confidence cases. Escalation should trigger for sensitive, ambiguous, or exception cases that need human judgment.

Customer explicitly requests a human agent
Low-confidence KB answer or ambiguous intent
Billing disputes and chargebacks
Damaged, lost, or repeatedly delayed shipments
Return exceptions outside documented policy
API lookup failure after KB fallback exhausted

Example escalation scenarios

Billing dispute

Customer disputes a charge. AI explains the charge from policy docs, but customer rejects the explanation — escalate to finance agent with invoice lookup history.

Lost package

Tracking shows delivered but customer did not receive it. AI provides tracking data, then escalates for carrier investigation and replacement decision.

Damaged goods return

Customer sends photos of damaged product. Return policy answered from KB, but exception approval needs agent review.

Complex product recommendation

Pre-sales question requires judgment beyond KB specs — escalate to sales or product specialist.

Repeated shipping delays

Order is past SLA with multiple delay contacts. AI explains each delay, then escalates for compensation or expedited reship decision.

How AI and support agents work together

AI handles volume; agents handle judgment. The collaboration model keeps customers from waiting on routine questions while ensuring exceptions get proper attention.

AI resolves first

Routine order status, policy, and product questions resolve in chat without agent involvement.

AI prepares context

On escalation, agents see what AI already tried — KB citations, API results, customer sentiment.

Agent resolves exception

Agent makes judgment calls, issues refunds, contacts carriers, or updates orders.

Feedback improves automation

Recurring escalation patterns reveal KB gaps and workflow improvements.

Why handoff matters for trust and control

Teams adopt AI support when they can trust that automation will not mishandle sensitive cases. Built-in handoff gives support leaders control over what AI resolves and what requires human review.

Customers trust support more when they can reach a human when needed
Support leaders control escalation rules per intent and confidence level
Agents stay productive by only handling cases that need judgment
Audit trail: full conversation and escalation history for quality review

Handoff vs generic chatbot transfer

Generic chatbot transfer

Customer re-explains issue to agent; no context from bot conversation passed along.

Zynli human handoff

Agent joins same chat with thread, KB citations, API results, and optional linked ticket.

AI resolves most issues. Agents handle the rest.

When automation can't resolve an issue — damaged goods, billing disputes, or policy exceptions — escalate to a human agent with full thread history and optional ticket creation.

Low-confidence answers trigger handoff automatically
Agents see chat history, citations, and workflow run logs
Escalations become numbered tickets on your kanban board
Customers track progress via magic-link portal

Visitor

My package arrived damaged. I need a replacement.

AI workflow

Connecting you with an agent — your order details and photos are included.

Human agent

Replacement arranged. Ticket created for tracking.

Frequently asked questions

What plan includes human handoff?

Human agent handoff and ticketing are included on Starter ($49/mo) and above. Free tier includes AI and KB answers without agent inbox.

Can agents monitor live AI conversations?

Yes. The agent inbox shows live widget conversations. Agents can take over proactively or wait for escalation triggers.

Does handoff create a ticket automatically?

Ticket creation on escalation is configurable. You can auto-create numbered tickets or let agents create them manually.

Can customers request a human directly?

Yes. Configure explicit human-request intents to route immediately to the agent inbox, bypassing further AI attempts.

How is this different from the AI support with human handoff page?

This docs page explains handoff operationally. The AI support with human handoff page covers the same capability from a use-case marketing angle.

See how Zynli automates your support

Train AI on your knowledge base, connect your APIs, and resolve order, shipping, billing, and return issues in chat.

Book a demo Human handoff overview

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