How to take over a chat from the AI and hand it back
Pause the AI in one chat to reply yourself, learn when it pauses on its own, and resume AI replies when you're done.
The AI answers your customers by itself, but sometimes you want to talk to a customer yourself, for example about a complaint or a big order. "Taking over" pauses the AI in that one chat. The AI keeps answering every other chat. When you're done, you hand the chat back to the AI.
Before you start
- The AI must be on for the inbox this chat came in on. See Set up the AI Brain.
- You need permission to reply in Messenger. Owners and admins have it by default.
What the AI status means
Open a chat in Engage → Messenger. Above the reply box you'll see one of these:
- AI on (green): "AI Agent is replying to this chat".
- AI paused (amber): "You’re handling this chat". The AI won't reply here until you resume it.
- AI off: the AI is switched off for the whole inbox. Turn it on in Connections.
In the conversation list, chats where the AI is paused show a small pause icon.
Steps
Take over a chat
- Go to Engage → Messenger and open the chat.
- Click Take over above the reply box.
- You'll see "You have taken over this conversation. AI replies are paused." Now reply to the customer yourself.
Hand the chat back to the AI
- Open the paused chat.
- Click Resume AI.
AI paused (1) means you are handling the chat. Click Resume AI (2) to hand it back. - You'll see "AI has resumed replying to this conversation." The AI answers the customer's next message.
When the AI pauses by itself
You don't always have to click Take over. The AI also pauses in a chat when:
- You reply from Messenger. Sending any reply from EcomUp counts as taking over.
- You reply from the app. If you or a teammate answer from the Facebook Page inbox, Instagram app or your linked WhatsApp phone, EcomUp notices and pauses the AI.
- The AI asks for a person. When a customer needs something the AI can't handle, it hands the chat over. You get an alert by push and email: "Customer name needs a person". The message says why, and that the AI is paused until someone replies.
The AI stays paused in that chat until someone clicks Resume AI. It doesn't come back on by itself.
Tips
- Hover over AI paused to see why the AI stopped.
- Want the AI off for a whole Page or number, not just one chat? Switch off AI replies in Connections → Manage.
- Notes you write with Note don't pause the AI, because they never reach the customer.
- While the AI is replying to a chat, new messages only go to your notification bell. Once a chat needs a person, you get a phone push too.
Troubleshooting
"Failed to take over conversation. Please try again."
The change didn't save. Check your internet connection and click Take over again.
"Failed to resume AI. Please try again."
Try again in a moment. If it keeps failing, refresh the page.
I don't see Take over or Resume AI
The bar is hidden when the AI is off for the whole inbox. Turn it on in Connections → Manage. You also need permission to reply in Messenger.
The AI stopped answering a customer
Someone probably replied in that chat, which paused the AI. Open the chat and click Resume AI.