Human Handoff

Move a live conversation from AI to a human operator without losing session context.

Overview

Hunch supports both AI-first handling and live human takeover. When a session needs a person, the conversation can move into the handoff inbox while keeping the existing chat transcript and visitor context intact.

How It Works

1. The visitor or the AI triggers a handoff.
2. The session enters the handoff queue.
3. A teammate claims or is assigned the handoff.
4. The agent replies inside the same conversation thread.
5. The handoff is resolved, cancelled, or returned to AI.

Handoff Triggers

Conversations are transferred to humans when:

Trigger	Description
Requested	Visitor explicitly asks for human
Confidence Low	AI confidence below threshold
Complex Query	Question too complex for AI
Sensitive Topic	Billing, complaints, legal
Offline Capture	Team is offline and Hunch needs follow-up details
Time Limit	Session duration exceeded
Custom Rules	Your configured triggers

Working the inbox

1. Log in to your Hunch dashboard
2. Navigate to Handoffs in the sidebar
3. Review pending, active, and resolved handoffs

Each handoff shows the website, trigger reason, contact details, last activity, and the full transcript.

Managing Handoffs

Claim and takeover

Agents can:

• claim a waiting handoff
• force-claim when they have the required permissions
• reply directly into the live widget conversation
• keep internal notes that are visible only to the team
• use canned replies for common follow-up patterns

Handoff status

Status	Description
Pending	Waiting for an agent
Claimed / In Progress	A teammate is actively handling it
Resolved	Closed by an agent
Cancelled	Returned to AI or closed without agent follow-up

Notes and canned replies

Use internal notes for:

• ownership context
• escalation details
• promised follow-up
• information you do not want shown to the visitor

Use canned replies to speed up common responses without losing the live handoff flow.

SLA tracking

Hunch tracks response timing in the inbox so teams can see:

• first-response pressure
• stale handoffs
• queue health
• recent takeover activity

Resolving Handoffs

When the issue is resolved:

1. Click Mark Resolved
2. Optionally add notes
3. Conversation is closed

Cancelling or returning to AI

Return conversation to AI:

1. Open the handoff
2. Click Cancel Handoff
3. AI resumes the conversation

Offline capture mode

If your team is unavailable, handoffs can run in scheduled or offline-only mode. In those modes Hunch can:

• show an offline message
• capture follow-up contact details
• keep the request in the queue for later human response

Integration

Webhook Notifications

Get notified when handoffs occur:

1. Go to website settings
2. Configure handoff webhook
3. Receive real-time notifications

Webhook Payload

{
  "event": "handoff",
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "website_id": "xyz789",
  "trigger": "requested",
  "messages": [...],
  "started_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "visitor_info": {
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "name": "John"
  }
}

CRM Integration

Send handoffs to your CRM:

• Salesforce: Create support case
• HubSpot: Log as ticket
• Zendesk: Create ticket
• Custom: Via webhook

Best Practices

1. Review the full transcript before taking over.
2. Use notes to preserve internal context.
3. Build canned replies for repetitive handoff scenarios.
4. Watch stale or repeatedly triggered handoffs and turn them into better AI coverage or new tools.
5. Keep offline messaging honest so visitors know when to expect a follow-up.

Metrics

Track handoff performance:

• handoff volume
• first-response timing
• resolution timing
• common trigger reasons
• follow-up quality and queue health

tip

Use handoff data to identify common questions your AI can't answer, then create tools or update knowledge base to handle them automatically.