Configure Human Handoff in Actions & MCPs > Human Handoff > Edit Action. The settings control when the AI offers or initiates a transfer, what the visitor hears, and how your team receives the conversation.
This page is a short settings reference. For a complete example with copyable rules, a delivered human reply, handback and after-hours checks, follow Chatbot Human Handoff: Build and Test the Whole Workflow.
Where are the Human Handoff settings?
- Open the intended AI Agent in the Quickchat AI dashboard.
- Select Actions & MCPs in the left sidebar.
- Find the Human Handoff card and turn its switch on.
- Select Edit Action, make your changes and select Save.
The editor’s section menu lets you jump between messages, availability, rules, summaries, routing and notifications.
What does each setting control?
| Setting | What to configure |
|---|---|
| Question | Preferred wording when the AI asks whether the visitor wants a person to continue. |
| Confirmation | Preferred wording for the transfer confirmation. The AI can generate its own confirmation when a handoff rule matches. |
| Human Agents’ availability | Turn on the schedule restriction when transfers should depend on staffed hours. |
| Your time zone | The time zone used for the schedule. |
| Working hours | Working days and start/end times. Use Add date to add another schedule row. |
| Message outside working hours | Explain when the team is available and give a next step your business actually supports. |
| Handoff Rules | Enable relevant built-in rules and add descriptions of situations that need a person. |
| AI summary | Generate a conversation summary so the teammate can review the context before replying. |
| Topic-based routing | Enable teammate profiles and describe the conversations each should handle. |
| Email notifications | Specify the monitored addresses that should receive handoff notifications. |
For more detail on each control, see the Human Handoff documentation.
How do you add a handoff rule?
In Handoff Rules, use the + control to add a row. Fill Rule Name and Description, turn State on, and select Save. Review the built-in rules’ switches at the same time.
Describe a business situation the AI can recognize. For example, a refund rule can distinguish “What is the returns policy?” from “Can your team approve an exception to the returns policy?” Test both messages after saving; a plain-language rule requires evaluation against actual conversations.
How should availability and routing be used?
A staffed-hours schedule and a routing profile serve different purposes. The schedule limits when the standard handoff can proceed. Routing can select a teammate whose profile matches the conversation; otherwise the conversation can remain Unassigned. Assignment does not prove that a teammate is online or will reply immediately.
An outside-hours response does not itself create a queued handoff or callback. Keep its wording consistent with the service your team provides. Configure notification recipients separately from routing profiles.
Where does the team take over?
Open Inbox and inspect the conversation’s assignee. Use Open > Unassigned for conversations waiting in the shared queue. A teammate can select Assign to me, read the history and summary, and reply through the conversation composer.
Assigning the conversation back to AI Agent allows an AI reply to the next visitor message. The Inbox guide explains these controls. Verify the full visitor conversation after changing settings, including the human reply and the next turn after reassignment.