Taking over a conversation from the agent

The agent handles the routine work. Some cases need you. Taking over is deliberately a single step, because the moment you realise a conversation needs a person is usually the moment it’s becoming urgent.

How to take over

Open the resolution and choose to take it over. From that point the agent stops sending on your behalf in that conversation, and anything further is written by you.

You keep the full history — everything the agent said and everything the customer replied — so you’re not starting cold.

When you should

Always take over when:

• Someone reports illness, injury, or a safety problem
• There’s a legal threat or a regulator mentioned
• There’s an allegation about a staff member’s conduct
• The customer explicitly asks to speak to a person
• The agent has escalated it to you

Usually worth taking over when:

• It’s a regular customer you know
• The value at stake is high
• The agent has replied twice without progress
• The complaint is about something you already know is a systemic problem

Don’t bother when: the agent is handling it fine. Reading every resolution defeats the purpose. Check the flagged ones and spot-check the rest.

Writing the handover message

Don’t pretend to be the bot, and don’t make the customer repeat themselves. Something like:

Hi Sarah — this is Feras, I own the restaurant. I’ve read what happened on Tuesday and I want to sort it out properly.

That’s it. Naming yourself and acknowledging you’ve read the history removes almost all of the frustration people feel about automated support.

Handing back

Once the case is settled you can close it. Routine follow-up can go back to the agent; anything still sensitive should stay with you.

Teaching the agent

If you find yourself taking over the same category of case repeatedly, that’s a settings problem rather than a workload problem. Adjust your resolution settings so those cases escalate automatically instead of being attempted first.

→ Resolution types and settings