How the AI agent and your team share a conversation

2 min read Updated October 16, 2026

The AI agent answers first. A conversation moves to your team when it is handed off to a person. From then on, your teammates reply from the Inbox.

#Who answers first

A visitor's first message goes to the AI agent. The agent keeps answering until the conversation is handed to a person.

The Inbox marks each conversation as being with the AI or with a person.

#When it moves to a person

The visitor can ask for a person from the chat widget. This hands the conversation off, and it then belongs to your team. The Inbox records this as an escalation.

A conversation can also be assigned to a teammate, or assigned back to the AI.

#How a teammate takes over

Open the conversation in the Inbox and assign it to a teammate. The assigned teammate replies in one of two ways:

Chat replies go to the visitor in the widget.
Notes are for your team only.

Replies can only be chat or note. If you try to send a reply by email, you get the message "Write the reply here".

Each chat reply also queues a fallback email, set for 15 minutes. Notes don't.

#While a person has the conversation

The visitor's new messages go to your team in the Inbox. The AI agent does not answer them.

Note

If HelpWell Cloud does not respond in time to a visitor's message, the AI answers it so the visitor is not left waiting. The Inbox keeps one copy of the message, not two.

A deleted conversation accepts no new messages or replies, and the AI carries on as if the Inbox were not there. You can restore a deleted conversation to open it again.

#Handing it back to the AI

Assign the conversation back to the AI to let the agent answer again.

Note

The material I have does not say which plan or role you need to assign conversations. It also does not name the exact buttons for assigning.

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