Admin Take Over

Admin Take Over lets your team step into a live conversation and reply directly to the visitor. The AI stays available by default, so important discussions can be handled personally when needed.

When to take over

AI is efficient and consistent, but some conversations call for a person: final confirmation, negotiation, sensitive clarification, a sales or onboarding discussion, or a high-value client. Use takeover selectively for high-impact interactions.

Taking over is available to the domain owner and Domain Admins.

How to take over

1. Open the conversation from your dashboard, or from a link in an email alert.

2. Review the conversation history.
3. Click the takeover button in the conversation header. It reads AI answering · Take over while the assistant is in charge.
4. Confirm the name the visitor will see, then click Start takeover.
5. Reply directly to the visitor.

Once you take over, your replies are sent as a human representative and the AI stops responding automatically in that conversation. This affects only the selected conversation, not other visitors.

To reply, take over first. A reply typed while the assistant is answering is refused with Takeover is not active.

If the visitor asked for a person, the button reads Visitor waiting · m:ss · Join instead. Join the same way, or simply type a reply: replying while the visitor waits joins you automatically. See Live Chat — Request a Person.

What the visitor sees

Each time you take over, you confirm a display name. It is the only detail about you that reaches visitors; your email and account are never shown. The name is filled in from your saved display name, or from your account name if you have not set one. Set it once under Settings > Live Chat > Your display name.

When you take over, the visitor's chat shows that a team member has joined, and a divider line appears in the conversation. When you hand the conversation back to the AI, another divider marks the switch, so the visitor is never left guessing who they are talking to. The chat stays one continuous thread.

Handing back to the AI

Human involvement does not have to last the whole conversation. When the visitor's main issue is resolved and they return to general questions, click Live chat · Back to AI. The AI resumes within its scope.

Leaving the conversation hands it back too, so a visitor is never left waiting for someone who has gone. That happens when you open another conversation, move to another dashboard page, reload, or close the tab. It applies to takeovers you started in that tab; a colleague's takeover is left alone.

What this affects, and what it does not

Takeover changes who responds in that one conversation and how it feels to the visitor. It does not change AI training, modify knowledge sources, affect other conversations, or disable the widget.

Best practices

• Read the full history before replying.
• Keep your tone consistent with the assistant's persona.
• Use takeover for high-intent or sensitive cases.
• Stay on the conversation while you are in it: leaving hands it back to the AI.

Next step

Continue to Conversation Context on Takeover to see exactly what your team reads before replying.