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No AI agent can handle every conversation, and MerchantAI is designed with that reality built in. When a visitor needs a human — whether because the agent lacks confidence, the topic is sensitive, or the visitor asks directly — MerchantAI hands over cleanly without losing context. Your team receives everything they need to pick up the conversation: the full transcript, the visitor’s contact details, the sources the agent referenced, and the conversation metadata.

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When routing is triggered

MerchantAI can initiate a handover automatically based on the following conditions:

Low confidence

The agent’s confidence in its answer falls below the threshold you have configured in Guardrails. Rather than guessing, the agent surfaces the handover option for the visitor.

Explicit human request

The visitor types a phrase such as “speak to a person,” “I want to talk to someone,” or any other phrase that signals they want human assistance.

Escalation list match

The conversation topic matches a topic you have placed on your escalation list — for example, billing disputes, complaints, or refund requests.

Frustration or complaint detection

The agent detects signals of frustration, repeated failed attempts to answer, or explicit negative sentiment, and proactively offers to connect the visitor with your team.

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Handover channels

MerchantAI supports two handover channels, which you can configure independently or use together.
When a handover is triggered, MerchantAI sends an email to the address you have configured. The email includes the full conversation transcript, the visitor’s contact details, and any source pages the agent referenced. Your team can reply to the visitor directly from their email client. Email handover is well suited for teams that manage support asynchronously.

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What gets passed

Whenever a conversation is routed to a human, MerchantAI passes a complete context package to your team. Nothing is lost in the transfer.

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Live takeover

If a team member wants to join an active conversation in real time, they can do so directly from the Contacts inbox in the dashboard. Clicking Take over immediately pauses the agent and transfers control to the team member. Messages from your team appear inline in the same chat interface the visitor is using. The agent does not re-enter the conversation unless the team member explicitly hands back control.

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Configuring email handover

1

Open Configuration

In the dashboard, navigate to Configuration from the left sidebar.
2

Go to Handover settings

Select Handover from the Configuration menu to open the handover settings panel.
3

Enter your email address

Type the email address — or shared inbox address — where handover notifications should be sent. You can add multiple addresses separated by commas.
4

Save your settings

Click Save. Handover emails will be sent to the configured address from this point forward. Send a test conversation to confirm delivery.
Every conversation where a visitor provides contact details is captured in the Contacts inbox, regardless of whether a human takes over. This means your team has a complete record of lead and support interactions even when the agent resolves the conversation without escalation.