Transfer to a Human

When you need to handover a chat from a flow to a human operator (HITL: Human in the loop) this is the action that does the work for you.

The easiest example is to use the action attached to a button to allow the end-user to “Talk to a human” whenever they want.

To create this flow simply drag & drop the Human handover from the side menu to the stage.

Once connected to a button (or whatever block in the flow) this action will move the flow to an available agent, if any. If no agents are available the action will automatically be moved to the unassigned status and put in the unassigned queue.

Assignment Logic

If no Smart Assignment is active, the only variable checked for assignment is the Agents’ available status. The chat will be moved to the first available agent following a round-robin algorithm.

Instead, when Smart Assignment is active, also the Maximum chats option of the Smart Assignment module setting will be checked.

If no agents are available the chat will be put in the Unassigned status (you’ll see the chat in the Monitor panel under the Unassigned section).

Best Practices

Using with Conditional Logic

Using this Action along with “If Online Agents” Action will give you the best results when no Smart Assignment is active.

When Smart Assignment is active, sometimes the best approach is to always use the “Move to Unassigned” Action.

Common Use Cases

1. Emergency Escalation: When the bot detects urgent keywords or sentiment
2. Complex Queries: When the user’s request is beyond the bot’s capabilities
3. User Preference: When users explicitly request human assistance
4. Fallback Option: When the bot fails to understand after multiple attempts

Implementation Tips

1. Clear Messaging: Always inform users that they’re being connected to a human agent
2. Context Preservation: Pass relevant conversation context to the human agent
3. Queue Management: Set up appropriate messaging for when no agents are available
4. Business Hours: Consider implementing time-based routing
5. Department Routing: Route to specific departments based on the inquiry type

Example Flow Structure

User Query
    ↓
Bot Attempts Resolution
    ↓
Failed or "Talk to Human" Request
    ↓
Check Agent Availability
    ↓
Available → Transfer to Agent
    ↓
Not Available → Add to Queue + Notify User

Setting Expectations

When implementing human handover, always:

• Inform users about expected wait times
• Provide alternative contact methods if wait times are long
• Explain what information will be shared with the human agent
• Offer the option to continue with the bot while waiting

Integration with Other Actions

The Transfer to Human action works well in combination with:

• Condition Actions: Check time, agent availability, or user preferences
• Set Attribute Actions: Tag conversations for proper routing
• Send Email Actions: Notify specific agents or departments
• Wait Actions: Implement delays for better user experience

You can find tutorials on how to Transfer a chat to a human in our documentation.

Do you have any feedback on this article? Please send it to us at support@pingstreams.io

Enjoy Pingstreams!