How should a chatbot hand a conversation over to a human?

Hand-over is where most chatbots succeed or fail. A customer who reaches a dead end, or gets the same menu three times, leaves annoyed and often messages a competitor. The fix is not a cleverer bot but clear rules for when it stops. Typical triggers are a direct request such as 'insaan se baat karni hai' or 'call me', a question outside the knowledge base, a second failed attempt to understand, negative words that suggest a complaint, and specific topics you never want automated, such as refunds, delays and medical or legal questions.

When the trigger fires, the bot should be honest and specific: 'I will pass this to our team now. Someone usually replies within working hours, Monday to Saturday.' Do not promise a reply time your staff cannot meet. If it is late at night or a Friday afternoon, say when the team is next available, and collect anything they will need, such as an order number or preferred call time.

On the business side, the chat should land in a place someone watches. In a WhatsApp API inbox that means assigning it to a person or team and showing it as unassigned until someone takes it. On the free app, labels such as 'Needs staff' do the same job. Whoever picks it up should read the bot's conversation first, so the customer does not have to repeat themselves.

Review hand-overs weekly. If the same question keeps reaching staff, add it to the knowledge base. If customers often ask for a person straight away, your bot may be getting in the way rather than helping, and a simpler greeting with a few quick buttons might serve them better.