Escalation
Pause behaviour, message templates, and notification rules used when AI hands a chat to a human.
Escalation
Configure how chats hand off from AI to humans. The settings here apply across all channels (chat, SMS, voice, email).
Go to Settings → Workspace → Escalation.
Settings
Pause on Escalate
Toggle. When on, the AI stops replying once a chat is escalated and waits for a teammate to respond. Default on.
Turn this off if you want the AI to keep chatting while a teammate is being notified — useful when teammates may take a while to join and you'd rather keep the conversation moving than leave it silent.
Message Templates
Four optional message templates that automatically post into the chat at key escalation moments. Leave any field empty to fall back to the system default.
| Template | When It Sends |
|---|---|
| Online Hours | The chat is escalated during business hours. Use this to set expectations (e.g., "Our team is online and will reply shortly"). |
| Offline Hours | The chat is escalated outside business hours. Use this to manage timing expectations (e.g., "We'll follow up first thing in the morning"). |
| Notification Sent | A teammate has been notified about the escalation. Use this to confirm the handoff to the user. |
| Chat Paused | The chat has been paused waiting for a teammate. Only sends when Pause on Escalate is on. |
Templates support workspace template variables — see Template Variables for the full list.
Notification Rules
Configures who gets notified, how (email, SMS, push), and under what conditions when an escalation fires. Each rule combines a condition with one or more recipients.
See Notification Preferences for per-member preferences that can override workspace rules.
How escalation flows
- The AI (or a workflow rule) decides to escalate.
- Pause on Escalate kicks in if enabled — the AI stops replying.
- The matching message template posts into the chat (Online or Offline based on business hours).
- Notification rules dispatch alerts to the configured teammates.
- When a teammate replies, the Chat Paused template stops sending and the conversation continues with the human in the loop.
Tips
- Configure escalation early, even if the AI handles 99% of chats. Edge cases happen — having a notification path ready means surprises don't go silent.
- Use the Offline Hours template to manage user expectations. A short "We'll follow up in the morning" message is better than the user waiting in silence.
- Pair templates with notification rules. A template tells the user what's happening; the rule tells the team. Both are needed.
- Override per-member. Members can opt out of certain notification channels in their account settings.
Related
- Business Hours — Drives the Online vs. Offline branch.
- Notification Preferences — Per-member opt-outs.
- Escalation flow — End-user view of how escalation looks in chat.
- Template Variables — Variables you can use in templates.
Related Resources
General
Workspace name, slug, default language, timezone, signup code, and default assistant.
Business Hours
Define when your workspace is open. Drives escalation routing, phone work modes, and the is_business_hours variable.
Phone
Workspace-wide voice defaults — default phone number, audio recording, and voicemail detection on AI-initiated outbound calls.
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