AI-to-Human Handoff
What is an AI-to-human handoff?
An AI-to-human handoff is the moment a live customer conversation moves from an AI assistant to a human agent, together with the context the AI has already collected.
How does an AI-to-human handoff work?
An AI-to-human handoff is the point where an AI voice or chat assistant stops handling a conversation and passes it to a person. It is not a failure of the AI. It is a designed step that decides whether the customer gets help faster or has to start again.
A good handoff has two parts. The first is the trigger: a clear rule for when the transfer must happen. Common triggers are a direct request for a person, a complaint, a dispute about money, rising emotion, signs that the customer is vulnerable, a request the AI cannot understand after two attempts, and any fraud, safety or legal risk. The second part is the context package: the caller’s identity, the reason for the call, the trigger that fired, the steps already completed, a tone flag and the transcript.
Example
A customer calls about a damaged delivery. The AI confirms the order and the return window, then hands the call to an agent, who opens with a decision instead of identification questions.
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