How do I set up human handoffs in Chatref?

The shared inbox is where your support team can view and join ongoing AI conversations. Enabling it is the first part of your human handoff setup.

• Log into app.chatref.ai and open the agent you want to configure.
• Navigate to the Shared inbox tab in the agent settings.
• Toggle the shared inbox on, then add team members by entering their email addresses. They'll get an invite to join your workspace.

Now every live chat appears in one place, ready for a human handoff.

A custom action lets shoppers trigger a transfer to a person when they need more help. This is where you actually set up the human handoff request.

• Go to Custom actions in the same agent settings.
• Click Add action and name it something clear like "Talk to an agent".
• Set the trigger phrase. For a music store, use phrases shoppers actually say: "speak to a human", "connect me with support", or "I need a real person".
• Under action logic, select Request human handoff. This immediately flags the conversation in your shared inbox.
• Optionally, add a follow-up message: "An agent from our shop will be right with you."

Save the action. From now on, when a customer uses that trigger, you'll have a transfer chat to human ready in the inbox.

After a human handoff is requested, your team picks it up from the shared inbox.

• In the inbox, look for conversations with the Handoff requested tag or open the filter.
• Click into the chat to see the full conversation history, the visitor's details, and anything the AI already collected (like order numbers or SKUs, if you set up a data collection step in the custom action).
• Click Take over to transfer chat to human control. The shopper won't notice any break - the thread continues seamlessly.

While you handle the chat, the AI remains available for quick lookups or to hand back once the issue is resolved.

Make the human handoff feel native to your music store with a few tweaks.

• Place the "Talk to an expert" button on high-stakes pages: checkout, returns, or a guitar builder page. Shoppers are more likely to need a person there.
• Use the custom action to first ask for an order number or product SKU before initiating the transfer chat to human. That way your agent has everything they need before they even say hello.
• Set up inbox notification rules in the shared inbox so that handoff requests go to the right team members during your store's business hours.

That keeps every transfer fast and contextual, so your customers hear from a human at the exact moment they need one.