> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.irisagent.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Live chat > Let your team take over website chats from the AI agent and reply to visitors in real time from the IrisAgent Conversations inbox Your AI agent handles website chats until a visitor needs a person. Then a teammate joins from the [Conversations inbox](https://docs.irisagent.com/helpdesk/Conversations-Inbox.md) and replies in the same chat window. > [!NOTE] > > Live chat in the IrisAgent inbox works with the [IrisAgent website chat widget](https://docs.irisagent.com/deploying-irisagent/Chatbot-on-Website.md) and [WhatsApp](https://docs.irisagent.com/helpdesk/WhatsApp.md). To route live chats to another tool instead, see [Salesforce](https://docs.irisagent.com/deploying-irisagent/Salesforce-Live-Chat.md), [Zendesk Messaging](https://docs.irisagent.com/deploying-irisagent/Chatbot-Automation-on-Zendesk-Messaging.md), [Intercom](https://docs.irisagent.com/deploying-irisagent/Chatbot-Automation-on-Intercom.md), or [Freshchat](https://docs.irisagent.com/deploying-irisagent/Chatbot-Automation-on-Freshchat.md). ## How it works 1. A visitor chats with your AI agent on your website. 2. The visitor asks for a person, or the AI escalates. The chat moves to the **Waiting** queue in Conversations. The bot keeps answering while the visitor waits. 3. A teammate clicks **Join chat**. The bot pauses and the teammate replies in real time. 4. The teammate clicks **End chat & return to bot**, and the AI takes over again. ## Turn on live chat You need IrisAgent admin access. 1. Go to **Deploy → Chat channels**. 2. On the **Website Chatbot** card, click **Manage** and open the chatbot configuration you use on your website. 3. Open the **Handoff** tab. 4. Under **Method**, choose **Start a live chat**. 5. Under **Live chat destination**, choose **IrisAgent inbox (your team replies from Conversations)**. 6. Optional: turn on **Automatically escalate when no answer is found**. 7. Save the configuration. Repeat for each chatbot configuration that should offer live chat. ## When chats are escalated A chat moves to the **Waiting** queue when: * **The visitor asks for a person.** Requests such as "talk to a human" trigger your chatbot's **Agent handoff** procedure. New chatbots include it by default, and you can edit what it says and collects. * **A procedure escalates**, for example after collecting an order number. See [Workflows](https://docs.irisagent.com/configuring-ai-and-automation/Workflows.md). * **The AI has no answer**, if you turned on **Automatically escalate when no answer is found**. Escalated conversations are marked **Agent requested**, set to **New**, and given **High** priority. ## Answer a live chat The bar above the composer shows who is handling the chat: | You see | Meaning | Action | | - | - | - | | "IrisAgent bot is handling this conversation" | The AI is answering | **Take over from bot** | | "Visitor asked for a human · waiting …" | The visitor is in the Waiting queue | **Join chat** | | "You're live with the visitor" | You own the chat and the bot is paused | **End chat & return to bot** | | "\ is chatting with the visitor" | A teammate owns the chat | **Take over** | ### Join and reply 1. Open the **Waiting** queue in Conversations and select the chat. 2. Read the conversation so far and any **Captured details**. 3. Click **Join chat**. The conversation is assigned to you and set to **In progress**. 4. Type in the **Chat** tab and press **Enter**. The visitor sees your message within a few seconds. If you reply without joining first, the button reads **Take over & send**, and sending takes over the chat. ### Step in before the visitor asks Click **Take over from bot** on any website chat to pause the AI and reply yourself, for example for a frustrated customer. ### Take over from a teammate Click **Take over** to reassign a teammate's chat to you. Only the owner can end a live chat, so take it over first if you need to end it. ### End the chat Click **End chat & return to bot** to hand the visitor back to the AI. Click **Mark resolved** to close the conversation. Resolving also ends any open live chat. ## What the visitor sees * While waiting: "Connecting you to a support agent…". The AI keeps answering in the meantime. * After a teammate joins: "You're chatting with \." * After the chat ends: "The agent has left the chat. Our assistant can help with anything else." Chats stay connected if the visitor reloads the page. ## Good to know * Live chat replies are text only. * There are no agent availability settings or business hours yet. Waiting chats stay queued until a teammate joins or resolves them. If your team isn't always online, ask for an email address in your handoff procedure so you can [follow up by email](https://docs.irisagent.com/helpdesk/Email.md). * Conversations answered by a teammate are not counted as AI resolutions. * Website chats close automatically 4 days after they start. The visitor can still read the transcript and can start a new chat with the reset icon. ## Troubleshooting ### The Chat tab says live chat is off for this chatbot The chatbot's live chat destination isn't the IrisAgent inbox. An admin can change it in the **Handoff** tab. See [Turn on live chat](#turn-on-live-chat). You can still send an email or add a note. ### There is no chat reply option on a conversation Live chat replies work only for the IrisAgent website chat widget and [WhatsApp](https://docs.irisagent.com/helpdesk/WhatsApp.md). Voice and other chat tools (such as Intercom or Zendesk) can't receive replies from the IrisAgent inbox. ### "Take over the conversation before replying" A teammate took over while you were typing. Click **Take over** to continue yourself. ## Related pages * [Conversations inbox](https://docs.irisagent.com/helpdesk/Conversations-Inbox.md) * [Chatbot on Website](https://docs.irisagent.com/deploying-irisagent/Chatbot-on-Website.md) * [Workflows and procedures](https://docs.irisagent.com/configuring-ai-and-automation/Workflows.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.