Answering live
Take a conversation over from the assistant while the customer is still in it, then hand it back.
When a hand-off arrives and the customer is still on the page, you can answer them yourself in the window they are already using. They do not move to email, and they do not start again.
Mark yourself available
The Available / Away switch sits at the top of the Helpdesk sidebar.
- Available — new hand-off requests can come to you, and the widget offers a live chat.
- Away — they do not. Visitors who ask for a person get the ticket form instead, so a request is still captured.
Available is not the same as online
Being online is automatic: any open Helpdesk page renews it every thirty seconds, and it lapses about ninety seconds after you close the tab, so a conversation is never left with nobody in it. Available is the deliberate switch, and only decides whether new requests come your way.
Take a conversation over
At the top of a ticket, Answering shows as two positions — the assistant, or you. The filled one is active; pressing the other switches it. See Who answers for what each position means on every channel.
Open the ticket. If the customer is still there, the header shows Live chat; otherwise it shows how long ago they left.
Press your side of the control. The assistant stops immediately — it will not answer over you.
Type in the composer. Your replies reach the customer in the same widget or help page they have been using all along.
When the customer writes back, a chime plays and the ticket marks unread, so a quiet tab does not mean a waiting customer.
Hand it back
Press the assistant's side of the control to hand back. It resumes answering with the full conversation — including everything you said — as context.
You can take the same conversation over again afterwards. Switching is not one-way.
Phone calls are different
A call has no live control, because nothing here can answer one. Phone tickets record the call and the number to ring back.