---
title: "Handoff to Human workflow"
description: "Learn how the Handoff to Human workflow works in Interlinked — the simplest service workflow where the AI collects basic customer information and then transfers the conversation to a human agent."
section: "Workflows"
url: https://interlinked-ai.com/en/resources/docs/handoff-to-human
lang: en
lastUpdated: 2026-04-17
---

# Handoff to Human workflow

## When to use this workflow

Choose **Handoff to Human** when you want the AI to act as a first responder that collects basic customer information before transferring the conversation to a human agent. This is the simplest workflow — it has no qualification questions, no calendar integration, and no payment steps.

This workflow is ideal for:

- **Businesses just getting started** with AI and want to ease into automation gradually
- **Complex sales** where every customer interaction is unique and requires human judgment
- **Customer support** scenarios where the AI greets, collects context, and routes to the right team member

## How the AI handles conversations

1. **Greet the customer** using your configured greeting message.
2. **Engage in initial conversation** — The AI answers basic questions about your products or services using the catalog and business context.
3. **Escalate to a human** — When the conversation reaches a point where the AI determines a human is needed (or if the customer requests one), the AI triggers the handoff.
4. **Notify the business** — The handoff creates a notification for the business owner in the CRM.
5. **Pause AI responses** — The AI stops responding for 15 minutes so the human can take over without interference.

### The 15-minute AI pause

When the AI hands off a conversation, it pauses for **15 minutes**. During this time, the AI will not send any messages to that customer. This same pause triggers when:

- You manually send a message through the messaging app (WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger)
- You click **Take manual control** in the CRM conversation view

After 15 minutes of human inactivity, the AI resumes responding automatically.

<div class="docs-callout docs-callout-warning">
  <p><strong>Important</strong></p>
  <p>Make sure your team responds quickly after a handoff. If no human responds within 15 minutes, the AI will resume and may confuse the customer by continuing the conversation it previously escalated.</p>
</div>

## Custom configuration steps

None. This workflow adds **no additional configuration steps** to the wizard. It is the fastest workflow to set up — you only need to complete the standard steps (company info, workflow selection, catalog, context, and channels).

## What to do next

Continue to [Upload your product catalog](/en/resources/docs/upload-your-product-catalog), [Add business context](/en/resources/docs/add-business-context), [Connect channels](/en/resources/docs/connect-channels), and [Publish and go live](/en/resources/docs/publish-and-go-live).