Live Support Handover: When Should Your Instagram Bot Stop?

Your bot should stop where it can't solve the customer's problem and leave the conversation to you. Complaints, return and exchange requests, complex orders and questions the bot can't answer are the usual places. In UlakChat you do this with the Live Support node in your flow.

This guide covers what the node does, where it belongs in a flow and how to follow handed-over conversations from the Chats screen.

What the Live Support node does

When a flow reaches the Live Support node, three things happen:

1. Automation stops. Every automation in the conversation with that person is paused. The customer can keep writing, but the bot won't reply.
2. You get an alert. If the panel is open, a notification sound plays and a message appears saying there's a live support request in that conversation. Press Go to jump straight to it.
3. The conversation is flagged. A Live Support badge shows up in the conversation list and in the conversation header.

The node has two rules. First, Live Support is the last step of a flow and has no output. You can't connect a message or any other step after it. If you want to tell the customer "I'm passing you to our team", send that message before the node. Second, the node only exists in flows on the Message Automation screen. Comment automations don't have it.

How long should the automation wait?

When you add the node to a flow, you see the question "How long should the automation wait?" with two options.

Option	What happens	When to use it
Indefinite	The automation waits in this conversation until someone on your team takes it back.	Complaints, returns and anything else a person really needs to look at.
Auto-resume	The automation comes back on its own when the time you set runs out. You can also bring it back earlier.	Simple questions outside business hours, or cases where you want the bot to take over again if nobody replies.

With Auto-resume, the default is 1 hour. You can set anything from 1 minute to 24 hours.

If you're not sure which one to pick, ask yourself: if nobody looks at this conversation and the bot comes back, what does the customer see? An angry customer who gets the main menu a few hours later will only get angrier. For branches like that, Indefinite is the safer choice.

When should the bot hand over?

Every flow has its own handover points, but for small shops these four come up almost every time.

Complaints

Late deliveries, damaged items or the wrong product sent: in these cases the customer wants to talk to a person. To catch these messages you can use the AI Intent Detector in your trigger. Give it a description like "The customer is complaining about a problem, such as a late delivery or a damaged or wrong item." Reply to matching messages with a short apology and "our team will get back to you shortly", then end with Live Support.

Returns, exchanges and complex orders

Orders with several items, custom sizes, bulk purchases or address changes are not things a bot should handle. Add an "Orders and returns" option to your main menu and connect it straight to Live Support.

Branches where the bot has no answer

Some nodes come with a "couldn't find it" or "don't know" branch:

• The Not Found output of the Product Detection node. The flow goes here when the product the customer mentions isn't in your catalog.
• The Unknown output of the AI Product Q&A node. If the answer isn't in your product details, the node doesn't make one up. It takes this branch instead.

Leaving these branches empty, or always sending them back to the main menu, puts the customer in a loop. Asking once more can help. After that, connecting the branch to Live Support is the cleanest fix. We show how we set up these branches for size and color questions in auto-replies for size and color questions.

When the customer asks for a person

It's a good habit to add a button or quick reply like "I'd like to talk to someone" to your main menu. A customer who doesn't want to chat with a bot taps it instead of trying to reach you some other way.

Step-by-step setup

Here is a simple flow that hands complaint messages over to you.

1. Open your existing flow on the Message Automation screen, or create a new automation.
2. In the Trigger, add an option of the AI Intent Detector type. Title it "Complaint" and describe what a complaint looks like.
3. Connect a Text Message to that option's output: "We're sorry about the trouble. I'm passing you to our team, and we'll get back to you here as soon as we can."
4. Add the Live Support node after the message and choose Indefinite.
5. Save the flow and turn it on. Test it by sending a complaint from another account. On the Chats screen, check that the alert arrives and the Live Support badge appears on the conversation.

The flow skeleton:

Trigger

Complaint

Text Message

Live Support

What the customer sees:

My order still hasn't arrived after 5 days, and the tracking number doesn't work.

We're sorry about the trouble. I'm passing you to our team, and we'll get back to you here as soon as we can.

The conversation went to Live Support. The bot won't reply to this person until you take it back.

Each time a message goes to the AI, the AI Intent Detector uses your monthly credits. Credits are used even if the message doesn't match any option. If complaints always come in with the same words, a keyword may be enough.

Following handed-over conversations in the panel

Handed-over conversations collect on the Chats screen. The On Live Support filter above the conversation list shows only the ones waiting for you. If you missed the alert or opened the panel later, this is where to look.

When you open the conversation, the Live Support badge is in the header. You reply to the customer from there yourself. When you're done, press Activate Automation. The automation runs again in this conversation and the bot answers the customer's next messages.

You can also take over a conversation without a handover. The Pause Automation menu in the header has two kinds of options:

• Pause automation: The bot stays quiet in this conversation until you turn it back on.
• Pause for 15 minutes, Pause for 1 hour, Pause for 2 hours or Set custom duration…: The bot comes back on its own when the time is up.

If you write while the bot is also replying, the customer may get two different answers. Make it a habit to pause the automation before you step in.

Don't wait too long to reply

On Instagram, businesses can message a customer freely for 24 hours after the customer's last message. If you only get back to a handed-over conversation the next day, that window may already be closed. Read more in our post on Meta's 24-hour rule.

How it differs from End Conversation

Both nodes end the flow and neither has an output. Here is the difference:

• End Conversation closes the flow for that person for a time you choose. You don't get an alert. When the time is up, the bot carries on by itself. It is used in campaign flows to stop the same person from triggering the flow again too soon.
• Live Support stops every automation in that conversation, sends you a sound alert and, if you want, waits until a person takes over.

If a person needs to look at it, use Live Support. If the bot only needs to be quiet for a while, use End Conversation.

Common mistakes

• No handover message. If the bot just goes silent, the customer thinks nobody read their message. Put a short message before Live Support.
• Every branch goes to a person. If questions the bot could answer also land on you, the automation loses its point. Only hand over where a person is really needed.
• Missed alerts. No sound plays when the panel is closed. Check the On Live Support filter regularly during the day.
• Automation never turned back on. If you chose Indefinite, remember to press Activate Automation when you're done. Otherwise the bot won't reply the next time that customer writes.

For the basics of setting up DM flows, see our Instagram DM automation page.