How to Take Over a Chat & Pause Your Botpress or Voiceflow Bot

To take over a chat from your bot within HitlChat, simply reply to the customer — sending a message will: automatically assign the conversation to you, set the chat status to In Progress, and pause the bot so you can chat as a live agent. Hand control back to the bot when you’re done. It works the same whether your bot is built in Botpress or Voiceflow.

Before you start

  • A connected bot (Botpress or Voiceflow) with live conversations coming in.
  • Your own HitlChat login (each agent gets one under User Access).
There is no separate “pause bot” button on a conversation. You pause the bot for a single chat simply by assigning that chat to a human — the steps below.
1

Find the chat in your Inbox

Open Inbox from the top menu. The conversation list has filter tabs to help you find chats that need attention:

  • Bot Chats — conversations the bot is currently handling.
  • Human Req — chats where a customer has asked for a human (triggered by a HITL keyword).
  • All Chats, My Chats, Resolved, Unassigned — the other views.

Click the conversation you want to handle to open it.

2

Take over the chat and pause the bot

The quickest way — just reply. Type a message to the customer in the box at the bottom of the thread and send it. HitlChat automatically assigns the conversation to you and sets the status to In Progress, which pauses your Botpress or Voiceflow bot — no extra clicks. This is the recommended way to take over.

Prefer to claim the chat first, or assign it to a teammate? Open the assignment dropdown at the top of the thread — it shows the current handler (Bot in gold, or Unassigned) — and choose your own name (or a team member) from the list.

Either way, the header then shows the assignee with a green highlight, the status reads In Progress, a system note records the hand-off, and the bot won’t auto-reply while a human is assigned.

3

Continue as a live agent

Carry on the conversation from the message box — you can send text, media and audio just like any other chat. Everything goes to the customer in the same WhatsApp or web-chat thread, and the bot stays paused so it won’t talk over you.

4

Hand the chat back to the bot — or to a teammate

  • Hand back to the bot: open the assignment dropdown and select Bot. The bot resumes automated replies (the header turns gold and shows “Bot” again).
  • Pass it to a teammate: open the dropdown and pick their name — they become the assigned agent.
  • Mark it done: use the Status dropdown in the header to set Resolved by Human (other options: In Progress, Resolved by Bot, SPAM).
Want the bot to take chats back on its own? Set an inactivity timer, or auto-hand-off with keywords — see Human Handoff Keywords & Bot Settings.

Taking over a chat & pausing the bot FAQs

How do I pause a Botpress or Voiceflow bot?

The same way for both. To pause a Botpress bot or a Voiceflow bot on a single conversation, open it in the HitlChat Inbox and reply to the customer (or assign the chat to yourself) — that pauses the bot for that chat. Select Bot in the assignment dropdown to resume it.

Do I have to assign the chat to myself before I can reply?

No — that’s the easy part. Simply replying to the customer automatically assigns the conversation to you and sets it to In Progress, which pauses the bot. Assigning yourself from the dropdown first is just an optional manual alternative.

Is there a “pause bot” button on a conversation?

No. You pause the bot for a single chat by assigning that chat to a human in the chat-header dropdown (pick your name or a teammate). The bot stays paused for that conversation until you hand it back to Bot.

Does the bot keep replying after I take over?

No. As soon as a human is assigned, the bot stops auto-replying to that conversation. It only resumes when you set the assignment back to Bot (or an inactivity timer / hand-back keyword returns control).

How do I find the chats that need a human?

Use the Human Req tab for chats where a customer asked for a person, and the Bot Chats tab for conversations the bot is currently handling. Each tab shows a live count.

Can I transfer a chat to another agent?

Yes. Open the same assignment dropdown in the chat header and choose the teammate’s name. A system note records the transfer, and the chat moves to them.

How do I give control back to the bot?

Open the assignment dropdown and select Bot. The header turns gold, “Bot” is shown, and the bot resumes automated replies.

Can the bot take chats back automatically?

Yes — set Auto-reassign to bot after inactivity in Bot Settings so idle conversations return to the bot, or add a hand-back keyword. See Human Handoff Keywords & Bot Settings.

Do I have to watch the Inbox to catch hand-offs?

No — set up HITL keywords so customers can ask for a human automatically, with email/webhook notifications. See Human Handoff Keywords & Bot Settings.

Does this work the same for Botpress and Voiceflow?

Yes. Taking over a chat, pausing the bot and handing control back work identically in the HitlChat Inbox regardless of whether your bot is built in Botpress or Voiceflow.

Related guides

Bot Settings

How to Set Up Human Handoff Keywords & Bot Settings

Auto-transfer chats to a human with HITL keywords, set the inactivity timer, and turn the bot on or off.

Read guide →

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Stories from real businesses

Daniel Ortega

eCommerce Ops Manager

"WhatsApp is where most of our online customer conversations happen. Our Voiceflow assistant handles the basic questions really well, but when questions get more complicated hitlchat allows our team to jump in instantly without having to move the customer to another channel. It feels like true live chat inside WhatsApp and we’ve seen higher conversions because of it"

Sanjay Mehta

Conversational AI Agency

"The hitlchat setup is super simple, and its easy to use! Most of our clients run small teams handling WhatsApp conversations powered by a Voiceflow bot. hitlchat gives them one shared workspace to manage all their conversations. Being able to step into bot conversations directly inside WhatsApp has transformed their support workflows."

Lucas Bennett

Voiceflow Developer

"We've been building Voiceflow WhatsApp assistants for our clients across various industries (healthcare, ecommerce, restaurants etc) for a few years now. We had been looking for a way to route conversations from the Voiceflow assistant to live human agent for some time. Eventually we found out about hitlchat and honestly its been a gamechanger for us ever since. Our clients love it, and as a result we love it!"

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