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When a chat agent is handling a conversation, you can control whether the AI continues responding or hands off to a human.

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Pause indicator

When a conversation is paused, a banner appears at the top of the timeline showing:
  • Why the AI was paused
  • When it will auto-reactivate (if configured)
  • An Unpause AI button to resume immediately

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Pause reasons

The AI can be paused automatically or manually:

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Resuming AI

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Manual

Click Unpause AI in the pause banner to let the agent start responding again immediately.

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Automatic

If the agent has auto-reactivate configured (set in the agent’s Settings tab), the AI resumes after the specified time. The banner shows a countdown. For example, if auto-reactivate is set to 30 minutes, the AI pauses when a team member sends a message and resumes 30 minutes later if no further manual messages are sent.

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How it works with manual replies

When you send a message from Unibox while an AI agent is active on the conversation:
  1. The AI pauses automatically (if “Pause AI after manual message” is enabled on the agent)
  2. The pause banner appears with the reason
  3. You handle the conversation manually
  4. Either click Unpause AI or wait for auto-reactivate
This prevents the AI from responding over you while you’re talking to the customer.

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Configuring pause behavior

Pause settings are configured per agent, not per conversation. Go to the agent’s Settings tab to adjust:
  • Whether to pause after manual messages
  • Auto-reactivate timing
  • Protection keywords that trigger a pause
  • Whether to pause after escalation or appointment booking
See Chat Agents for full configuration details.