Chapter 04

Join at the right moment.

Stand is not designed to hide visitors from your team. It is designed to keep the thread warm until a real person can add something the AI should not pretend to provide.

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Chapter 04 of 09

Field guide

What to learn in this chapter

A good handoff feels like a capable teammate saying, "I can bring in the person who knows this best." The visitor should understand what is happening and why.

Use this chapter when you want to decide when to take over directly, when to offer to join, and how to avoid surprising the visitor.

Watch active stand-in chats with the transcript in front of you.

Use Take over now when speed or accuracy matters.

Use Offer to join when consent and context matter.

Let typing into an AI session hand off automatically when you are ready.

Handoff judgment

01

Choose the smallest intervention that helps the visitor.

Direct takeover is right when the visitor needs a real answer now: a hot lead, a sensitive edge case, a mistake, or a question the stand-in cannot answer safely.

Offer to join is right when the visitor is in a useful flow and a sudden handoff would feel abrupt. The stand-in can explain that a human is available and ask whether the visitor wants the introduction.

Example

Take over now

Situation
A buyer asks whether you can support a production migration next week and gives a work email.
Move
Take over directly. The visitor benefits from a real person faster than from another AI clarification.
Insight
When the cost of delay is high, do not make the visitor pass another gate.

Example

Offer to join

Situation
A product-minded visitor is explaining why your positioning is confusing.
Move
Offer to join. Let the stand-in ask whether they would like to meet the founder or PM who is listening.
Insight
Consent keeps the transition respectful and often makes the visitor more willing to elaborate.

Real-time context

02

Read before you enter.

The dashboard gives you the transcript, captured details, labels, and handoff state before you type. You can watch several stand-in chats in parallel, open the thread that matters, and decide whether to stay silent, offer to join, or take over.

The first human message should prove you were listening: refer to the question, constraint, or comparison already in the conversation.

Stand rep dashboard with two live chat sessions side-by-side, AI stand-in conversations, and Take over now and Offer to join controls.
Figure 4-1. The dashboard is the control room: multiple chats can be active at once, and a rep can inspect Stand-in conversations before choosing whether to join.
Header controlAvailable to chat
What it controlsRoutes new visitors to you while you are online and below your concurrent chat limit.
How to read it during handoffTurn this on only when you are actually watching. If it is off, Stand-in coverage can still handle chats when Agents active is on.
Header controlConcurrent limit
What it controlsAppears when you are available and sets how many human chats you can handle at once.
How to read it during handoffSet this to honest attention, not optimism. When you hit the limit, new visitors can be covered by eligible agents.
Header controlGreet visitors
What it controlsControls the opening greeting bubble and greeting message shown to visitors.
How to read it during handoffUse it when a proactive invitation helps. Click the label to edit the greeting instead of treating it as only an on/off switch.
Header controlAgents active
What it controlsGlobally enables your enabled AI agents to cover eligible sites.
How to read it during handoffThis is what lets the header say Stand-in is covering chats while you are unavailable or at capacity.
Header controlNotifications
What it controlsControls browser and push notification setup for Stand alerts.
How to read it during handoffKeep this on when label matches or active chats should pull you back into the dashboard.

First human message

Continue the thread

Weak
Hi, how can I help?
Better
Theo mentioned you are comparing pricing against your current support widget. I can help you think through when Stand is the lighter option.
Why
The second version preserves context and rewards the visitor for explaining their situation.

Team habits

03

Make availability honest.

Stand works best when the dashboard state matches reality. If reps are available, they can take live chats. If they are in calls or offline, enabled agents keep coverage active.

Use concurrent limits to prevent a rep from drowning in simultaneous sessions. When the rep reaches the cap, the stand-in can cover new visitors instead of making them wait.

Before relying on takeover

  • Reps know when to use direct takeover versus offer-to-join.
  • Concurrent limits match real attention, not optimism.
  • Notification-enabled labels are narrow enough to trust.
  • The first human message continues the current topic.

Questions

Common reader notes

Can I just type into an AI conversation?

Yes. If you type into a stand-in conversation, Stand performs the handoff and sends the reply under your identity.

Does offer-to-join require visitor consent?

Yes. The stand-in asks in context and the handoff happens only if the visitor agrees.

Continue the guide

Build Stand as a learning loop, one chapter at a time.

Previous chapter 03

Spot the Conversations That Matter

Define the signals your team should hear about.

Next chapter 05

Capture Leads in Context

Collect follow-up details without gating the chat.

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