What it is
Each conversation has its own controls for who answers the customer. They change only that conversation. To stop Aria everywhere, set the Aria: switch to Off instead.
- Take over: you answer. Aria stops here, and the conversation is assigned to you.
- Pause: Aria stops here, and the assignee stays the same.
- Hand back to Aria: Aria answers again, from the customer's next message.
How to use it
- Open Inbox and select the conversation.
- Select Take over. Any Aria reply being prepared is stopped, open hand-offs move to you, and the status chip under the customer's name shows Taken over. Sending a reply also takes the conversation over.
- Or select Pause to stop Aria without changing the assignee. The status chip shows Paused.
- Reply to the customer in the composer.
- When you want Aria to carry on, select Hand back to Aria. It sits where Take over was once the conversation is Taken over or Paused; while it shows Awaiting staff, it is under More (⋯).
- To change who is responsible, select the Assigned to chip and choose a person or Unassigned.
- When it is done, select More (⋯) → Close. A new customer message reopens it, or select Reopen.
- To come back to it later, select More (⋯) → Mark unread. It is unread for you only.
What the data means
The first status chip under the customer's name shows who answers. Select it to read what the state means.
| Status chip | Who answers the customer |
|---|---|
| Automation active | Aria |
| Awaiting staff | Aria still answers and can book, while a person is asked to help |
| Taken over | A team member. Aria does not answer |
| Paused | Nobody automatically. Aria does not answer; the assignee did not change |
| Closed | The conversation is finished. It is not a sale outcome |
After Hand back to Aria, Aria answers only messages that arrive from then on. She never goes back to earlier ones, and handing back sends nothing by itself.
The Assigned to list shows the workspace's active Owners. A Staff member becomes the assignee when they select Take over or send a reply.
Possible issues and fixes
Hand back to Aria is greyed out or refused
Symptom: Hand back to Aria can't be selected, or it shows a message when you select it.
Why: The contact has an opt-out or wrong-number restriction ("Resume does not clear it."), the contact is in Trash, you have Inbox View only, or the conversation changed while you were looking at it.
Fix: Don't contact a customer who opted out on that channel. Restore a contact in Trash from Contacts first. Ask an Owner for Inbox View and change in Settings → Team & roles. Otherwise reload the conversation and try again.
How to check: The status chip reads Automation active.
I took over, but Aria still sent a message
Symptom: An Aria message appears just after you selected Take over.
Why: Take over stops any reply being prepared at that moment, but a reply already queued before your click can still be delivered.
Fix: Check that message's delivery mark, and follow up yourself if needed. Aria does not answer new messages until someone selects Hand back to Aria.
How to check: The status chip reads Taken over and no new Aria messages appear.
Aria stays silent after I handed back
Symptom: The status chip reads Automation active, but Aria didn't answer.
Why: She answers only messages that arrive after the hand-back. If the customer wrote before, there is nothing new for her to answer. Her switch and setup still apply too.
Fix: Answer the earlier message yourself, or wait for the customer's next message. If she still stays silent, see "Why didn't Aria reply?".
How to check: The customer's next message gets an Aria reply with a delivery mark.
I can't choose a Staff member in Assigned to
Symptom: The Assigned to list shows only Unassigned and the Owners.
Why: The list holds the workspace's active Owners only.
Fix: Ask the Staff member to select Take over or send a reply; that assigns the conversation to them.
How to check: The Assigned to chip shows their name.
