# A good AI handover should feel like one conversation

Decide when a person steps in, what they need to know and how the customer understands the next step.

## Choose the moments that need a person.

Not every enquiry needs the same treatment. An opening-hours question may have a simple answer. A complaint about a previous repair needs context and judgement.
Agree on a small set of handover triggers before setup. These can include a direct request for a person, missing business information, an exception to a policy or a decision involving a quote or compensation.

## Tell the customer what is happening.

A handover message should acknowledge the request and explain the next step in ordinary language. Avoid saying that something is resolved when it has only been recorded.
Do not promise a reply within a certain time unless your team can support that commitment. A clear explanation of what needs checking is better than an invented deadline.

- Acknowledge the request or concern.
- Explain what the team needs to check.
- Ask only for details that help that check.

## Pass a short, useful summary.

The next person needs the important details, not a rewritten transcript. Start with the customer’s request, add the relevant facts and finish with the unresolved decision.
For example: “Customer wants Saturday cleaning for two units in Puchong. Morning preferred. Availability and quote have not been confirmed.” This makes the work clear without suggesting an appointment already exists.

## Make responsibility explicit.

Decide who checks handovers and how they recognise that a conversation needs attention. A well-written summary is only useful if someone has a clear responsibility to review it.
During setup, check what the assistant does while a person is handling the conversation and how assistance resumes. The team should not have to compete with automatic replies or guess which mode is active.

## Review the difficult examples together.

Test the handover with a complaint, an unclear message and a customer changing their mind. Include a request that arrives when the team is unavailable.
Ask the person who would handle that enquiry to review the result. If the summary is missing the one fact they always need, adjust the flow. Small practical improvements matter more than making the assistant sound clever.

A handover works when the customer understands the next step and the responsible person has enough context to take it.