Not every team has a helpdesk platform. Not every escalation needs one. Sometimes the right answer is a summary email to the right person, and someone follows up. Simple, direct, no overhead.

Your support team is four people. You do not use Intercom or Zendesk. When a customer conversation needs human attention, you just need someone on your team to know about it and reply. Setting up a full helpdesk integration for that is more infrastructure than the situation calls for.

The Email Handoff handles it cleanly. When triggered, your agent sends a summary of the conversation to whoever needs to see it - your shared support inbox, a specific person, wherever escalations land. They read the context, reply directly, and the customer gets a human response without anyone having to build an integration to make it happen.

In this article, you'll learn:

• When to use an Email Handoff. 
• How to set it up
• How to configure the trigger

When to Use an Email Handoff

The Email Handoff is the right choice when:

• You don't use a dedicated helpdesk platform like Intercom or Zendesk
• You want a lightweight escalation option for a small team
• You need a fallback for after-hours conversations when no one is live
• You're just getting started and want something simple before setting up a full integration

It's not a live handoff - the conversation doesn't transfer to a real person in real time. The user is informed that someone will follow up, and your team receives the summary by email and responds in their own time.

How to Set Up the Email Handoff

1. Go to the Handoffs tab.
2. Click + Add Handoff.
3. Select Email and click Connect.
4. You'll be taken to the Email handoff configuration screen.

Fill in the configuration:

• Handoff Name: A label for this handoff in your dashboard (e.g., "Email support team").
• When to trigger: Write plain-language instructions for when to send the email summary.

Click Save Changes.

Configure the Trigger

Example trigger:

"Send an email summary when the user's issue hasn't been resolved, when they ask to be followed up by email, or when the conversation involves a request that requires human review."

Keep the trigger specific enough to avoid sending unnecessary emails, but broad enough to catch genuine escalations.

For detailed guidance on writing triggers, see Writing Good Handoff Trigger Instructions.

What the User Experiences

When an Email Handoff triggers:

1. The agent lets the user know their request has been noted and someone will follow up by email.
2. A conversation summary is sent to your designated email address.
3. Your team reads the summary and responds directly to the user.

The experience is asynchronous - there's no live transfer. Make sure your agent sets appropriate expectations about response time.

Best Practices

• Always tell your agent what response time to communicate to the user (e.g., "Let the user know someone will follow up within 1 business day").
• Use the Email Handoff as a fallback alongside a live handoff - for example, live to Intercom during business hours and email for after-hours conversations.
• Keep an eye on the emails coming in - if you're getting a high volume of handoff emails for questions your agent should be able to answer, review your sources and agent instructions.