Managing Customer Agent settings

You will learn

Where to configure Customer Agent’s handoff behavior, how to change the handoff settings that shoppers see, how to disable handoff, channel-level settings, agent name and greeting, and permissions for who can edit the agent.

Before you begin

You’ll need:

• A role with permission to edit Customer Agent settings, such as Owner, Admin, or Manager
• Customer Agent enabled

Overview

Settings control how Customer Agent operates outside of conversation behavior — things like how it hands off to a human, which channels are active, and how the agent identifies itself to shoppers.

If you’re looking to change how Customer Agent talks (tone, communication style) or escalates (escalation rules), that’s Guidance. See Understanding Guidance.

Configure handoff

Handoff settings control what happens when Customer Agent can’t resolve a conversation, such as when an escalation rule fires, the shopper asks for a human, or Customer Agent lacks the information needed to answer.

Two methods:

• Send to helpdesk — Customer Agent sends the conversation to the helpdesk you select. The shopper’s follow-up channel depends on the helpdesk and, for web chat with Gorgias or Zendesk, the ticket type.
• Do not hand off — Customer Agent shows a custom message instead of handing off. Use this if you don’t have a helpdesk integration but still want to give shoppers a clear next step.

Before selecting Send to helpdesk, complete the setup for your chosen provider: enable Klaviyo Helpdesk, connect your Gorgias or Zendesk integration, or have a support email address ready for Third party. SMS handoffs to Gorgias or Zendesk also require SMS conversation sync in that integration; WhatsApp handoffs to Gorgias require WhatsApp conversation sync.

1. Navigate to Customer Agent > Channels.
2. Open the channel you want to update, then go to its Handoff section and select Send to helpdesk or Do not hand off. SMS appears as Text messaging in the navigation. Web chat, email, SMS, and WhatsApp are configured separately.
3. For Send to helpdesk, select a Helpdesk provider and enter the Handoff message shoppers should receive. If you choose Third party, also enter your Support Email Address.
4. For web chat with Gorgias or Zendesk, choose a Ticket type: Live keeps the conversation in web chat so your team can reply from the helpdesk; Email ends the web chat conversation so your team can follow up by email.
5. For Do not hand off, enter a Closeout message that gives shoppers a clear next step, such as a support email address.
6. Click Save and wait for the confirmation that your settings have been saved.
7. If you selected Send to helpdesk, click Test handoff, then check the test ticket in the selected helpdesk or support mailbox. For Klaviyo Helpdesk, use View it here in the success notification. If testing is unavailable, save any pending changes and complete the setup steps shown on the channel page.

Helpdesk options

The available helpdesk options depend on the channel. For web chat:

• Klaviyo Helpdesk — Conversation lands in Inbox. The shopper continues the conversation through web chat with your team.
• Third party — Customer Agent sends the conversation transcript and a summary to a support email address you choose, so you can hand off to any helpdesk that accepts email.
• Zendesk — A Zendesk ticket is created. With Live selected as the ticket type, your team can reply in web chat. With Email, your team follows up by email.
• Gorgias — With Live selected as the ticket type, a Gorgias web chat ticket is created and your team’s replies appear in Klaviyo web chat. With Email, your team follows up by email.

Handoffs include the conversation history so your team can review what the shopper and Customer Agent said. Gorgias and Zendesk handoffs also pass the shopper’s email address to identify them.

Handoff experience by channel

What the shopper experiences after a handoff depends on the channel the conversation started on.

• Web chat — With Klaviyo Helpdesk, the conversation lands in Inbox and your team can reply in web chat. If you have configured office hours and an outside-hours message, that message tells shoppers what to expect when your team is unavailable. With Zendesk or Gorgias, Live tickets keep the conversation in web chat, while Email tickets move the follow-up to email. Third party also uses email handoff.
• SMS — With Klaviyo Helpdesk or a connected Gorgias or Zendesk SMS integration, the shopper continues over SMS while your team works in the helpdesk. If you select Third party, the handoff uses email for follow-up.
• Email — Customer Agent can hand off to Klaviyo Helpdesk or a third-party support email address. Gorgias and Zendesk aren’t available for email. The conversation continues over email.
• WhatsApp — A ticket is created in your helpdesk and Customer Agent tells the shopper that a human will follow up.

Shopper identification for web chat handoff

For Klaviyo Helpdesk, shoppers must sign in before continuing with a human in web chat. Third-party handoffs can instead ask an anonymous shopper for an email address. Providing that address for handoff does not sign the shopper into their customer account.

Per-channel handoff

Web chat, email, SMS, and WhatsApp are configured separately. You can use different handoff destinations per channel — for example, web chat handoffs go to Klaviyo Helpdesk and SMS handoffs go to Zendesk.

Configure channels

Under Customer Agent > Channels, open the channel you want to manage. From its page, you can:

• See which channels are active
• Click Launch to enable Customer Agent on the channel, or Turn off to disable it
• Complete the channel’s setup requirements (for example, klaviyo.com/settings/sms for SMS, klaviyo.com/settings/whatsapp for WhatsApp)

To launch a channel from scratch, see How to launch your Customer Agent.

Customize the agent name, greeting, and chat widget

Use these settings to change how Customer Agent and web chat appear to shoppers:

• Agent name — Go to Customer Agent > Settings > General, enter a Name (e.g., “Maya” or “Hammerhead Help”), and click Save. If your greeting includes the old name, update the greeting separately.
• Greeting — Go to Customer Agent > Channels > Web chat. Under Introduction, edit How your agent will introduce itself, then click Save. This sets the web chat welcome message.
• Chat widget appearance — On the Web chat channel page, under Brand your chat experience, click Edit next to Customize onsite widget. Update the design and save your changes. If you use Customer Hub, its widget editor also lets you upload a logo or branded illustration as the widget icon.

Permissions

Customer Agent settings are role-gated:

• Owner, Admin, Manager — Can view and edit all settings.
• Other roles — Access depends on the user’s assigned permissions. Users need Customer Agent view access to see its data and reporting, and edit access to change its settings.

If you need to change who can edit, update the user’s role in your Klaviyo account settings.

Troubleshooting

Symptom: Handoff emails aren’t reaching my helpdesk.
Check: For Third party, confirm the Support Email Address and save it. For Gorgias or Zendesk, check that the integration is connected and reconnect it if needed. Then click Test handoff on the channel page and check the destination for the test ticket.

Symptom: I can’t launch Customer Agent on a channel.
Check: Complete the setup requirements shown on that channel’s page, including its handoff settings. For SMS handoffs to Gorgias or Zendesk, confirm SMS conversation sync is enabled in the integration. Save your settings, then click Launch.

Symptom: Web chat handoff isn’t reaching a human agent.
Check: Confirm the channel uses Send to helpdesk and that the shopper has completed the sign-in or email-identification prompt shown in chat. Check helpdesk staffing for the relevant queue.

Symptom: A web chat handoff to Gorgias or Zendesk moves to email instead of staying in web chat.
Check: Open Customer Agent > Channels > Web chat > Handoff, confirm the Helpdesk provider, and choose Live under Ticket type. Click Save, then retest the handoff. Saving this choice also updates the corresponding Customer Hub web chat handoff setting.

FAQ

Can different channels have different handoff destinations?
Yes. Each channel’s handoff is configured separately.

What happens to in-progress conversations when I change handoff settings?
Changes apply to new handoffs going forward. Conversations already escalated stay routed where they were sent originally.

Can I temporarily disable handoff?
Open the channel in Customer Agent > Channels, select Do not hand off, enter a Closeout message, and click Save.

Next steps

• Configure escalation rules to control when Customer Agent hands off
• For helpdesk handoffs, click Test handoff on the channel’s page after saving changes, then check that the test ticket reached its destination
• Monitor handoffs in Customer Agent > Analytics: select By status and review conversations marked Routed to team

Additional resources