Operator and Fast Line in one chat
When a scenario hands the conversation to Fast Line, a virtual operator joins the chat — an AI assistant that answers instead of a human. This page explains what happens when a live operator enters such a chat, and how to take the conversation away from the AI correctly.
Two different ways to enter a chat
| Operator action | What happens to the AI assistant |
|---|---|
| "Start Dialog" (regular connect) | The AI stays in the chat as a participant |
| "Takeover" (takeover in Fast Line monitoring) | The AI is removed from the chat, the conversation moves fully to the operator |
This is the key difference. If an operator joined through the regular connect, worked in the chat and then disconnected, the AI is left alone in the chat again — and to the client it looks as though the conversation «went back to the bot».
Recommendation: if an operator takes the conversation over, they should use takeover. The regular connect is not intended for Fast Line chats.
Required permissions
The takeover button is only shown to operators whose role has the corresponding permission enabled. It is off by default.
In the role settings, check that the required roles (usually supervisors and administrators) have these enabled:
- Fast Line chat takeover — without it there is no button, and the chat cannot be taken away from the AI;
- Fast Line monitoring access — access to the list of chats handled by the AI;
- Show Fast Line menu — the menu item in the panel.
If these permissions are not granted, operators can only enter AI chats through the regular connect — and the AI stays in the room.
Auto-closing Fast Line chats
A chat handed to Fast Line is in operator panel mode. This means you cannot close it from the scenario — a waiting timer placed in the scenario after the handoff never fires.
While only the AI assistant is in the chat and no operator is connected, the general operator panel timer does not close it either: such chats are closed by a separate option Settings → Timers → "Close Fastline dialogs without an operator" (off by default). The time comes from the "Close a Fastline dialog after, minutes" field, or from "Dialog timeout in minutes" when that field is empty. As soon as an operator joins or the chat goes to the queue, the ordinary dialog timeout applies.
If chats close after a different interval than you expect, check the operator panel timers first.
Note: the timer is instance-wide — it applies to every chat in the project, not only to chats with the AI assistant.
Typical situations
"The chat is stuck with the AI although it should have closed" — check that "Close Fastline dialogs without an operator" is enabled in the timer settings and look at the time in the field next to it. If the scenario has its own auto-close timer after the handoff to Fast Line, it does not work and should be removed.
"The operator joined, but the AI is still in the chat" — the operator used the regular connect instead of takeover. Check that the takeover permission is granted.
"We want the operator to prompt the AI and leave, with the AI continuing" — this mode is not supported. Handing a conversation back from an operator to Fast Line does not exist in the product: after a takeover the chat stays with the operator.
Related materials
- Handing the chat to a live operator — what happens to the scenario after the handoff to an operator
- How to configure timers for chats
- Fast Line Pro interface