---
title: Who answers a conversation
summary: Each conversation has a mode that says what the online admin may do, a pause that silences it after a person steps in, and a responsible person. Take over and Give back to the online admin move the conversation between the team and the online admin, and a person's reply says by itself what happens to the pause.
tools: [talemo_set_conversation_mode, talemo_take_conversation, talemo_return_conversation, talemo_assign_conversation, talemo_set_conversation_cases, talemo_send_message]
related: [channels-and-connections, handoff-to-people, draft-replies, conversation-and-person, ignore-spam-and-stop]
search: [take over chat, bot pause, assign conversation]
---

# Who answers a conversation

## Mode

The mode says what the online admin may do in a conversation. It is chosen in the
menu next to **Mode: …**:

- **On its own** answers and books without a person, and asks before anything that
  cannot be undone.
- **Only drafts** prepares a reply and a person sends it (see
  [Draft replies of the online admin](draft-replies.md)).
- **Off**: the online admin does not write in this conversation.
- **As the channel** follows the mode of the channel (see
  [Channels and connections](channels-and-connections.md)).

The mode in force is the first that applies: a pause; **Off**, because the channel
has no online admin or the person's card is in Spam; the conversation's own mode;
the mode of the channel. The online admin answers only after the owner or an
administrator has given it rights.

## Pause

A pause silences the online admin in one conversation. It starts by itself when
someone replies from Talemo or from the WhatsApp Business app on the business phone,
when someone takes the conversation over, when the online admin hands it over for
some reasons (see [Handoff to people](handoff-to-people.md)), and when a new
person writes to a channel whose mode is **Paused**.

A pause does not end by itself. **Give back to the online admin** ends it, whatever
started it. If the client is waiting for an answer or a handoff is waiting, giving
back closes the handoff without a person's answer, and the online admin answers at
once what is left unanswered, if the channel window is open. With the window closed,
only the pause is lifted.

**Take over** pauses the online admin, makes the person responsible and withdraws the
online admin's replies that wait to be sent. A reply already handed to the channel
cannot be withdrawn.

## A person's reply and the pause

A reply from Talemo pauses the online admin, and you choose at once what happens to
the pause:

- **Reply and give back to the online admin**: the pause ends, and the online admin
  answers the client's next message itself.
- **Reply and keep it yourself**: the online admin stays quiet in this conversation
  until someone gives it back.

A reply that the assistant prepares works the same way: its card has two buttons,
**Send and give back to the online admin** and **Send and keep it yourself**. A role
without the right to give back has only the second: its reply cannot end a pause
that someone else's right guards. A reply of the online admin itself neither sets
nor ends a pause.

## When the client waits for you

The case "The client is waiting for an answer" in [Waiting for you](../work/item-kinds.md)
appears only when nobody but a person will answer the client. While the online admin
is about to answer by itself, there is no case. The tag next to the title says why it
is you:

- **paused**: someone replied or took the conversation over;
- **new person**: they write for the first time, and in this channel the team answers
  new people;
- **off**: the online admin does not write in this conversation;
- **drafts only**: it prepares a reply, and none is ready;
- **no rights**: it has no rights in this channel;
- **balance empty**: it does not answer until the balance is topped up;
- **daily limit**: it has used its limit and does not answer until tomorrow;
- **no reply in 10 min**: it took the message, but has been silent for ten minutes.

If the conversation already has a handoff of the online admin, or its draft waits for
you, there is no separate "client is waiting" case: there is one.

## Responsible person

The responsible person "leads" the conversation. A person becomes responsible by
taking the conversation over, replying in it, or being assigned with **Assign…**
("Who is responsible for the conversation?"). The list holds those whose role sees
the conversations of that channel, and **Nobody** clears the choice. The conversation
shows in the **Mine** view of that person. Assigning does not pause the online admin
and does not change the mode.

## Who gets the cases

**Who gets conversation cases** in the settings of Messages says who sees "The client
is waiting for an answer" (when a person has to answer) and "the window closed" in
[Waiting for you](../work/item-kinds.md):

- **The person responsible** (the default). With no one responsible, everyone who sees
  the conversation gets the case.
- **Everyone who sees the conversation**: once one of them answers, the case goes away
  for everyone.

A role that sees only its own conversations gets cases only for those. Channel cases,
such as reconnecting, go to those who manage channels. The choice is for the whole
business and is made by a role that manages the channels of all branches.

## Rights

Taking over, giving back and assigning are one right. Changing the mode and replying
are separate rights, and **Reply and give back to the online admin** needs the right
to give back as well. A role limited to its own conversations acts in those it is
responsible for. Before a reply goes to a client the assistant asks the person once
and shows the exact text.

## Tools and refusals

- `talemo_set_conversation_mode` sets the own mode of a conversation for the online admin: `auto`, `drafts` or `off`; `null` makes the conversation follow the mode of its channel. A pause is stronger and stays until the conversation is given back.
- `talemo_take_conversation` pauses the online admin in a conversation, makes the person responsible and withdraws the replies of the online admin that are still queued. `talemo_return_conversation` gives the conversation back: the pause ends, whatever set it, and it never ends by itself. The responsible person stays. If a handoff is waiting, giving back closes it without a person's answer. If the client is waiting for an answer and the channel window is open, the online admin takes the turn at once.
- `talemo_assign_conversation` makes a team member responsible, or nobody. It sets no pause. Only someone who may see the conversation can lead it: anyone else is refused with status 422, code `record.reference_missing` and `params.field` `user_id`.
- `talemo_set_conversation_cases` chooses who gets the cases of conversations — a client waiting for an answer, a closed channel window: `assignee` is the person responsible, and everyone who sees the conversation when nobody is; `everyone` is everyone who sees it. A role that keeps only its own conversations gets cases only for them either way. The choice is for the whole business and works at once; `talemo_get_business` shows it as `conversation_cases`. It takes a role acting in all branches.
- A reply by a person through `talemo_send_message` pauses the online admin in that conversation and makes the person responsible; see [Channel window and WhatsApp templates](channel-window-and-templates.md) for what a message needs to go out. The field `then` is required of a person, a program and the assistant, and says what happens to the pause: `return` ends it at once, `keep` leaves it. `return` needs the right to give a conversation back (`conversation.assign`): without it the call is refused with code `role.forbidden` and `params.capability` `conversation.assign`, and `keep` has to be sent. Without `then` the call is refused with status 400, code `request.body_invalid` and `params.field` `then`, a preview (`dry_run`) too. The online admin does not send the field: its reply neither sets nor ends a pause.
- The online admin answers clients in the channels by itself only with the rights a person granted it. `talemo_get_agent_grant` with the key `online_admin` shows what it may do, what it always asks a person about first, its daily spending limit (`daily_usd`, in dollars) and who granted it. Granting is done by a person in Talemo.