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Use this walkthrough to train an operator on test conversations before handling customer traffic. You will practice ownership, AI takeover, reply verification, and a handoff that another teammate can resume. Complete only the channel exercises your workspace supports.
WORK INResponseCX · Chat Desk
BRING

Workspace access · A test visitor · A teammate

FINISH WITH

Verified reply evidence and an actionable handoff

Before you start

  • Install and verify the hosted widget for the website exercise.
  • For email, have a working managed-mail conversation and an external test mailbox you control.
  • Agree on the policy your reply should follow and who may approve exceptions.
  • Open Chat Desk in the intended organization.
Review channel coverage first if your team uses an external helpdesk, SMS, WhatsApp, Voice, or ChatGPT. Their setup pages do not all establish a desk reply path.

Exercise 1: answer a website visitor

1

Create a recognizable test

In the installed widget, send “Operator practice: please explain your shipping policy.” Keep that visitor session open. Find the same message in the desk’s Chat queue and check its agent and conversation identity.
2

Establish who is responding

Read the transcript, then Claim the conversation. If a teammate already owns it, coordinate before using Take over from …. Presence indicates who is viewing; assignment determines ownership. A viewing indicator is not permission to send.
3

Pause AI and test the handoff

Choose Pause AI / take over. From the same widget, ask a follow-up question and inspect the handoff behavior before sending your reply. Claiming the conversation by itself is not proof that AI is paused. See the takeover limits.
4

Send one policy-backed reply

Confirm you are in reply mode, write an answer supported by the policy, and choose Send reply. Inspect the result and verify the text appears in the visitor’s open widget. A saved transcript is not a customer-receipt confirmation.
5

Leave a team-only note

Switch to note mode and record what you checked and what remains. Confirm the note appears in the desk but not in the visitor widget. Notes and replies have separate drafts; inspect the selected audience every time you switch.
Complete when: the same visitor sees your reply, the desk shows the matching conversation, and your internal note remains team-only. Keep the thread ID and observed result.

Exercise 2: verify a managed-email reply

Send a test email from your external mailbox to the configured support address. Find it in Email, match the sender and conversation, and confirm the composer is available. An email response record without a corresponding managed-mail conversation can be review-only. Claim the conversation and send one reply. Inspect the reported outcome: Managed email does not support desk internal notes in the checked implementation. Put the handoff in your team’s approved record rather than sending private operator context as an email. Also remember that Mark reviewed maps to closing the managed-mail conversation; it is not merely a visual acknowledgement.
Complete when: the provider outcome and receiving mailbox support the result you report. Record the conversation ID and delivery state separately from the desk review state.

Recover without duplicating a reply

The composer keeps reply and note text in browser session storage when available. Do not rely on it as a durable record across devices, browser sessions, or teammates. Send-attempt protection uses the conversation, operator, audience, and message content to retain a retry identity; changing the content or starting a new send is not the same protected attempt. When a macro offers Stage reply and actions, review both the text and the listed changes. The app sends the message before applying those conversation updates. These are separate operations: a failure in the later update does not undo the earlier saved or queued message. Inspect the actual delivery result even when the request itself succeeded.

Defer work with a named next action

Use Snooze when work should resume later. Available presets include 1 hour, 4 hours, Tomorrow, and Clear, plus a custom future time. Verify the displayed return time and record a timezone when handing work to someone elsewhere. Snoozing is not a substitute for recording why the conversation is waiting. Name the missing customer detail, policy approval, provider result, or technical fix. On a managed-mail conversation, snoozing also updates the provider’s conversation state.

Hand off the conversation

Copy this into an internal chat note or your team’s approved handoff record. For managed email, use a separate team record because desk internal notes are unavailable.
Coordinate before releasing or taking over ownership. The next operator should read the latest transcript, verify assignment and AI state, and inspect pending work before sending. A saved handoff does not itself transfer assignment, resume AI, or cancel an in-flight action.

Turn a mistake into a better answer

When an AI answer needed correction, retain its Response response ID and the policy-backed correction. Follow Your First Agent Evaluation to save and test that case. A widget thread ID is not a substitute for the response ID required by that workflow.

Desk controls and delivery states

Review queue meanings, approvals, reply behavior, and recovery checks.

Review your first week

Compare reviewed outcomes, corrections, and measured operating effort.
Implementation checked against response-one-prod on 2026-09-20: ThreadPanel.jsx, ChatDeskComposer.jsx, hooks/useChatDesk.js, lib/chat-desk/sendAttempts.ts, and lib/chat-desk/macroActions.ts, alongside the desk send/update handlers.
Last modified on September 20, 2026