Can my team take over a conversation from the AI?

Yes. Anyone on your team can step into a text or chat conversation from the shared inbox by replying or assigning it to themselves, and the AI stops replying in that conversation. Calls that match your urgent rules transfer to the number you choose.

Can a customer always ask for a person?

Yes. The way out to a person is built into every Masheev agent and cannot be switched off: when a customer asks for a human, the AI offers the handoff instead of steering them back. What happens next follows your rules, such as a team member replying in the inbox, a transferred call, or a callback.

Does the AI learn from my team?

Yes, with your approval. When your team resolves an escalation, Masheev drafts a question and answer from their reply. Once you approve it, it becomes part of the knowledge the AI answers from.

Will customers know when a person takes over?

The conversation continues in the same thread, and your team member replies as themselves. You control the AI's greeting and what it says when it hands off, so customers can be told a team member is joining.

Do I pay per person who uses the inbox?

No. Seats are unlimited on both plans. Starter is $18/month with $7 of included usage, and Growth is $126/month with $26 of included usage, plus published usage rates.

Is Masheev an AI-only answering service?

No. Masheev is AI first: the AI handles routine calls and messages, and your own team handles anything that needs a person, with full context. It does not supply outside receptionists, so if you want an external person on every call, a staffed answering service is the better fit.

What happens if no one on my team is available?

The AI follows your rules: it can take a message, tell the customer when they will hear back, and leave the conversation flagged in the inbox. It is set up to say when it does not know rather than guess, and you can review every reply in the inbox.

AI first, not AI only

The AI answers the routine calls and messages. Your team steps into any conversation from the shared inbox, and every case they resolve can teach the AI how to handle it next time.

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Guided setup
Unlimited seats
From $18/mo

Conversations

Tomas Lindqvistnow

I was told I would get money back on the callout.

You

Aisha Patelnow

Can you come out on Saturday?

Draft2

Marcus Boatengnow

Call completed, job booked

AI1

Website visitor18m

Chat ended, Saturday hours confirmed.

Marcus BoatengThu

Job #1032 closed, invoice sent by text.

Aisha PatelWed

Warranty PDF sent for the Rinnai unit.

Unknown callerTue

No voicemail left. Screened by AI.

Website visitorMon

Quote request routed to Dana for follow-up.

You

8 conversations today · 6 handled by AI · 2 needed you

Demo board. Synthetic conversations, real product interface.

What is an AI receptionist with human handoff?

An AI receptionist with human handoff answers calls and messages on its own, and passes a conversation to a person when it should: when the caller asks for one, when the question is outside what it has been told, or when your rules mark the situation as urgent or sensitive. The person picks up with the conversation so far in front of them, so the customer does not have to start again.

Masheev is built this way from the start. The AI handles phone, SMS and web chat using your own business information. When someone on your team takes a conversation, by replying or by assigning it to themselves, the AI steps back and stays out of it. Urgent calls transfer to the number you choose. When your team resolves an escalation, Masheev drafts a question and answer from their reply for you to approve, and once approved the AI can answer that case itself.

Where this helps

The situations this is set up for. Anything outside them goes to your team.

AI-only tools trap customers in a loop when the question is unusual, and there is no clean way for a person to step in.
When a handoff does happen, the customer repeats everything because the person taking over cannot see what was already said.
The same tricky question gets escalated every week, because nothing captures how your team answered it last time.
Owners hesitate to switch the AI on at all, because they cannot see what it is saying or step in when it goes wrong.

What Masheev does

Configured around your hours, services and rules.

One inbox for AI and people
Every call summary, text and chat lands in the shared inbox. Your team sees what the AI said and can step into any conversation at any point.
The AI steps back when you step in
Reply to a conversation or assign it to yourself and it is yours. The AI stops replying in that conversation, so customers never get two answers at once.
Handoff rules you write
Asking for a person is always available to customers, and you add the rest: topics the AI should not handle, urgent situations, and questions it cannot answer from your information.
Urgent calls go to a person
Calls that match your urgent rules transfer to the number you choose. Everything else is answered, booked or written up for your team.
Context comes with the handoff
The person taking over gets the transcript and a written summary, so the customer does not have to explain the problem twice.
Your team's answers become the AI's answers
When an escalation is resolved, Masheev drafts a knowledge entry from your team's reply. You approve it, and the AI uses it the next time the question comes up.

Illustrative example

On a Thursday afternoon a customer texts a dental practice asking whether a crown can be replaced under a specific warranty. The AI has no information about warranties, so it tells the patient a team member will reply and flags the conversation. The office manager takes it, answers from the practice's policy and resolves it. Masheev drafts a short warranty answer from her reply, she approves it, and the next patient who asks gets the answer from the AI straight away.

How to set it up

Setup time depends on your phone provider and configuration. Test before anything goes live.

Add your business knowledge

Enter your hours, services, prices and policies, or import them from your website, so the AI can answer the routine questions.

Write your handoff rules

List what the AI must pass to a person, who receives urgent calls, and what it should say while it hands off.

Invite your team

Seats are unlimited, so everyone who might step in can see the inbox and take conversations from day one.

Review escalations weekly

Approve the knowledge Masheev drafts from resolved escalations. Each approval is one fewer question the AI needs to hand off.

AI first vs AI only

Capability	Masheev	AI-only answering
Routine calls and messages	Answered by AI	Answered by AI
A person can step into any conversation		Often limited to a transfer or a message
AI stops replying once a person takes over		Varies
Handoff carries the transcript and a summary		Varies
Learns from how your team resolved a case	Drafts knowledge for you to approve	Usually manual updates
Who the people are	Your own team, with unlimited seats	Your own team, sometimes per seat

What it does not do

The limits, stated plainly, so you can decide what stays with a person.

Masheev does not supply receptionists or operators. The people who take over are your own team, so someone needs to watch the inbox during the hours you want people available.
Learning is reviewed, not automatic. A drafted knowledge entry only changes what the AI says after you approve it.
On phone calls, a person takes over by receiving a transferred call. Text and chat conversations can be taken over directly in the inbox.
Handoff rules depend on what you write. Review early conversations and tighten the rules where the AI should have handed off sooner.