Conversation routing and queues

Moveo’s AI Agent handles most conversations from start to finish. When the AI Agent decides a human is the best next step, the handover—and everything around it, from queueing to assignment to wait time—is automatic and instant. Customers stay informed with clear, real-time wait time estimates throughout.

A simple way to think about it

Imagine a busy office lobby. A skilled receptionist (your AI Agent) greets each visitor, answers most questions on the spot, and only calls a colleague when needed. When a human is invited, the receptionist directs the visitor to the right department and knows in real time who is available and who has room to help. New visitors are served fairly and quickly, while those waiting see honest time estimates. That is how Moveo routes conversations—automatically and instantly.

How queues keep things organized

Most conversations are resolved by the AI Agent. When it chooses to involve a human, conversations don’t pile up in one place. Moveo organizes them into department queues so the right people see the right requests.

Departments act as separate queues. For example, Sales, Technical Support, and Billing each have their own queue, agents, and rules. See departments.

Moveo assigns the right department using configurable routing rules. You define the logic once, and conversations are directed automatically based on context or an AI Agent handover action. See rules and the handover action.

Business hours are respected. Each department can set its own schedule. Outside of those hours, the queue pauses, customers are informed, and routing resumes automatically when the department reopens. See business hours.

Handovers are smooth. When the AI Agent escalates via the handover action or an agent transfers a conversation, it enters the correct department queue automatically.

The smart router: how chats are assigned

When a conversation is in an active queue, Moveo immediately looks for the best agent at that moment. It checks three things, in order:

1. Right department match. Only agents in the conversation’s department are considered.
2. Real availability. The system confirms an agent is truly ready: they are connected and present, their status is Available (not Away or Busy), and they are active at their desk. If an agent is idle for too long, Moveo can mark them Away to avoid routing to an empty chair.
3. Capacity and workload. Each agent has a maximum number of live conversations they can handle at once (commonly five). Moveo assigns new conversations only to agents who have room, which prevents overload and protects quality.

Fair and flexible assignment strategies

Different organizations prefer different ways to distribute work, and each department can choose what fits best in Settings → Departments: Manual (assigned by a user with the Chat Manager role; see permissions), Round robin (distributes evenly, like dealing cards), or Balanced (assigns to the available agent with the lightest workload to keep workloads even).

What your customers see

Customers always know what is happening. As soon as someone is assigned, the chat shows the agent’s name and profile, a “joined the conversation” note appears, and messages are clearly labeled. While waiting, customers see clear, real-time estimates that update automatically. If an agent signs off or becomes unavailable, the system immediately finds the next best fit or keeps the customer informed. This experience works across all channels, though the visual presentation may differ by channel, and in some cases there is no visual presentation at all. See the integrations overview.

This screenshot is from the Web Widget. Other channels may display differently, but routing

and wait time behavior are the same.

A typical customer journey

1. Customer starts a conversation. The AI Agent answers questions, collects details, and can take actions. When the best next step is a human, it sends the conversation to the right department using your routing rules and the handover action. See rules.
2. Conversation enters the queue. The correct department queue picks it up. If the department is closed, the customer sees a clear message and a time estimate for when the department reopens.
3. The human agent department gets to work. Moveo checks who is truly available and who has capacity.
4. Assignment happens instantly. The best agent is assigned. The customer sees the agent’s name and avatar; the agent sees the full history.
5. If things change, customers stay informed. If the assigned agent goes unavailable, Moveo re-routes or updates the wait time.
6. Conversation completes. Managers can review performance in analytics, including wait times and agent utilization.

Key settings you can control

• Departments and membership: Decide who works where and which conversations reach them. See departments.
• Business hours per department: Set working schedules and holiday closures. See business hours.
• Routing strategy: Configure in Settings → Departments: Round robin, Balanced, or Manual (assigned by a user with the Chat Manager role; see permissions).
• Agent capacity: Define how many simultaneous conversations each agent can handle (for example, 5 for a standard desk, 2 for a specialized department).
• Analytics & staffing: Track average and peak wait times, queue length, agent utilization, and traffic patterns to improve staffing and SLAs. See human agent effectiveness.