How do I add a chat to text handoff on my website?
Short answer
Turn on web chat, then configure it so a visitor can hand the conversation off to their own phone by text once they leave the page. The conversation history carries over, so nobody repeats themselves, and your team keeps replying from the same inbox regardless of which channel the customer is on.
Before you start
- Web chat already enabled on your site.
- A business number capable of sending and receiving texts.
- A team inbox where chat and text messages both land.
- A decision on when handoff should be offered, immediately or after a few messages.
Step by step
- 1
Turn on web chat with a phone capture prompt
Configure the chat widget to ask for a phone number early in the conversation, framed as a way to continue if they leave the page.
Without a captured number, the conversation dies the moment the tab closes.
- 2
Decide the handoff trigger
Offer the switch to text either immediately or after the visitor sends their first message, depending on how much friction feels right.
Offering it too early can feel pushy, offering it too late can lose the visitor first.
- 3
Carry the conversation history into the text thread
Make sure whatever the visitor already typed in chat appears in the text conversation, not a blank thread.
Nobody wants to repeat their question after switching channels.
- 4
Route both channels into one team inbox
Connect chat and text so replies from either channel land in the same place for whoever is responding.
Split inboxes mean someone eventually misses a message entirely.
- 5
Set expectations in the chat window
Let visitors know that leaving the page will continue the conversation by text, so the switch feels intentional rather than a lost connection.
Clear expectations prevent the confusion of a chat that seems to just disappear.
- 6
Add an after-hours fallback
When no one is available to chat live, default straight to text capture so visitors are not left staring at an empty chat window.
After-hours traffic is often the highest-intent, and losing it is the most expensive mistake.
- 7
Tag contacts who came through the chat to text flow
Mark these leads distinctly so you can see how they perform against leads from other channels.
This tag is what lets you prove the flow is actually generating business.
- 8
Test it from an actual outside phone
Start a chat, hand off to text, close the browser tab, and confirm the conversation continues cleanly on the phone.
Testing from inside your own system misses the gaps a real visitor would hit.
What good looks like
- Website visitors stay in the conversation even after leaving the page.
- No chat leads get lost simply because someone closed a browser tab.
- Your team replies from a single inbox regardless of which channel a visitor used.
- After-hours chat traffic still gets captured instead of disappearing.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in website, and what to do instead.
Never capturing a phone number in chat›
A chat conversation with no phone number on file ends the moment the visitor navigates away.
Do this instead: Prompt for a phone number early in the chat, framed around continuing the conversation.
Starting the text thread with no history›
A blank text conversation after handoff forces the visitor to repeat everything they already said in chat.
Do this instead: Carry the full chat transcript into the text thread automatically.
Splitting chat and text into separate inboxes›
Replies scattered across two systems mean somebody eventually misses a message that needed a fast response.
Do this instead: Route chat and text messages into one unified team inbox.
No after-hours plan›
A chat widget with nobody live to answer leaves after-hours visitors staring at silence.
Do this instead: Default to text capture automatically outside business hours instead of leaving chat unanswered.
Frequently asked
6 questions about add a chat to text handoffRelated guides
Pick the next thing to set up, or back up a step if something here assumed work you have not done yet.
Do this next
The natural follow-on tasks once this one is working.
People usually get here from
Guides that lead into this one, in case you skipped a step.
More in Website
Nearby tasks that share the same setup and vocabulary.
Was this guide helpful?
Tell us what worked and what didn't. It shapes what we rewrite next.
You didn't get into business to be in the tech business.
Managed Tech clients hand this to us. We build it, test it, maintain it, and add to it as the business changes, so nobody on your team has to become the person who knows how the system works.