Use this article to understand what Fin does when it can't resolve a Freshdesk ticket, and how to set up routing so those handoffs land with the right team. It's aimed at Freshdesk admins who configure ticket routing.
What Fin does on handoff
When Fin hands off a ticket, it clears itself as the responder and sets the ticket status to open. It doesn't set a group — the ticket keeps whichever group it already had.
Fin steps back and leaves the conversation unassigned. Deciding who picks it up is your routing's job, not Fin's.
Why a handoff can sit unassigned
If a handoff isn't being picked up, check these three things:
Is anyone available?
A handoff needs at least one available agent in the target group. If nobody is available, the ticket waits where it is — it doesn't queue.
Is a group set at all?
If the ticket arrived without a group and nothing has set one, there's no team for it to land with.
Have you built the routing?
Fin doesn't set a group, so nothing routes a handoff unless you've created a rule for it. See the routing section below.
Tip: Automatic assignment follows agent availability, not business hours. An agent left toggled on outside their shift keeps receiving tickets. To stop agents changing their own availability, uncheck Allow agents to change their availability for automatic ticket assignment in Freshdesk.
Routing handoffs to the right team
Freshdesk has no built-in handoff-group setting, because Fin doesn't set a group. You build the routing yourself using Fin's tags in a Freshdesk automation rule.
Go to Admin → Workflows → Automations → Ticket Updates and create a new rule.
Set the condition to the relevant Fin tag. Add Responder is none to be strict.
Set the action to Set group, pointing at the team who should own the handoff.
Check where the new rule sits in the list — rules run in order, so position matters.
Fin watches for group changes after it hands off, so it won't conflict with your automation rule.
Fin doesn't rejoin a conversation after handoff
Once a conversation belongs to your team, Fin stays out of it — even if the customer sends a new, simple message in the same thread. This is deliberate, so your agents are never competing with an AI agent.
Two things this isn't
A closed ticket reopening. If a customer replies to a conversation Fin resolved, Fin does pick it back up. That's expected behavior.
WhatsApp via Freshchat. WhatsApp is a single continuous thread the customer can't start fresh in, so Fin does re-engage there while the conversation is still assigned to it.
If Fin hands off more often than you'd like, adjust your escalation guidance — the natural-language rules that control when Fin hands off to a human, configured under Train → Guidance in your Fin workspace — to make Fin less inclined to escalate. There’s no setting that makes Fin take a conversation back from a human agent.
FAQs
Why isn't Fin's handoff being picked up by my team?
The most common reasons are: no agents are available in the target group, no group has been set on the ticket, or no Freshdesk automation rule exists to route handoffs. Work through the three checks in the Why a handoff can sit unassigned section above.
Can I make Fin take a conversation back after it's handed off to a human?
No. Once Fin has handed off, it stays out of the conversation for its duration. Fin will re-engage if the customer starts a new conversation, or replies to a ticket Fin previously resolved.
Does Fin set the group when it hands off?
No. Fin clears itself as the responder and sets the ticket to open, but it doesn't set a group. You need a Freshdesk automation rule to assign the group after a handoff.
Where can I find Fin's tags to use in my automation rule?
See Understanding Fin’s tags on Freshdesk for a full list of the tags Fin applies and what each one means.
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