HandoffsFreshchat

Additional Freshchat actions

In addition to the handoff action, the Freshchat block exposes two utility actions: one to decide whether to offer a handoff, and one to set the end user’s expectations before it. Both resolve a Freshchat group by name (case-insensitive) — a different concept from the channel the handoff routes to, so most setups need both.

Check business hours

The Check business hours action returns true if the specified Freshchat group is currently within its assigned business hours, and false otherwise. This is useful for branching a conversation between live agent escalation and a deflection or out-of-hours flow.

To set up the check business hours action:

  1. Add the Freshchat block with action Check business hours to your answer.

  2. Provide a group_name input — the exact name of the Freshchat group, as it appears under Admin Settings → Groups.

  3. The block exposes a single output:

    OutputDescription
    is_in_business_hourstrue if the group is currently within its assigned business hours, false otherwise.

  4. Use the output in an If/Else branch (or equivalent) to route to live chat or an out-of-hours flow.

The check reflects the business hours assigned to the group in Freshchat (Admin Settings → Business Hours), including its configured timezone. Confirm with the customer that every group being queried actually has business hours assigned.

If the group name doesn’t match a group in Freshchat, the action fails with a 400 rather than returning false. Design the answer so a failed check doesn’t strand the end user, and verify the name before going live.

Get group average first response time

The Get group average first response time action returns the average first response time for the specified Freshchat group over the previous 7 days, both as a raw value and as a phrase suitable for showing to an end user. Use it to set expectations before a handoff, for example “our team usually replies in about 5 minutes.”

To set up the get group average first response time action:

  1. Add the Freshchat block with action Get group average first response time to your answer.

  2. Provide a group_name input — the exact name of the Freshchat group, as above.

  3. The block exposes two outputs:

    OutputDescription
    avg_first_response_timeThe 7-day average first response time in seconds. Returns -1 when Freshchat has no data for the group over the period.
    response_time_messageA pre-formatted, end-user-friendly phrase derived from the same value.

  4. Use response_time_message directly in a message to the end user, or branch on avg_first_response_time for custom thresholds or wording.

How response_time_message is derived

Average first response timeresponse_time_message
No data available for the groupNot Available
Up to 60 secondsLess than a minute
Over 60 seconds, up to 5 minutesAbout 5 minutes
Over 5 minutesMore than 5 minutes

The phrasing above is fixed in the connector and is not localized or configurable. For end users who need different wording, different thresholds, or a translated string, branch on avg_first_response_time and write the message in the AI Agent instead.

This is a 7-day historical average, not a live queue estimate — it does not reflect current agent availability or queue depth. Pair it with Check business hours rather than using it alone to decide whether to hand off.

Have any questions? Contact your Ada team, or email us at .