Pengo Intelligence isn't answering visitors
Find out why Pengo Intelligence isn't replying on your website, from AI credits and plan limits to When to answer, autonomy and chats your team owns.
On this page
Pengo Intelligence answers a new conversation only when two things are true. It can reply: it’s switched on, your plan and AI credits allow it, and it’s allowed to reply on this channel. And it should take this chat: your When to answer setting says it’s its turn, and nobody on your team owns the conversation.
Start with the status. Pengo shows the exact reason, so you rarely need to guess.
#Check the status first
Open Intelligence Overview . The headline says what Pengo Intelligence is doing for the selected website, and there’s usually a button to fix it. The header of Intelligence Behavior shows the same status.
| You see | What it means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Pengo Intelligence is off | The switch at the top of Behavior is off. | Click Turn on in Behavior, switch it On and click Save changes. |
| Not included in your plan | Your plan doesn’t include Pengo Intelligence. Free doesn’t. | Click See plans. Starter and up include it. |
| Suggesting replies only | Autonomy is set to Suggest only. It drafts replies for your team but never messages visitors. | Click Change autonomy. See autonomy. |
| Every channel is switched off or Off for this channel | Website chat is turned off under Channels. | Click Turn on website chat. |
| Out of AI credits | This month’s AI credits are used up. | Click Add AI credits in Billing, or wait for your credits to refresh. See AI credits. |
| Cap reached | This website used the Monthly AI cap set for it. | The workspace owner can raise or remove the cap. See the website cap. |
| Connect your AI key | On Plus, Intelligence runs on your own AI key and none is connected. | Click Check AI engine. See Bring your own AI key. |
| Your AI key is failing | Your AI provider rejected the key, for example because it was revoked or the account is out of credit. | Click Check AI engine and fix or replace the key. |
| Intelligence is unavailable | Pengo’s AI can’t be reached right now. | Nothing to change on your side. New conversations go to your team meanwhile. |
| Waiting for business hours | When to answer is After hours, but business hours are off. | Click Set business hours. |
| Standing by | Intelligence is on, but it isn’t its turn to take new chats. | See When to answer. |
Behavior settings are per website. If you have more than one, make sure you’re looking at the website where it isn’t answering.
#Check When to answer
In Intelligence Behavior Channels , When to answer decides which new conversations Pengo Intelligence takes first.
- Always on takes every new conversation.
- After hours takes new conversations only outside your business hours. During business hours the status is Standing by. If business hours are off in Settings Conversations Business hours , it never takes a conversation.
- When no one is online takes new conversations only while nobody on your team is online.
#You’re online while you test
This catches most people out. With When no one is online, Pengo counts someone as online when their status is Online and Pengo is open on one of their devices. That includes you. If you test your own website while you’re Online in Pengo, Pengo Intelligence stands by and your test chat goes to the team.
To test it, set your status to Away or Offline, then start a new chat in a private window. Or use Try it on the Behavior page, where you can choose whether someone on the team is available. See Test and improve answers.
Outside your business hours, if you’ve set them, nobody counts as online, so When no one is online answers then too.
#Check autonomy
Under Autonomy in the Channels tab:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Suggest only | Drafts replies for your agents. Never messages visitors itself. |
| Resolve simple | Answers when it’s sure, hands off the rest. |
| Resolve with review | Answers more, and flags less certain replies for an agent to check. |
If it’s on Suggest only, choose one of the other two and click Save changes.
#Check the website’s monthly AI cap
All your websites share one pool of AI credits. In Account menu Billing , under By website · spend controls, the workspace owner can cap one website’s AI credits a month. When the website reaches it, Billing shows Cap reached next to it, and its new conversations go to your team until the 1st of the next month. Click Change to raise the cap, or Remove cap, to start answering again.
#Check whether your team owns the conversation
Pengo Intelligence never talks over a person:
- A teammate is assigned. Once a conversation is assigned to someone, Pengo Intelligence stays quiet in it, even if nobody has replied yet.
- It already handed over. After a handoff, the conversation stays with your team. If the handoff was only because Pengo wasn’t sure, and nobody on the team replies, Pengo may pick it back up after about 10 minutes, or straight away when nobody is online. It never takes back a chat where the visitor asked for a person or was upset.
- It wasn’t its turn when the chat started. A conversation that started while Intelligence was standing by belongs to your team. It doesn’t switch to Intelligence later when your team goes offline. Only new conversations do.
To give a conversation to Pengo Intelligence on purpose, open its actions menu in the inbox and choose Hand back to Intelligence. If the visitor’s last message is unanswered, it answers it right away. See Hand off to your team.
#It replies, but only to hand over
If Pengo Intelligence joins every chat but always says it’s bringing in the team, it’s handing off on purpose. Common reasons:
- Nothing to answer from. Pengo Intelligence only answers from what you add in Knowledge. Check that your sources show Ready, that they’re switched on, and that Who it’s for isn’t set to Team only. See Add knowledge sources.
- A handoff rule matches. A phrase, topic or escalation rule in Intelligence Behavior Escalation may be broader than you meant.
- The backstop. After a set number of replies in one conversation, a person takes over anyway.
Use Try it on the Behavior page and click Why this reply under an answer to see what Pengo did and why.
#Still stuck?
Email support@pengo.chat with your website’s address, the time of a conversation Pengo didn’t answer, and a screenshot of the Intelligence Overview.
Common questions
Why does Pengo Intelligence answer in Try it but not on my website?
Try it lets you choose whether someone on the team is available. On your website, Pengo uses your real status. With When no one is online, it stands by whenever a teammate is Online, and that includes you while you test.
Does Pengo Intelligence reply to a chat a teammate is assigned to?
No. Once a conversation is assigned to someone, Pengo Intelligence stays quiet in it. To give it back, open the conversation's actions menu in the inbox and choose Hand back to Intelligence.
Intelligence stopped in the middle of a conversation. Why?
It hands over when a person is needed, for example when the visitor asks for one. It also hands over if it can't run any more, such as when your AI credits run out. The visitor is told what happens next.
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