Skip to main content
An agent’s job is to start conversations and spot the moment a human should step in. When a prospect replies with genuine interest, or when you want to take the wheel, the agent gets out of the way. This page covers escalations, draft replies, and taking over.

​
Escalations

When a prospect sends a genuine reply — real interest, a question, a request to talk — the agent escalates the company for your attention. It appears with an alert on the agent’s activity feed and on the Lead Sheet.
The agent only escalates on a genuine inbound reply. Out-of-office auto-replies, bounces, and automated acknowledgements don’t count and won’t trigger an escalation.
If you’ve added escalation notification recipients to the agent, they’re emailed when an escalation happens. Notifications are owner-first: if the company has an owner, they’re notified; otherwise the agent’s configured recipients are.

​
Draft replies

When the Draft Reply tool is enabled and a prospect replies, the agent writes a suggested response for your review rather than sending anything itself. Drafts appear on the Lead Sheet under “Drafts to review” and on the company’s activity panel. You can:
  • Approve and send — send the draft as written
  • Edit and send — adjust it first
  • Discard — reject it and reply yourself

​
Reply as the agent, or as yourself

When you send a reviewed draft, you choose who it comes from:
  • Reply as the agent (default) — the email is sent from the agent’s mailbox, keeping the same persona the prospect has been talking to.
  • Reply as me — the email is sent from your connected mailbox, so the prospect now talks to you directly. The agent’s mailbox is CC’d by default so the conversation stays on record and any future replies are still picked up.
Both options let you add CC recipients and, by default, CC the company owner. Replies thread correctly into the existing email conversation and use your mailbox’s normal signature.

​
Taking over a conversation

Sometimes you’ll want to handle a lead yourself. There are three ways an agent hands a conversation over to a human, and once handed over the agent stops drafting or escalating on that conversation:
  1. You reply from your own mailbox. If you email the prospect directly from your connected inbox, Alva notices and automatically marks the conversation as human-handled — no button needed.
  2. You send a draft as yourself. Using Reply as me (above) hands the conversation over.
  3. You click Take over. Use the Take over action on the Lead Sheet row or the company header to step in manually.
While a conversation is human-handled:
  • The agent won’t draft or escalate on further replies in that thread.
  • You still get a calmer “new reply received” notification so you never miss an incoming message.
  • The company shows a Human Handling indicator.

​
Handing back to the agent

Changed your mind? Use Hand back to agent to return the conversation. The agent resumes outreach with a fresh note to pick things up naturally — it won’t re-escalate the exchange you already handled.

​
Paused agents still handle replies

Pausing (or archiving) an agent only stops it sending new outreach and follow-ups. It does not stop it processing genuine replies to outreach it already sent:
  • A reply to a paused agent’s thread is still escalated so a human is alerted.
  • If the Draft Reply tool is on, a draft is still prepared for your review.
  • Nothing is ever sent to the prospect automatically while the agent is paused.
This means you can safely pause an agent without going dark on prospects who reply to earlier emails — you’ll still be notified and can respond.

​
”Not Interested — try again later”

A “no” today isn’t a “no” forever. If a prospect declines, you can put the company on a timed hold instead of writing it off:
  • Choose Mark Not Interested… on the Lead Sheet row or the company header.
  • Pick how long to hold (3, 6, or 12 months, or a custom period) and optionally a reason.
  • The agent stops contacting that company and any pending drafts are discarded.
  • When the hold expires, the company automatically returns to outreach with a fresh start — the agent approaches it with new framing and won’t reference the earlier decline.
The company stays visible with a “Returning ” badge, and you can clear the hold early at any time.
Prefer a timed hold over permanently removing a company. Circumstances change — a hold gives the relationship another chance at the right moment, automatically. For prospects who ask never to be contacted again, that request is honoured separately and permanently.

Reading the activity feed

Follow every action, status, and decision.

Lead Sheet

Where drafts, escalations, and takeovers live.