# When the assistant cannot answer

> What visitors see when the assistant does not know, when the chat is paused, when a conversation gets very long, and when they are asked to confirm they are human.

What visitors see when the assistant does not know, when the chat is paused, when a conversation gets very long, and when they are asked to confirm they are human.

Most of the time, a visitor asks and gets an answer. This page covers the other moments — what the visitor sees, why it happens and what you can do about it.

## The assistant does not know

When your knowledge does not cover a question, the assistant says it is not sure rather than guessing, and points the visitor to your contact details or a relevant link. If the visitor needs something only you can give — a price you have not added, a booking — it hands them over to you. See [Contact form and hand-off](https://konvuno.com/help/visitors/contact-and-handoff).

Questions like these are collected for you. They show under [Missing answers](https://konvuno.com/help/knowledge/missing-answers#missing) on the Knowledge screen and in [Questions without an FAQ](https://konvuno.com/help/overview/top-lists-and-trends#unanswered) on the Overview screen — each one is an FAQ waiting to be written.

## The chat is paused

![The chat paused: the unavailable notice with the contact button](https://konvuno.com/help/shots/en/visitors/unavailable.webp)

The chat paused: the unavailable notice with the contact button

When Konvuno pauses the answers for your business, a visitor who writes sees Our assistant isn't available right now. Leave your question and we'll get back to you. with the Leave your details button under it. The message box stays visible but greyed out, so nothing can be typed or sent, and the chat header reads Away instead of Online.

This happens when your plan's conversations for the billing period are [used up](https://konvuno.com/help/settings/billing#limit), or when there is a problem with your subscription, such as a [failed payment](https://konvuno.com/help/settings/billing#failed-payment). The contact form keeps working the whole time, so a visitor can still reach you.

The chat comes back by itself once the cause is fixed — there is nothing to publish. See [The widget shows, but says it is unavailable](https://konvuno.com/help/widget/troubleshooting#paused).

Tip

Settings shows [how many conversations](https://konvuno.com/help/settings/billing#usage) your plan has left this period. If you often get close to the limit, a bigger plan keeps the chat answering through the whole month — see [pricing](https://konvuno.com/#pricing).

## A short break

Now and then the chat asks a visitor to wait a moment:

- **The assistant is temporarily unavailable. Please try again in a moment.** — a short pause on Konvuno's side. The visitor clicks Retry to send their message again.
- **You're sending messages quickly. Wait a moment, then try again.** — shown to a visitor who sends a lot of messages in a short time. They click Retry after a short wait.
- **The assistant hit a problem. Please try again.** — the message did not get through, usually because of the visitor's connection. Retry sends it again.

## A very long conversation

A single conversation cannot go on forever. When one gets very long, the widget says This conversation has reached its maximum length. Start a new one to continue. When the visitor clicks Start a new conversation, their last question is sent again in a fresh conversation, and they carry on from there. Nothing is locked, and the earlier messages stay on the screen.

## "Confirm you're human"

To keep automated traffic from using up your plan, the widget sometimes asks a visitor to prove they are a person. They see Quick check and Please confirm you're human to continue. with a small check from Cloudflare underneath. Usually it passes by itself, or with one click, and the visitor's message is then sent as normal.

If the check cannot be completed, the widget says The check couldn't be completed. Please try again. and offers Retry. Visitors who chat normally rarely see the check at all.

How other businesses use it

- **A tax advisor** reads the unanswered questions every Monday and turns the three most common into FAQs — the assistant says "I'm not sure" less every week.
- **A caterer** that runs close to its plan's limit in December upgrades for the season, so the chat keeps answering during the busiest weeks.
- **A dance school** keeps its contact form short — name and email — so a visitor who meets a paused chat can still leave their details in a few seconds.

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Canonical: https://konvuno.com/help/visitors/when-the-assistant-cant-answer
Index: https://konvuno.com/llms.txt