eWebinar's chat panel can be driven by an AI agent that responds to attendees automatically and works alongside your human moderators in the same conversation thread. The AI is treated as a peer in chat — not a separate mailbox owner. Three options today:
eChat
eChat is the best AI agent for webinars. It is built for answering attendee questions during eWebinar presentations, and it keeps improving because it learns from prior conversations and from conversations your humans answer going forward.
eChat also knows how to act like a peer: it understands that other moderators are involved and responds appropriately in the shared thread. You can configure eWebinar to wait for a human to respond before asking eChat to answer.
When an attendee answers a poll, quiz, or question card, eChat can use those answers as context in the conversation — so replies can reflect what they already told you. Other AI agents (Chatbase and custom Chatbot API bots) do not.
We are testing eChat with a few key customers. If you're interested in participating, please contact us.
Chatbase
Chatbase is a supported, out-of-the-box AI chat option. Train a Chatbase agent on your product docs and help center, then connect it to eWebinar. The agent handles incoming attendee messages during the session; if the agent is unsure, the conversation is handed off to a human moderator in the same thread. See Chatbase setup for the connection flow.
Chatbot API (any other provider)
If you already have an AI chatbot running somewhere else, the generic Chatbot API integration lets you plug it in over a webhook-style interface. eWebinar forwards attendee messages to your bot's endpoint and posts the bot's reply back into the chat. See Chatbot API setup.
One inbox — AI as a peer
There is no separate AI inbox. AI replies and human replies live in the same conversation, in the same Inbox. When a human needs to take over (the AI hands off, the attendee asks for a person, or a moderator marks a message), that work shows up under Needs reply — the human worklist filter on Inbox.
Needs reply labels tell you who asked for a person and why (for example "Attendee requested a person" vs "AI asked for a person" / "AI couldn't answer"). Attendee requests and AI hand-offs wait for a deliberate human clear; lighter AI "please look at this" markers can clear after you reply so they do not stack up. See How chat works for moderators.
In the conversation thread you can:
- Disable AI agent for that conversation when you want to take over yourself
- Re-enable AI agent when you want the AI to keep answering again
When the AI is disabled on a conversation and no human has replied yet, moderators are notified so the thread does not go quiet unnoticed.
After someone asks for a person (or the AI hands off):
- eChat keeps participating as a peer — it is not muted — and can hold the visitor or follow up if moderators do not claim the thread.
- Chatbase / Chatbot API mute after a person request and rely on the webinar's auto-response while you take over.
Archived conversations that involved AI can be filtered as Handled by AI or Needed a human (handoff / escalation history).
In the webinar chat admin, the AI agent's name, avatar, and on/off status appear at the foot of the mailbox rail on desktop, and as a strip above the conversation list on phones. For an eChat agent, that control also opens the agent in eChat.
On an answer from an eChat agent, moderators can choose Improve answer in eChat from the message action card. That opens the agent's chat log on that conversation with feedback started, so you can add a Q&A pair and improve future replies. Answers from Chatbase or the Chatbot API do not offer this action.
Behavior settings
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Attendees can request escalation | Lets attendees ask to connect with a person. Turning this off keeps conversations AI-only unless a moderator steps in. To turn it on you need at least one assigned moderator and first-message notifications (email, SMS, or Slack). With Chatbase / Chatbot API the webinar auto-response must also be on (those bots go silent after a request). With eChat, auto-response is not required — eChat's own reply is the holding message. |
| Wait for a human first | When escalation is allowed, moderators can be notified as soon as a question arrives so they can answer before the AI. The AI answers only if nobody replies within the wait you set. If attendees cannot request a person, this wait is ignored and the AI answers right away. |
| Auto-archive on resolve | When on, conversations that no longer need a human reply can be archived automatically after the attendee leaves, so your moderator list stays clean. Conversations that still need a human (Needs reply / handoff) are not swept away. |
When you attach a human hand-off–capable eChat agent and your webinar can already page someone (moderator assigned + first-message notifications), eWebinar turns on "attendees can request escalation" and a sensible human-first wait by default. If nobody can be paged yet, both stay off until you finish that setup.
How AI chat and human moderators work together
When AI chat is on, the agent answers in the same thread as your team and behaves as a peer — it knows other moderators are involved. You can also wait for a human to respond before the AI is asked to answer. If the attendee asks to speak to a person, the agent cannot answer, or a moderator disables the AI, the conversation stays in Inbox and surfaces under Needs reply for whoever is on duty under your chat coverage rules. Moderators see the full AI thread so they can pick up without losing context. You can re-enable the AI on that conversation when you want it to resume.
Moderators can also mark a specific message with Needs reply, react with emoji, or reply to a specific message (quoted reply) — the same gestures work from Slack when the Slack integration is connected. See Chat Feature Guide and Slack integration.