Blocking a visitor is an organisation-wide action. There are two ways to block someone: ban them from the inbox (available on any plan) or block them in Security (on plans that include the Security add-on). An inbox ban lets you choose how far the block goes — block them from human agents only (they keep the AI assistant) or block them from the chat completely. A Security block is always a full block.
Block a visitor from the Security visitors page
- Go to Security → Visitors.
- Find the visitor by name, email, or trust score. You can use the search bar or filter by status.
- Click the visitor's name to open their security profile.
- Click Block at the top of the profile.
The visitor's status changes to Blocked immediately and they're blocked from chat across your workspace. Blocking is a manual override — it doesn't add a risk signal or change the visitor's trust score; it simply marks them blocked no matter what their score is.
Ban a visitor from the inbox
You can block a visitor straight from an open conversation, on any plan — this doesn't need the Security add-on. Open the conversation, click the visitor's name in the sidebar, and choose Ban visitor. You'll pick a level, enter a reason, and choose a duration — from 1 hour up to 30 days, or Forever (the default is 24 hours):
- Block from agents — the visitor keeps the AI assistant but can no longer reach a human. The AI won't connect them to an agent, and won't pretend it did. Use this for someone who shouldn't take up agent time but can still self-serve with the bot.
- Block completely — the visitor can't use the chat at all. Use this for spam or abuse.
Timed bans lift on their own. When the duration ends, the block simply stops applying — nobody has to remember to unban. The visitor is never told they're banned and never sees a countdown; once a timed ban ends, chat just works again for them. For heat-of-the-moment abuse, a timed ban is usually the better choice than a permanent one.
If the visitor was banned before, the dialog also lists their previous bans — level, duration, reason, date, and whether each one was lifted early or expired — so repeat offenders stand out at a glance.
While someone is blocked, the conversation shows a block card with the level and, for timed bans, when the ban expires. From there you can escalate an agents-only block to a full block, downgrade a full block back to agents-only, or lift it — changing the level keeps the remaining time. A blocked conversation also locks agents out — you can't reply, assign it, or start a workflow until you lift the block. Banned visitors are listed under Audience → Visitors → Banned together with each ban's expiry (lapsed bans show Expired), where you can change the level or unban them later.
What blocking does
- Block from agents — The visitor keeps the AI assistant but can't reach a human, and agents are locked out of the conversation. Apply it mid-chat and the AI takes over with a short message letting the visitor know a human isn't available but it can still help. If the widget has no AI assistant, this applies as a full block instead.
- Block completely (and all Security blocks) — The visitor cannot start or continue conversations; any attempt to send a message is blocked, and proactive outreach chat messages stop too (banners, surveys, and tours still appear). Inbound calls from phone numbers on their record are also refused before Telnyx answers — no ring-through, no per-minute charge — and a timed ban that expires lets the next call connect normally. (An agents-only block doesn't affect voice — voice has no live-agent handoff anyway.)
- Scope — The block applies across your entire organisation, not just one widget.
Unblock a visitor
How you unblock depends on how they were blocked:
- Blocked in Security — open their security profile and click Clear status (revert to automatic scoring) or Allow (mark them trusted, which overrides future automatic flagging even if their score stays low).
- Banned from the inbox — unban them (or change the level) from Audience → Visitors → Banned, from the conversation's block card in the sidebar, or from their security profile (the red "This visitor is blocked" banner has a Remove manual ban button).
If a visitor was blocked by both sources, you'll need to clear both before they can chat again — their security profile shows which sources are active, and you can now clear both right there (Clear status / Allow for the Security block, Remove manual ban for the inbox ban).
Block from the Visitors list
You can block someone straight from Security → Visitors without digging into menus. Select one or more rows and use the bulk Block action, or open a visitor's profile and click Block. To focus on the people most likely to need action, filter the list to the Low trust band first. See Check low-trust visitors.
Block words, not people
If the problem is specific language rather than a specific person, set up an organisation-wide blocked words list instead — messages containing those words simply can't be sent, and the visitor is asked to rephrase. See Block specific words in chat.