Call transfers let your AI agent connect a caller with a member of your team during a live phone conversation. When a transfer is triggered, the agent hands the call off to a designated phone number based on the availability rules you configure.
Two transfer types are available: cold and warm.
With a cold transfer, the agent connects the caller directly to your transfer number without providing any context about the call.
With a warm transfer, the agent briefs the person receiving the call before they are connected, covering things like the caller's name and reason for calling.
Both types are configured in the same place.
Setting up a transfer target
Go to Settings > Phone within the relevant product or department tab, then find the Transfer targets section.
Contact name: Something that lets you identify this target, in case you set up more than one.
Choose how the agent picks a number (see below).
Transfer type: Select Cold transfer or Warm transfer. Selecting Warm transfer reveals additional settings, covered in the next section.
Time zone and working hours: Set the days and hours during which the agent is allowed to transfer. Any day left as Closed means no transfers that day.
Save the transfer target.
💡 Fallback email address is optional. If you don't have other escalation pathways set up, enter an address here. Calls that come in outside your working hours will be sent to it with a summary of the call and the caller's contact information. If you already have escalations configured, leave this blank, otherwise you may get duplicate emails after a failed transfer.
Choosing how the agent picks a number
Enable dynamic routing controls whether the agent decides the destination or always uses the same one.
Dynamic routing off: Enter a Phone number and an optional Extension. Every transfer goes to that number.
Dynamic routing on: Enter Transfer target instructions in plain language, and the agent picks the destination based on what you write. Use this when the right number depends on the situation, for example the time of day or what the caller is asking about.
Any phone number you enter has to be in E.164 format, whether you use dynamic routing or not. That means a plus sign, country code, and number with no spaces or punctuation, for example +12025550100.
An example of a dynamic routing instruction:
Transfer to +12025550142 unless it is after noon, then transfer to +12025550187.
💡 Make sure to point transfers at a line that is consistently staffed. If the destination is busy, the agent has to return to the caller and tell them the transfer did not go through. If you're going to route by topic, all numbers provided should be monitored throughout working hours.
Warm transfer settings
When you select Warm transfer, you get additional settings that control what the agent says during the handoff and what the caller hears while waiting.
The agent speaks the handoff instructions in its own words rather than reading them out, so write them as direction rather than as a script.
The first three settings are optional, and you can use any combination of them. You do not need both public and private handoff instructions.
Public handoff instructions (optional): What the agent says once the caller and your staff member are both on the line. Example: Say who you are connecting, then leave the call.
Private handoff instructions (optional): What the agent says to your staff member before the caller is brought in. Example: Summarize why the caller is calling and what they have already told you.
Phone system navigation instructions (optional): How the agent should get through a phone tree or menu at the destination. Example: Press 2 for admissions, then wait for a person to speak.
Ring duration: How long the destination rings before the agent gives up.
Wait for a person to answer: How long the agent waits for someone to actually pick up and speak. If you are transferring into a call queue, set this to the maximum. This value controls how long the agent holds in the queue.
Hold tone: What the caller hears while the agent is connecting them.
💡 If you leave both handoff instruction fields blank, the agent has nothing to say at the handoff and the call transfers cold. There is no default handoff message. Add at least one set of handoff instructions for a warm transfer to behave like one.
Enabling transfers for a responsibility
Once a transfer target is saved, enable transfers on the relevant responsibility:
Navigate to the relevant responsibility and open Configuration > Edit.
Scroll to the bottom and toggle on Allow for the agent to make live transfers.
Select the transfer target you configured.
Save the configuration.
Your agent can now transfer callers to the designated number during its configured working hours.