Call Transfer

Call Transfer allows the agent to hand a live call to a human when it makes sense — for example, when a customer insists on speaking to a manager, when a booking can’t be completed, or when the request is genuinely outside the agent’s scope.

Getting here

In Auto-Respond, go to Voice Agent → Voice Agents → open an agent → Advanced tab → Call Transfer.

Options

Enable Call Transfer

• Toggle.
• When off: the agent never transfers calls. It will take a message or politely ask the customer to call back instead.
• When on: the rest of the transfer options become available.

Transfer phone number

• Required when transfer is enabled.
• E.164 format with a leading + (e.g., +12125551234).
• The number the agent calls to complete the transfer.

Transfer type

• Cold Transfer — the customer is transferred directly to the target number without introduction. The human answering hears the customer instantly. Use this when you have a shared team line that expects handoffs and doesn’t need context.
• Warm Transfer — the agent calls the target number, greets the person who answers, summarizes the situation (using the Private Handoff Prompt below), and only then bridges the customer in. The human hears context first, the customer hears silence or hold music briefly. Recommended for most setups.

Private Handoff Prompt

• Warm transfer only. Required when warm transfer is selected. Max 1000 characters.
• The instructions the agent follows when speaking privately to the receiving person (before the customer is bridged in).
• The customer does not hear this conversation.
• Default: “Greet the team member, then summarize what the customer needed, what you offered, and why you’re transferring. Keep it brief.”

Writing a good handoff prompt:

• Tell the agent what to say, not what to include. “Greet politely, then in one sentence say what the customer wants” beats a checklist.
• Keep it brief — the customer is waiting on the other line.
• If you have multiple team members who answer the transfer line, add a rule for identifying which customer type goes to which person.

Transfer Criteria

• Textarea. Max 3000 characters.
• Rules that tell the agent when to transfer. The agent only initiates a transfer if one of these criteria is met.
• Default lists three criteria:
  1. Customer explicitly demands a manager or a human and insists after you offer to help.
  2. Unable to book after correction attempts.
  3. Request is outside your capabilities and seems urgent.

Customizing criteria:

• Add industry-specific transfer triggers. For example: “Transfer if the customer mentions a gas leak, water damage, or any safety emergency.”
• Be specific about the “and” conditions — you don’t want every “can I speak to a manager?” to transfer the second it’s said. The default requires the customer to insist after a help offer.

Behavior when transfer is disabled

If Enable Call Transfer is off and the customer asks for a human, the agent:

• Politely declines and offers to help directly.
• If the customer insists, offers to take a message with their contact details.
• Logs the call with an appropriate reason so you can follow up manually.

Best practices

• Start with warm transfer. It gives the human answering a chance to prepare, which keeps the customer experience smooth. Switch to cold transfer only after you’re sure the receiving line is always staffed and expecting transfers.
• Be honest in Transfer Criteria. If your business has a genuinely common scenario where the agent should transfer (safety emergencies, high-value quote requests, technical scope outside the agent’s training), name it explicitly. Vague criteria lead to either over-transferring or under-transferring.
• Match the transfer number to your team’s availability. Transfers to a line nobody answers are worse than no transfer at all — the customer feels abandoned mid-call. If your team can’t cover the transfer line during all of your agent’s call hours, consider disabling transfer outside your staffed hours.

Troubleshooting

The agent is transferring too often.

• Review recent call transcripts in Call Logs to see which criteria the agent is triggering on.
• Tighten Transfer Criteria — add “and” conditions so the agent tries to help first.
• Consider toggling Aggressive Sale Mode on in Personality so the agent handles objections instead of giving up.

The agent isn’t transferring when it should.

• Confirm Enable Call Transfer is on.
• Review your Transfer Criteria — the agent follows them strictly. If a scenario you care about isn’t listed, add it.
• Confirm the Transfer phone number is in E.164 format.

Warm transfer silence is too long. The customer can hear silence while the agent briefs your team member. Keep the Private Handoff Prompt short (one sentence of context) and tell your team to answer the transfer line quickly.

The receiving person doesn’t get any context. Check that transfer type is Warm Transfer (not Cold) and that the Private Handoff Prompt is filled in.

Questions? Email support@auto-respond.com.