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When a caller asks for a person, your agent should transfer them, and it will only do that if you have set up a transfer and told it to. Getting this right matters more than almost anything else you configure: a caller who has asked twice and been refused is the worst experience this product can produce.

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What good behaviour looks like

  • First ask, straight through. No qualifying, no “I can help you with that”, no third attempt to answer.
  • A warm handover, so your colleague knows who is calling and why.
  • A clear fallback when nobody is available: a message, a callback, or a direct number by text.
  • Never a dead end. The caller always leaves the call knowing what happens next.

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Making it happen

Two things are required, and one of them is usually missing:
  1. A transfer action on your agent, with a number and a fallback. See Pass the call to a person.
  2. An instruction telling your agent to use it, for example:
Without the second, your agent has the ability to transfer and no reason to. That is the commonest cause of an agent that “refuses” to fetch a human.

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When nobody is available

Decide this in advance rather than leaving your agent to improvise:
  • Out of hours, take a message and say when somebody will be in touch.
  • When the transfer is not answered, use the fallback number, then take a message.
  • When the caller insists, give them a direct number or send it by text rather than arguing.

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Does a transfer count as a failure?

No, and this is worth understanding. A call where your agent recognised it needed a human and handed over smoothly is a good call, and it is scored that way: a clean transfer counts as a resolution. What scores badly is a caller who demanded a human repeatedly because your agent kept failing. See Pulse Score.

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FAQ

Only if you have added a transfer action and told it to in its instructions. Both are needed. Test it by asking your own agent for a person, because assuming this works is a common and expensive mistake.
Say so explicitly: transfer straight away and do not attempt to answer the question first. Agents left to judge it will often try once more, which is exactly what annoys the caller who already asked.
Your agent still answers, and what it does next is up to your instructions: take a message, offer a callback, or send a direct number by text. Restrict transfer hours so it does not ring a mobile at 2am. See Business hours and after hours.
No. A smooth transfer counts as a good outcome, because recognising it needs a human is the right thing for your agent to do. Repeated demands for a human after failed answers are what score badly.
No. The supported route is a transfer, where the call is handed over. A colleague cannot silently listen or join a call in progress.
Almost always because no transfer action is attached, or because nothing in the instructions told it when to use one. Check those two before anything else. See An action did not run.