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Overview

A warm transfer connects a lead to a human agent through a live conference call, rather than a simple cold transfer. When enabled with the AI Transfer Bot, an AI voice agent calls the human agent first to brief them on the lead’s context — including their name, conversation summary, and any relevant details — before connecting the call. This ensures agents are prepared and leads experience a seamless handoff.
The transfer bot is fully customizable — you can provide custom instructions to control the briefing flow (e.g., verify agent identity, relay specific lead details) and assign tools so the bot can look up information or take actions during the handoff conversation.

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How It Works

  1. Apten determines a transfer is needed and places the lead on hold with music (and an optional custom message)
  2. The AI transfer bot calls the human agent and briefs them on the lead
  3. The agent confirms they’re ready to take the call
  4. The bot connects the agent to the lead in a live conference
If the primary agent doesn’t answer within the configured timeout, Apten can automatically try a fallback number.

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Setup

Configure the warm transfer bot in Profile Voice and Transfer Settings

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Step 1: Enable Warm Transfer

  1. Go to Build & Test
  2. Select the customer profile you want to configure
  3. In the profile settings, find the Transfer section
  4. Toggle Warm Transfer on

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Step 2: Set a Custom Hold Message (Optional)

Once warm transfer is enabled, you can set a Custom warm transfer hold message. This message is read to the lead before they are placed on hold. Example: “Please hold while I connect you with one of our team members.”

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Step 3: AI Transfer Bot

The AI Transfer Bot is enabled by default. It uses an AI voice agent to brief the human agent on the lead’s context before connecting the call. If you prefer a simple keypress prompt instead, you can toggle Enable AI Transfer Bot off.

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Step 4: Configure Bot Instructions (Optional)

Add custom instructions to control what the bot says or does when briefing the agent. The bot will complete these steps before asking the agent if they’re ready for the transfer. Example: “Ask the agent for their full name before connecting them to the lead.”

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Step 5: Assign Bot Tools (Optional)

Select any tools you want available to the transfer bot during the briefing conversation. This allows the bot to look up information or take actions while speaking with the agent.
Scheduling and availability tools are not available for the transfer bot.

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Step 6: Set the Agent Response Timer

Configure how long to keep the lead on hold while waiting for a human agent to answer. The default is 60 seconds, with a maximum of 1800 seconds (30 minutes). If the timer expires and no agent has connected, the call ends — unless a fallback number is configured.

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Step 7: Set a Fallback Transfer Number (Optional)

Add a backup phone number that Apten will try if the primary agent doesn’t answer within the timeout. When configured, a separate Fallback Agent Response Timer appears to control the timeout for the fallback attempt.

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Monitoring

When a warm transfer fails because no agent answered, Apten fires an agent.missed_transfer webhook event. See Agent Missed Transfer to set up monitoring for failed transfers.