Forward calls from a voice agent to a person
Let a Voice Agent transfer a live call to a human by dialing another phone number through one of your connected phone numbers.
The Call Forwarding function lets your Voice Agent transfer an ongoing call to a person, such as a sales representative or a support team member. The agent decides when to transfer from the function description, tells the caller, and then dials the recipient into the same call.
Call Forwarding is different from Inbound Call Forwarding on a phone number, which sends all inbound calls to another number before the agent answers. See Manage phone numbers. To pass a caller to another AI agent instead of a person, see Hand off calls to another voice agent.
Before you begin
Connect a phone number and enable outbound calling for it. The transfer uses the outbound SIP trunk of the phone number you choose as the Handover Initiator. See Connect a phone number to a voice agent.
Outbound trunk required:
If the selected number has no outbound SIP trunk, the transfer fails and the agent reports "Could not transfer call: SIP trunk not configured".
Create a Call Forwarding function
- Open your Voice Agent and select Functions in the sidebar.
- Select Create Function.
- Select Call Forwarding.
- Fill in the form.
- Select Create Function.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Function Name | An identifier for the function, such as transfer_to_sales. |
| Description | When the agent should transfer the call. Include the caller requests that should trigger it. |
| Pre-Tool Execution Message (Optional) | What the agent says before it transfers, such as "Please hold while I connect you." |
| Handover Initiator | The connected phone number that places the transfer call. The list shows each number's nickname and phone number. |
| Handover Recipient | The number to dial, with country code. |
| Handover Recipient Name | A name for the recipient, such as "Sales team". |
Example description:
Use this function when the caller asks to speak to a human, a manager, or the sales team, or when you cannot resolve their request.
What happens during a transfer
- The agent calls the function and speaks the pre-tool message, if you set one.
- Kipps.AI dials the Handover Recipient and adds them to the call.
- The caller and the recipient talk.
On the Call Logs page, a forwarded call shows a Forwarded tag with the recipient number in the Forwarded column.
Manage the function
The Functions page lists the function as Call Forwarding. Select the edit icon to change it, or the delete icon to remove it. Function names must be unique for an agent.
Troubleshooting
The agent says it could not transfer the call. Check that the Handover Initiator number has outbound calling enabled, and that the Handover Recipient includes the country code.
The agent never transfers. Make the description more specific about when to transfer, and test it with a web or phone call.
Frequently asked questions
Can I add more than one recipient? Yes. Create one Call Forwarding function for each recipient and write a description that tells the agent when to use each one.
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