Live Agents & Human Escalation

The Live Agents module (located at /live-agents in the main sidebar) manages the human team members your AI Voicebots can transfer calls to. By defining human agent phone numbers, availability shifts, and fallback behavior, your organization can provide seamless hybrid AI-and-human phone support.

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1. How Hybrid AI-to-Human Transfer Works

In a hybrid call center setup, AI Voicebots handle initial triage while human representatives handle complex or sensitive conversations:

1. AI First Line: The AI Voicebot answers incoming calls immediately, addresses common questions using knowledge base grounding, and qualifies the caller's intent.
2. Escalation Trigger: When the caller asks to speak with a human or the conversation matches an escalation trigger, the Voicebot invokes the Call Forwarding function configured with forwardTo: "live_agents".
3. Availability Evaluation: Kipps.AI inspects active Live Agents, evaluates their weekly working hours against the organization's timezone, and identifies who is currently On Duty.
4. SIP Transfer / Fallback: If an agent is on duty, the call is transferred via SIP trunk to their phone. If no agents are on duty, the Voicebot triggers your configured fallback message (e.g., taking a message or offering to schedule a callback).

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2. Managing Human Agents ("Agents" Tab)

The Agents tab lists all human representatives eligible to receive escalated calls.

Adding a Live Agent

1. In the main sidebar, click Live Agents (/live-agents).
2. Ensure the Agents tab is active.
3. Click the + Add Agent button in the top right.
4. In the modal:
   • Agent Name: Enter the representative's full name (e.g., Sarah Jenkins or Tier 2 Technical Support).
   • Phone Number: Enter the representative's direct phone number or mobile number in international E.164 format (e.g., +15559876543 or +919876543210).
5. Click Save.

Managing Agent Status

• Active / Inactive Toggle: Use the switch next to an agent's name to toggle their status. When toggled Inactive, the agent is temporarily excluded from call routing (ideal for vacations or temporary leave) without deleting their schedule.
• Edit Agent: Modify the agent's name or destination phone number at any time.
• Delete Agent: Remove the agent permanently from the pool.

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3. Configuring Working Hours ("Availability" Tab)

The Availability tab governs when human agents can be rung by the AI Voicebot.

Setting Organization Timezone

At the top of the Availability tab, set your Organization Timezone:

1. Open the timezone dropdown.
2. Select your primary operating timezone (e.g., America/New_York (EST), Asia/Kolkata (IST), Europe/London (GMT)).
3. The timezone is saved immediately, and all agent schedules are calculated relative to this reference clock.

Defining Daily Working Hours (Shifts)

Each agent has an individual schedule card displaying every day of the week (Sunday through Saturday):

1. Locate the agent's schedule card.
2. Click Edit Hours (or the pencil icon).
3. In the Set Hours modal, configure each day:
   • Toggle the day ON (working) or OFF (rest day).
   • Set Start Time (e.g., 09:00 AM).
   • Set End Time (e.g., 05:00 PM).
4. Click Save Schedule.

Real-Time "On Duty Now" Indicator

Kipps.AI automatically evaluates:

• Is the agent toggled Active?
• Does the current organization time fall within their defined shift for today?

Agents meeting both criteria are flagged with a green badge: On Duty Now. The top summary displays the total number of representatives ready to take calls at that exact moment.

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4. Connecting Live Agents to Your Voicebot

To enable your Voicebot to forward calls to your Live Agents team:

1. Open your Voicebot and navigate to Functions (/voice-agent/function-call).
2. Add or edit a Call Forwarding function (call-forwarding).
3. Under Forward To, select Live Agents (instead of a static single phone number).
4. Select which Live Agents should be included in this forwarding rule.
5. Configure Fallback Behavior:
   • Fallback Action: Choose what the Voicebot should do if no live agent answers or if a call occurs outside business hours:
     • inform: The Voicebot politely informs the caller that support staff are unavailable and follows your custom fallback instructions.
     • voicemail: Prompt the caller to leave a voicemail or record their contact info for callback.
   • Fallback Prompt Instructions: Custom text guiding the AI (e.g., "Apologize that our technical team is currently offline. Note their issue and assure them Sarah will call back first thing in the morning.").
6. Click Save Function.

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5. Required Permissions

Access to Live Agents is governed by Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if a customer calls outside of scheduled working hours? The AI Voicebot checks the Availability schedule. Because no agents are marked "On Duty Now", the Voicebot does not attempt a transfer and immediately executes your configured fallback action (such as taking down notes or scheduling a follow-up callback).

Can multiple agents be on duty at the same time? Yes. When multiple agents are on duty, Kipps.AI routes the incoming transfer to available active staff.

Does transferring a call to a Live Agent cost platform credits? The transfer uses your phone number's outbound SIP trunk. Standard telecom carrier call charges apply based on your external carrier rate card (for connected numbers) or platform calling rates (for purchased numbers).

Can a Live Agent receive calls on their personal mobile phone? Yes. Any valid international phone number that can receive standard voice calls can be configured as a Live Agent destination.