Transfer a Call

Transferring and merging calls is essential for connecting callers to the right agent and showing you care about their needs.

Dialpad provides 4 different types of call transferring:

• Direct transfer (transfer now)

• Ask first (warm)

• Transfer to voicemail

• Transfer to hold queue (transfer to hold)

Let's dive into the details.

Direct transfer (transfer now)

Ask first (warm transfer)

The "Ask First" (warm transfer) feature allows you to speak with the recipient before transferring the call. Once your team member/operator answers, you can choose to complete the transfer, send the caller to voicemail, or end the call.

Warm transfers can be done between:

• Team members

• Numbers outside your Organization

• Departments & Main Line

• Contact Centers

Note

Warm transferring (Ask First) is only available when transferring to direct numbers (i.e. personal lines). You cannot transfer to an extension, or to a Contact Center that does not have a direct line.

To warm transfer a call:

1. Select Transfer

   

2. Search for a contact/shared line

   1. Manually type in a number, or select one of your most frequent contacts.

   2. If a team member/department has more than 1 number, click on the drop-down arrow to select

   3. To include external contacts, check the Include External Contacts box.

      

       

3. Select Ask First
   

4. The caller will be put on hold while you speak to the person you're transferring the call to

5. When you’re ready to send the caller to your team member, select the Transfer button again

Note

Call recordings are per call leg. The first leg of a warm transfer will not include the full end-to-end recording.
When Agent 1 completes the warm transfer, their recording will end. To hear the rest of the call, you’ll need to access Agent 2’s call recording.

Transfer to voicemail

When you transfer a call to voicemail, the caller is routed directly to the recipient’s voicemail greeting.

This feature is available for transfers between team members, Departments and your Main Line.

To transfer a caller to voicemail:

1. Select Transfer
   

2. Search for a contact/shared line

   • Manually type in a number, or select one of your most frequent contacts.

   • If a team member/department has more than 1 number, click on the drop-down arrow to select.

   • To include external contacts, check the Include External Contacts box.

     

3. Select Transfer [caller name] to voicemail?
   

    

Transfer to an individual hold queue

Transferring to a hold queue is perfect for when a team member can take the call in a minute or two, (for example, if they’ve stepped away from their desk).

When you transfer to a hold queue, the call is placed on hold and moved to the team member’s queue. The recipient will see the call in their active call sidebar, and the caller stays on hold until the recipient selects Switch Call to This Device to accept it.

Note

Individual hold queues are available on select Dialpad plans. Refer to our Pricing Page to see if you have access to this feature. If you have questions about your plan or need help enabling this feature, contact Dialpad Support.

Before you can use this feature, you’ll need to enable your individual call queue.

To transfer to an individual hold queue:

1. Select Transfer

   

2. Search for a contact:

   • Manually type in a number, or select one of your most frequent contacts.

   • If a team member/department has more than 1 number, click on the drop-down arrow to select.

   • To include external contacts, check the Include External Contacts box.

     

      

3. Select Send to hold queue

   

    

Transfer on the Android app

Easily transfer calls on the Android app.

To transfer a call:

1. Press Transfer

2. Enter the number or contact name

3. Choose the desired transfer type (warm, direct, to voicemail, or to hold queue)

   

Transfer calls on the iOS app

Call transferring works on the iOS app, too!

To transfer a call:

1. Press More

2. Press Transfer

3. Enter the number or contact name

4. Choose the desired transfer type (warm, direct, to voicemail, or to hold queue)

Merge a call

Easily turn any call into a group call by merging calls.

You can merge the calls by either accepting a call waiting or placing a call on hold and merge it to another call.

Here’s how to merge calls:

Merge an incoming call

When you receive a new call during an active call, you’ll see the ANSWER and MERGE options.

Select MERGE to have the inbound call will immediately join your current call.

If you select ANSWER, the existing call will be placed on hold until the merge action is selected  

Note

If you hang up during a group call, all callers will be disconnected.

Merge a new outbound call

You can also call another person and merge them into your active call.

1. Place the active call on hold

2. Select the Call icon on your Dialpad app

3. Enter the name or number of the person you want to call

4. Select Options on your active call on-hold (that’s the 3 vertical dots)

5. Select Merge

Frequently asked questions

Can I transfer to a number outside of my company?

This depends on whether you're making or receiving the call.

If you receive a call and then need to transfer your caller, you can transfer to a # outside of your company. You'll just need to make sure that your admin has enabled this office-wide feature.

The number will have to be associated with a Dialpad account, i.e. another Department, Contact Centers, Dialpad team member, room phone, etc.

If you're making the call and then transferring your caller, you can't transfer to a # outside of your company if you are on a Standard Plan. If you are on a Pro or Enterprise plan, reach out to our Customer Care Team to enable this feature.  

Are transferred calls recorded?

Yes, but whether the call is recorded depends on the recording settings of both the originating and receiving lines.

• If a call is transferred within the same shared Line (Contact Center, Coaching Team, Department, or Main Line), recording will follow the settings of the originating shared line.

• If a call is transferred to a different shared line or another user’s direct line, recording will follow the settings of the receiving line.

• If the receiving shared line or direct line doesn’t have call recording enabled, only the originating line’s segment will be recorded.

• If a call is transferred to a number outside of Dialpad, only the first part of the call (prior to the transfer) will be recorded.

If someone calls my toll-free number and the call is transferred to an external number, will my credits continue to be used once the call is transferred?

Yes, your credits will continue to be used. Calls to toll-free numbers will be charged per minute used post-transfer.

If someone calls my toll-free number and the call is transferred within my company, do I need to add credits to the office to which the call is being transferred?

Yes, once the call is transferred to the other office, they will be responsible for the toll-free line charges, but only for the duration of the call that they handled (meaning, they will be charged per minute used post-transfer).

How come when I try to transfer a call, sometimes it disconnects immediately? 

Looping is not supported. If you are transferring a call back to someone who originally transferred your call the call will disconnect.  

For example:

1. Jim calls Sue (This is Jim's call)

2. Sue then transfers Jim to Betty (This is Sue's call)

3. Jim and Betty are on a call (This is the incorrect assumption — while Jim and Betty have bridged audio, Jim is still on a call with Sue from Jim’s reference point.)

4. If Jim attempts a blind transfer call to Sue (this is, in effect, Jim transferring Sue to Sue, creating a feedback loop that results in the call being dropped.

Can I remove one participant in a merged call?

Yes. To remove someone from a multi-person call:

1. Select Manage participants
   

2. Select the red phone icon beside the person you want to remove