Transfer a Call
  • 31 Oct 2023
  • 5 Minutes to read
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Transfer a Call

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    Light
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Article Summary

The ability to transfer and merge calls is mission-critical. This ensures callers connect with the agent most suited to the caller's needs, and shows them that you care. 

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 of each one.

Direct transfer (transfer now)

A direct transfer means the person/department receiving the transferred call does not have any pretext and is going into the call blind.

You can directly transfer to:

When you opt to Transfer Now, your active call is temporarily put on hold and then directly transferred.

To transfer a call from the Dialpad desktop or web app:

  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 the drop-down arrow to select.
  3. Select Transfer Now

Ask first (warm transfer)

The Ask First (Warm Transfer) feature allows you to introduce your caller to your recipient before handing off the call. Once your team member/Operator answers, you'll have options to finalize the transfer, send the caller to voicemail, or even hang up the call.  

Warm Transfers are available for:

  • Team members
  • Numbers outside your Organization
  • Departments & Main Line (requires a number to be assigned)
  • Contact Centers (requires a number to be assigned)

  • Desktop App
  • Android
  • iOS

When you opt for Ask First:

  • Your active call is put on hold
  • The new call is placed to the team member/Operator to confirm the transfer
Note:
In order to warm transfer a call to a Department or a Call Center, they must have a phone number assigned to it.

To warm transfer: 

  1. Select Transfer
  2. Search for a contact
    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. Select Ask First

Transfer to voicemail

When you Transfer to Voicemail, your active call is put on hold and is transferred directly to your party’s voicemail greeting.

Transfer to Voicemail is available for transfers between team members or to Departments (including the Main Line).

How to transfer to voicemail:

  1. Click 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.
  3. Select Transfer to voicemail

Transfer to hold queue

Transfer to Hold Queue (Transfer to Hold) is available for transfers between team members. 

Transferring to a hold queue is ideal for times when you know your team member can take the call in a minute or two (perhaps they just stepped out to grab a quick cup of coffee).

When you opt to Transfer to Hold Queue, the active call is put on hold and transferred to a team member's hold queue. The receiving team member will view the call in their Active Call Sidebar, and the caller remains on hold until the receiving team member selects Switch Call to This Device to accept the call. 

How to transfer to a hold queue:

  1. Click 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.
  3. Click Send to hold the queue

Transfer on the Android app

Easily transfer calls on the Android app.

To transfer a call:

  1. Tap Transfer
  2. Enter the number or contact name
  3. Choose the desired transfer type (warm, direct, to voicemail, or to hold queue)

Transfer on the iOS App

Call transferring works on the iOS app, too!

To transfer a call:

  1. Tap More
  2. Tap 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.

  • If you select MERGE, 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   

Once you answer the call, you’ll need to manually merge the calls by navigating to your active call indicator on the top left of the app

  1. Select Options (that’s the 3 vertical dots)
  2. Select Merge

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, CallCenters, 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 Support Team to enable this feature.  

Are transferred calls recorded?

If you have auto-recording turned on, department or contact center calls transferred to another Dialpad user (in your company) will be recorded from beginning to end — if you use "Ask First" (Warm Transfer). 

You can change this behavior, by heading to your Office settings and selecting the box 'Stop automatic call recordings (for example, on a contact center or department) after warm transfer'.

If you use Transfer Now (Blind Transfer), or transfer the call to a number external to Dialpad, only the first part of the call (prior to transfer) will be recorded.

If someone calls my toll-free number and the call is transferred to an external number, will my calling 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 call credits to the office the call is being transferred to?

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).


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