Call transfers
Understand how your AI agent hands interested leads to your team, where transfers are set up, and how to read transfer results.
When the AI transfers a call, where the transfer number and sentence are set, the transfer summary your team hears, how a dropped transfer is counted, and reading Call Transferred, Hit Buffer and Not Picked Up results.
A call transfer (or live transfer) is when your AI agent connects a lead to a person on your team during the call. The agent qualifies the lead, says a short line such as "I'm going to transfer your call", and puts the lead through to your transfer number. Your team member can hear a short summary of the conversation before the lead joins.
Transfers are often the main goal of an AI call campaign, so Bigly tracks them closely, including transfers that connected but dropped too soon.
A call list's Call Blast Sequence row with the Call Transferred, Hit Buffer, Not Hit Buffer and the four Not Picked Up columns highlighted.
Before you start
- Make sure someone is available to answer the transfer number during your working hours. Transfers outside those hours are likely to be missed.
- Write your intros so the agent knows when to transfer, for example "if the lead says yes to Q1 and Q2, transfer the call".
Where transfers are set up
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| The phone number calls are transferred to, and the sentence the agent says before transferring | The Transfer Call tool in Tools configuration. This is set up by your Bigly account team; contact support to change it, or change it through the MCP. |
| When the agent should transfer | The wording of your intro and voice prompt. |
| What your team member hears before the lead joins | Transfer Call Summary Prompt (Outbound) and Transfer Call Summary Prompt (Inbound) on each intro. Leave them empty to connect without a summary. |
| Sending transfer details to your CRM | A Call transferred webhook. |
| How long a transfer must last to count | The transfer buffer, set by your Bigly account team. |
Transfer options on the Configure tab
AI › Configure has three account-wide switches related to transfers. They're usually set when your account is set up, so check with support before changing them.
- Call Forwarding Event: turns on live-transfer handling for your account.
- Forward Calls Instantly (Without Queue): sends transfer events to your systems immediately instead of queueing them, for integrations that need the details straight away.
- SIP to SIP transfer: for companies with their own phone system (PBX or call-center platform). Transfers go straight to your system over the internet instead of through a regular phone number. The connection details are set up by your Bigly account team.
What counts as a transfer
When a transfer connects, Bigly measures how long it lasts:
- Hit Buffer: the transfer lasted at least as long as your transfer buffer. Bigly counts it as a successful transfer.
- Not Hit Buffer: the transfer connected but ended before the buffer. Bigly treats it as a dropped transfer, not a success.
When a transfer doesn't connect to your team at all, Bigly records why, under Not Picked Up:
| Reason | What it means |
|---|---|
| User Hung Up | The lead hung up before your team answered. |
| Agent Not Answered | Nobody on your team picked up. |
| SIP Error | The phone network couldn't connect the transfer. |
| Unclassified | Bigly couldn't tell why. |
When a lead calls back after a dropped transfer
If a lead's transfer dropped and they call you back, Bigly can recognise them. Create an inbound intro with the Tag set to Transferred Dropped, and the agent uses it to pick up where the last call left off, for example by apologising and transferring again.
Read transfer results
- Per campaign: open a call list on the Calls page. Each attempt shows Call Transferred, Hit Buffer, Not Hit Buffer and the Not Picked Up reasons.
- Per call: go to Statistics › Calls. Each call shows Transferred Length, Transferred Call Ringing and Transferred Call Picked Up, and you can listen to the recording.
- For API leads: open API Lead Details from the Calls page.
Statistics › Calls with the Transferred Length, Transferred Call Ringing and Transferred Call Picked Up columns visible for a few transferred calls.
Troubleshooting
The agent never transfers. The transfer tool may be off or its description too narrow, or your intro doesn't tell the agent when to transfer. Run a test call and contact support with the result.
Many transfers show Agent Not Answered. Your team isn't picking up in time. Check who answers the transfer number, and that your working hours match when they're available.
Many transfers show Not Hit Buffer. Leads are hanging up soon after joining. Listen to a few recordings: the summary may be too long, or the lead may not have expected a transfer.