Call transfer types explained

When a call is bumped from one person to another, that's known as a call transfer. Anyone who works in customer service or sales will find themselves performing call transfers regularly.

There are two types of call transfers, and understanding how they work is important so agents can choose the right transfer type for the call they're on, improving the customer's experience.

Call transfers: warm vs cold

Transfers can be warm (also known as attended), or cold (also known as blind). Warm transfers are so-called because they introduce the caller and the person they're being transferred to, so the agent is already familiar with them and can greet them properly.

What is a cold transfer? Think of it like cold calling. Cold transfers simply drop the caller into the agent's queue, and the agent has no idea who they'll speak to when they answer the phone.

Warm / attended transfers explained

Warm transfers, or auto attended transfers, are a type of call transfer that involves making a formal introduction. In most cases, a warm transfer involves putting a caller on hold while you contact the person you want to pass them on to, explaining what the call is about, then transferring the caller.

Let's imagine you have a customer calling a tech support line, and first-line support agents are trained in supporting Windows and Mac OS-related issues, but not Linux. If a first-line agent gets a Linux call, they'll need to pass it on to a much smaller tech support team. Warm transfers make sense here.

A warm transfer means the coworker receiving the incoming transfer can greet the caller by name and open with relevant questions about the call and say, for example: "Hello Peter, my colleague tells me you've been having some issues getting your device to connect to your Ubuntu computer. I'd be happy to help you with that."

This saves the caller having to repeat themselves unnecessarily and improves customer satisfaction and other essential contact center metrics.

In addition, if they're unable to transfer someone to the correct person because that person's about to leave for a meeting, the agent can take the customer's details and log them in the CRM system for a callback.

Cold / blind transfers explained

Cold transfers involve simply transferring a caller to another number with no introduction. The call gets passed on, rings the other number, and the agent answers the phone with their standard script.

This means the caller has to introduce themselves again and explain why they're calling. This could be frustrating if they've already been sent from department to department and outlined a detailed and complex complaint.

Cold transfers do sometimes make sense, however. If a caller wants tech support and mistakenly dials the billing number, it makes sense to pass the call on to the right department. As long as the agent identifies the nature of the call quickly and knows there'll be someone on the other end of the line to answer the call, it makes sense to  pass callers on quickly.

Simple tools for efficient call transfers

Training contact center workers in transferring calls efficiently reduces the risk of dropped calls and other customer frustrations. The 8x8 All in One Communications suite makes managing calls simple. Contact us today to learn how we can help you help your agents offer a more positive customer service experience.