The warm-transfer playbook: routing hot leads to the right agent live

A warm transfer is the moment your SAMI Bots earn their keep: a lead is qualified, interested, and ready to talk, so SAMI connects them to a live agent on the same call instead of leaving a callback. This playbook walks through the routing, the handoff script, and the safety net that catches a transfer when nobody picks up.

How transfer routing works

When SAMI decides a lead is ready, it doesn't dial blindly — it resolves who to ring at the moment of the transfer, using real-time agent availability. The default pattern, assigned then group, tries the lead's assigned agent first, then falls back to the rest of the routing pool.

• Assigned agent — rings only the agent assigned to the contact.
• Simultaneous group — rings everyone in the matched routing pool at once.
• Assigned then group — rings the assigned agent first, then the group on the second attempt. This is the default.

An agent is only ringed if they're both toggled available for calls and inside their schedule. If the assigned agent is unavailable, SAMI cascades straight to the group, then to your fallback numbers — so a qualified lead never dead-ends.

Set up a live warm transfer

1. Open your bot's transfer settings

   Go to SAMI Bots, open the bot, and find its transfer routing. The pattern defaults to assigned then group with a 35-second ring timeout.

2. Choose your routing pattern

   Pick assigned agent, simultaneous group, or assigned then group based on how your team covers calls. Solo agents and small teams usually want the assigned agent on the line; larger teams lean on the group.

3. Set the ring timeout

   The ring timeout (35 seconds by default) is how long each attempt rings before SAMI moves on. Keep it long enough to grab a phone, short enough that the lead isn't left waiting on hold.

4. Add fallback numbers

   Add one or more fallback numbers — a front desk, an ISA line, or a personal cell — for the case where no assigned agent or group member is reachable. Without a fallback, an all-unavailable transfer becomes a missed transfer.

5. Review the handoff script

   In the bot's Questions section, check the transfer handoff script. By default SAMI gives the agent a 2–3 sentence overview of the conversation, then says "I'll let you guys take it from here" before dropping off — so your agent picks up already briefed.

Catch every missed transfer

Live transfers will sometimes miss — an agent is mid-showing, the group is on other calls. SAMI handles both outcomes automatically so no hot lead slips through.

• Successful transfer — the lead is connected, the bot cancels any remaining cadence, and SAMI notifies the assigned agent and the owner by SMS that the lead was answered.
• Missed transfer — nobody answered. SAMI cancels the cadence, notifies the agent and owner by SMS with the lead's name, phone, email, and source ("Please call them back ASAP"), and creates a follow-up task so someone calls back fast.

A good warm-transfer setup means a qualified lead goes from "interested" to "talking to my agent" in one call — and the rare miss lands as a task on someone's plate within seconds.

Related articles

• The outcome-actions cheat sheet: what should happen after every call
• Routing leads fairly across your team
• Best practices for setting up your first SAMI Bot