When should an AI phone agent hand the call to a person?

An AI phone agent can answer most routine calls on its own: bookings, opening hours, prices, reminders. But some calls need a person. Getting that handover right is what makes callers trust the agent, and what keeps your team from being pulled into calls that did not need them.

This article covers which calls to hand over, how to set the rules and what a good handover sounds like.

Calls that should go to a person

Every business is different, but most handover rules start from the same few situations:

• Urgent or safety-related calls. A patient with worrying symptoms, a guest locked out at night, anything where a delay could cause harm.
• The caller asks for a person. Respect it. Forcing someone to keep talking to an agent they do not want is the fastest way to lose their trust.
• Complaints. Someone who is unhappy usually wants to be heard by a person who can make a decision.
• Disputes and hardship. In collections, a customer who disputes the debt or describes financial difficulty needs a trained member of staff.
• Decisions outside the rules. Discounts, exceptions, large group bookings or anything that needs a manager's approval.
• The agent is not sure. If a request is unclear after a couple of tries, a person should take over.

Calls the agent can finish on its own

It is just as important to be clear about what does not need a person. Common examples:

• Booking, moving and cancelling appointments or reservations
• Questions about hours, location, parking, prices and preparation
• Reminder calls and confirmations
• Recording a promise to pay and sending a payment link

If your team is still answering these, the handover rules are probably too broad.

Transfer now, or call back later?

There are two ways to hand over a call, and you will likely use both:

1. Live transfer. The agent puts the caller through to a staff member straight away. Best for urgent calls, and for times when someone is reliably available.
2. Message and callback. The agent takes the details, explains who will call back and books a time. Best outside opening hours or when everyone is busy.

Decide which applies when. For example: "Urgent clinical calls transfer to the nurse station during opening hours. Outside hours, the agent tells the caller to contact emergency services if it is an emergency, and books a callback for the morning."

What a good handover sounds like

A handover should feel like being passed to a colleague, not dropped. The agent should tell the caller what is happening and pass on what it already knows, so the caller does not have to repeat themselves.

Caller: "I was charged twice for my stay last week."
Agent: "I'm sorry about that. Let me put you through to our front office manager, who can check the bill. I'll pass on your booking name so you won't need to repeat it."

When nobody is free:

Agent: "Our manager is with a guest at the moment. Can I take your number and have her call you back this afternoon? Would around three o'clock suit you?"

How to write your handover rules

Keep the rules short and specific. For each one, write down:

• The trigger: what the caller says or asks for
• The action: transfer, or message and callback
• Who receives it: a named role or phone number
• The fallback: what happens if that person does not answer
• The time window: whether the rule changes outside opening hours

Review and adjust

Your first set of rules will not be perfect. In the first weeks, read the summaries of handed-over calls and ask:

• Did any calls reach staff that the agent could have finished?
• Did the agent keep any calls it should have handed over?
• Did callbacks happen when promised?

Adjust the rules and check again a week later.

With Lumos, you set these rules when your agent is set up and can change them at any time. The agent transfers calls or takes a message and books a callback, following your rules, and every call has a recording, transcript and summary so you can see exactly how each handover went.