Agents
Handover to your team
When the agent passes a conversation to a person, how it does so on each channel, what the handover brief contains, and where it arrives.
On this page
Some conversations need a person: a complaint, a decision that belongs to your team, a customer in distress, or simply a customer who asks for one. When that happens, the agent passes the conversation to the right person with a written brief of everything established so far. The customer does not repeat themselves, and your colleague starts informed rather than cold. A transfer moves the customer, and a handover moves the customer with everything that is already known.
When the agent hands over
Your team decides when a conversation goes to a person. The rules are set per type of question and per workflow during implementation, and can be changed afterwards.
| Trigger | Example |
|---|---|
| The customer asks for a person | "Can I speak to someone?" A person is always offered |
| A rule you set for a type of question | Every complaint goes to the complaints team. Every legal question goes to a named manager |
| A decision that belongs to your team | Approving a claim, a refund outside policy, compensation for a delayed handover |
| A request outside the agent's limits | A voucher above the policy limit, or a change the fare rules do not allow |
| Distress, frustration or vulnerability | A customer who is upset, bereaved or may be vulnerable |
| Low confidence on a consequential answer | The agent is not confident enough in an answer that matters |
| A customer or account you flag | VIP guests, key accounts, or a customer already in a dispute |
| A buyer ready to decide | A strong buying signal routed to a salesperson, configured during implementation |
Confidence works alongside the rules rather than replacing them. Escalation combines the rules you set for each type of question with a confidence threshold, measured for the model before deployment as part of testing. When the agent's confidence in a consequential answer falls below that threshold, it hands over rather than answering. See Escalation rules.
What the handover brief contains
Every handover carries a brief: a short, structured account of the conversation written for the person picking it up, alongside the full conversation.
| Part of the brief | What it tells your colleague |
|---|---|
| Who | The customer, how their identity was confirmed, their preferred language, and a link to their record |
| What they asked | The request in the customer's own words, and what the agent understood it to be |
| What was established | The facts agreed or confirmed during the conversation |
| What was looked up | Each record or document consulted, with its source |
| What is outstanding | What the customer still needs, and anything the agent could not do |
| Why it was handed over | The rule or trigger that applied |
| How the customer is feeling | Their sentiment through the conversation, in words rather than a score |
| Suggested next step | What the conversation calls for next |
How the handover works on each channel
The agent tells the customer who it is passing them to and what happens next, then hands over in the way that suits the channel. For most teams, the conversation arrives in their contact centre platform (the software that queues and routes conversations to your team).
| Channel | How the conversation moves | Where the brief arrives |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | The call is transferred to the number, extension or queue you name for that situation | Your contact centre platform, your CRM (the system that holds your customer records) or the Telonic console (the web application your team uses) |
| WhatsApp, SMS and web chat | The conversation is routed to the queue you name | Alongside the conversation, in your contact centre platform or the Telonic console |
| The thread is assigned to the person or team you name, for example as a ticket in your service desk | With the thread and the ticket |
Routing into your contact centre platform is configured during implementation for the platform you use, such as Genesys, NICE, Five9 or Amazon Connect. Your platform keeps deciding which of your colleagues receives each conversation.
The technical detail
On voice, transfers use SIP REFER by default. SIP is the standard protocol business phone systems use to connect calls, and a REFER asks your phone system to take the call and connect it to the destination you set. Where the brief must be delivered by voice first, a bridged transfer is used instead: the agent stays on the line, speaks the brief to your colleague, then connects the customer. A bridged transfer uses a second trunk channel (one call's capacity on the SIP connection between your phone system and Telonic) for the length of the call.
Every transferred call carries a conversation reference in a SIP header (a field of information carried with the call). Your contact centre platform or CRM can use it to open the right brief and record for the colleague who answers. See Voice: transfers, callbacks and overflow.
Where the brief arrives
The brief is delivered into the system your team works in: your contact centre platform, your CRM, or the Telonic console. It sits with the conversation, so the colleague who picks it up reads it before speaking to the customer. An alert in Microsoft Teams or Slack, for handovers that need attention quickly, is configured during implementation. See Team messaging.
When nobody is available
When your team is not available, such as outside office hours, the agent tells the customer what will happen next and when. It can offer to arrange a call back at a time the customer chooses, configured during implementation, and leaves the conversation in the right queue with its brief. What was promised to the customer is recorded, so the commitment is visible to whoever picks it up. See Commitments and promise tracking.
For situations you mark as urgent, such as an injury on a claims line, you can name an on-call person or number to receive the handover at any hour.
After your colleague has finished
Once your colleague has handled the part that needs them, the agent can pick the conversation back up to complete the rest, configured during implementation. A supervisor approves a goodwill credit, for example, and the agent then completes the booking change and sends the confirmation.
What your colleague discussed with the customer can be captured into the same record, configured during implementation, so the next conversation starts from the whole history. See Conversations your team handles.
While your colleague is on the call, the agent can also listen alongside and suggest responses, drawn from the customer's record and your approved sources. This live assistance for your team is configured during implementation.
In practice
Sahel Crest Properties uses a Telonic agent on its customer care line.
- Faisal, a buyer, calls about his unit's handover. The agent confirms his identity with a one-time passcode sent on WhatsApp, and looks up the project schedule.
- It tells him the expected handover month, from the schedule, and resends the delay notice he had not read.
- Faisal asks what compensation he is owed. That decision sits with the handover team, so the agent tells him a member of the handover team will take it from here.
- It transfers the call to the handover queue. The brief arrives in the developer's CRM, opened by the conversation reference the call carries.
- Nadia, on the handover team, reads the brief and the sale and purchase agreement clause before she speaks. She does not ask Faisal to explain anything again.
What your team controls
- The triggers that send a conversation to a person, for each type of question and each workflow.
- Who receives each handover, on each channel, and at which hours.
- Whether calls are transferred directly or with the brief spoken first.
- Where the brief is delivered, and whether an alert is sent.
- Whether the agent picks the conversation back up after your colleague has finished.
Related
- Escalation rulesGovernance and control
- Decision boundariesGovernance and control
- Voice: transfers, callbacks and overflowChannels
- Contact centre platformsIntegrations
- Conversations your team handlesCustomer record
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