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How do I set up and troubleshoot call transfers in Sophiie?

Setting up transfers

Setting up a transfer rule

  1. Go to Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers
  2. Click to create a new transfer rule
  3. Fill in the details:
  • Rule Name — an internal name for your reference only (e.g. "Transfer to General Manager"). This is purely internal — it has no impact on when or how the transfer happens. It's just a label so you can recognise the rule in your dashboard.
  • Transfer Type — cold (immediate, no questions) or warm (Sophie stays on the line)
  • Transfer Reasoning — this is what actually triggers the transfer. Write a clear line explaining when Sophie should use this rule. Examples: "Before you transfer, ask for the caller's name" or "Transfer straight away when the caller wants to speak to [name]" or "Caller asked to speak to a human." The more specific this is, the better Sophie understands when to transfer.
  • Select Destination — Department, Specific Person, or Phone Number
  • Business Hours — toggle whether this rule only applies during business hours
  1. Set the Transfer Message — what Sophie says before initiating the transfer (e.g. "Please hold while I transfer you"). You can type it, use Generate Response, or use Voice Input.
  2. Set the Fallback Message — what Sophie says if the transfer fails (e.g. "I apologise, but no one is available right now"). Same input options.
  3. Save the transfer rule.

General Transfer Settings

In addition to setting transfer and fallback messages on individual rules, you can also set global defaults under General Transfer Settings. The global transfer message and fallback message apply to all transfer rules unless overridden by a specific rule. You'll find this under Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers > General Transfer Settings.

Transfer settings

  • Transfer Timeout — how long Sophie waits for the transfer to be answered before giving up and returning to the caller.
  • Maximum Transfers (for departments) — make sure this matches the number of team members in the department.

Adding team member phone numbers

  1. Go to Train Sophiie > Business Details > Team
  2. Edit each team member and enter their full phone number (not an extension)
  3. An OTP (one-time password) will be sent to verify the number
  4. Note: Landlines and special business numbers can't receive OTP — contact support to add these manually.

Staff Unavailability

If a team member is unavailable during certain times (e.g., on leave or only working certain days), you can set this under Train Sophiie > Staff & Departments > [staff member] > Unavailability. When a staff member is marked as unavailable, Sophiie won't attempt to transfer calls to them during those times.

Best practices

  • Set clear transfer reasoning — this is what triggers the transfer
  • Always test your transfer setup before going live
  • Regularly review and update team member contact details

Important: Transfer rules must be unique. If two or more rules have similar or ambiguous reasoning, Sophiie may select the wrong one at random. Keep each rule's trigger distinct and specific.

Troubleshooting transfers

The most common reason transfers fail is that your team members don't have phone numbers on their profiles, or you're missing a transfer rule. Check these things first.

Steps

  1. Check team member phone numbers. Go to Train Sophiie > Business Details > Team. Open each team member's profile and make sure they have a full phone number entered — not an extension number. Sophiie can only transfer to full phone numbers (e.g. 04XX XXX XXX), not PBX extensions.
  1. Check your transfer rules. Go to Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers. Make sure you have transfer rules set up for the situations where you want calls transferred. Without a transfer rule, Sophiie won't know when to transfer — even if a caller asks to speak to someone.
  1. Switch to warm transfers. If callers are experiencing dead air or getting disconnected during transfers, you may be using cold transfers. With a warm transfer, Sophiie stays on the line and comes back to the caller if the team member doesn't answer. With a cold transfer, Sophiie connects the call directly and hangs up — if the team member doesn't pick up, the call simply disconnects. There is no voicemail fallback on a cold transfer — the call ends.
  1. Check that the transfer reasoning matches what callers actually say. Open the call in your Inbox and look at the transfer reasoning Sophiie used. Compare it with the words the caller actually used. If there's a mismatch, update the transfer reasoning to match the language your callers use.

Transferring to an external number

If you need to transfer calls to a phone number that doesn't belong to a team member (e.g. a fourth number when you have three team members), you don't need to add a new seat or team member.

  1. Go to Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers.
  2. Set up a new transfer rule.
  3. Under Routing Logic, select the External option.
  4. Enter the phone number you want to transfer to.

Sophiie will transfer calls matching that rule to the external number without requiring a team member seat.

Transferring calls outside business hours

By default, Sophiie only transfers calls during your set trading hours. If you need transfers to work after hours, you have two options:

Note: Apart from transfers, every other conversation flow is the same during and after hours. The only things that change outside business hours are the greeting message and whether transfer attempts are made. Sophiie still answers calls, collects details, and follows scenarios/services as normal.

Option 1: Ignore business hours for a specific transfer rule

  1. Go to Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers.
  2. Open the transfer rule you want to apply after hours.
  3. On the last page, under Routing Logic, tick Ignore business hours.
  4. Sophiie will now use that transfer rule 24/7, regardless of your trading hours.

Option 2: Create an after-hours department

  1. Create a new department called After Hours.
  2. Set the hours for that department to cover your after-hours period.
  3. Allocate the team members who should receive after-hours calls.
  4. Set up a transfer rule to route to the After Hours department.

Common Questions

The caller hears dead air or silence after Sophiie tries to transfer — what's happening?

This is usually a cold transfer issue. When Sophiie does a cold transfer, she connects the call and leaves. If the team member doesn't answer, the call disconnects — there is no fallback or voicemail on a cold transfer. Switch to warm transfers — Sophiie will come back and let the caller know if the person is unavailable.

Sophiie says "I can't transfer calls" — why?

This means either:

  • No transfer rules are configured — add them in Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers
  • It's outside your business hours and the transfer rule doesn't have "Ignore business hours" ticked — see the after-hours options above

I use a phone system with extensions (like 3CX) — can Sophiie transfer to extensions?

No. Sophiie can only transfer to full phone numbers, not extension numbers. If you use a PBX system like 3CX, you'll need to assign full direct-dial numbers to each team member. Some 3CX plans include this — check with your provider.

Transfers keep going to the wrong person — how do I fix this?

Review your transfer rules in Train Sophiie > After Calls > Transfers. Make sure each rule points to the correct team member or external number. Also check that your transfer rules don't have overlapping or ambiguous reasoning — if two rules are similar, Sophiie may pick the wrong one. If you recently changed a team member's number, delete the old entry and re-add them with the new number.

Need More Help?

If you've checked the above and transfers still aren't working, report the affected calls from your Inbox (click the three dots on the call card > Report Call) and let us know. Our team will review the call recordings and investigate.