Transferring hands a live call to someone else. There are two ways to do it, and picking the right one makes the caller's experience much smoother.
The two kinds of transfer
- Cold transfer (also called blind transfer) sends the call straight to the other person without talking to them first. Fast, but they answer with no context.
- Warm transfer (also called attended transfer) lets you speak to the other person privately first — to explain who is calling and why — and then connect the caller. The caller waits on hold while you do this.
Rule of thumb: Use a warm transfer for anything where context matters (a support case, an upset caller, a sale). Use a cold transfer for simple hand-offs like "please hold for the front desk."
Transfer from the browser phone
While you are on a call in the portal:
- Click Transfer on the call controls.
- Enter the teammate's extension or a phone number.
- Choose the type of transfer:
- For a cold (blind) transfer, send it straight through. You drop off and the caller is connected.
- For a warm (attended) transfer, the caller is placed on hold while your call to the teammate connects. Explain the call, then complete the transfer to join them together.
Transfer from a desk phone
Desk phones handle transfers with their own Transfer button or soft key. The exact steps vary by phone brand, but the pattern is the same:
- Press Transfer. The caller is put on hold.
- Dial the extension or number.
- For a cold transfer, hang up as soon as it starts ringing. For a warm transfer, wait for the person to answer, talk to them, then press Transfer again to connect the caller.
What to expect
- During a warm transfer the caller hears your hold music, not your private conversation.
- If the person you are transferring to does not answer, you can return to the caller (warm transfer) or the call follows that person's own forwarding and voicemail (cold transfer).
Related features
- To send a call to a shared holding spot that anyone can pick up, see Call Park and Pickup: Hold a Call for Someone Else.
- To hand a call to a whole team at once, use a ring group (Phone System → Ring Groups).