★★★★★
“Emergency keywords route to our on‑call engineer in seconds. The whisper gives context so we answer perfectly.”
Feature Deep‑Dive • AI Receptionist UK
Live Transfer & Intelligent Routing
Route calls by intent, keywords, VIP lists, hours and geography. Escalate urgent cases to the right person with whisper prompts, on‑call schedules, ring groups and failover. Keep context, comply with GDPR and cut time‑to‑resolution.
Keyword & Intent Triggers
VIP & Priority Rules
On‑Call Rotations
Whisper & Compliance
4.9/5 from 1,800+ UK reviews • Typical users cut missed calls by 60–90% • Cancel anytime • GDPR‑compliant UK platform
How intelligent routing works
From the caller’s words to the right human — with context preserved.
1) Detect intent & priority
AI greets the caller, captures name and reason, then detects intent and priority using keywords, sentiment and your custom rules.
- Keywords: “emergency”, “complaint”, “cancellation”, “new booking”
- VIP matching by number or list
- Working hours and SLAs
2) Select destination
Rules map intents to ring groups, departments or people (sales, support, on‑call). Supports geo‑routing by postcode and multi‑site distribution.
- Ring groups, hunt lists, or single callee
- On‑call rotations with time windows
- Geo routing by postcode/region
3) Transfer with context
Before connecting, the callee hears a whisper message — “Alex, new boiler emergency from LS10” — and can accept or reject.
- Whisper: caller name, intent, source, CRM link
- Recorded consent and disclosures (optional)
- Fallback to next step if unanswered
Routing rules for real‑world scenarios
Your playbook for emergencies, VIPs, after‑hours and multi‑site teams.
Urgent & safeguarding
Keywords like “emergency”, “gas leak”, “urgent prescription”, “safeguarding” immediately trigger live transfer to the on‑call engineer or clinician.
- Time‑of‑day overrides
- Escalation timers with retries
- Warm handover notes in whisper
VIP & priority customers
Match CLI to VIP lists for priority routing and lower whisper latency. Offer a dedicated ring group or account manager path.
- VIP list management
- Custom prompts and greetings
- Audit logs for escalations
On‑call & shift patterns
Create weekly rotations (day/night/weekend), require acknowledgement, and escalate to the next user or group automatically.
- Rotations & blackouts (holidays)
- Acknowledgement to stop escalation
- Slack/Email/SMS alerts
Geo & multi‑site routing
Route by caller postcode or chosen location. Balance loads across branches, then failover to the nearest open branch.
- Postcode/region maps
- Opening hours per site
- Overflow to central team
Compliance, whisper & recordings
Add recorded notices (e.g., call recording), consent capture and whisper hints so staff answer with context and compliance.
- GDPR disclosures
- Masked data in whispers
- Retention & deletion policies
Failover & voicemail‑to‑text
If nobody answers, try the next destination, then take voicemail. Transcribe and send via email or SMS with the AI summary.
- Timed retries
- Message to ticket or inbox
- Caller update via SMS template
Power ups: Appointment Booking • Lead Capture & CRM
Industry workflows — tuned for UK teams
Prebuilt rules and prompts for common sectors.
Healthcare & Clinics
Escalate safeguarding, pain or urgent prescriptions; route routine bookings to the diary; provide disclosures where required.
- On‑call clinician routing
- GDPR & consent notices
- Clinic‑specific whisper hints
Trades & Emergency Services
Route by job type and postcode; live transfer emergencies; schedule routine surveys into calendar with buffers.
- Postcode geo‑routing
- Engineer rotations
- Travel buffers in booking
Law & Professional Services
Identify complaint/legal keywords, route to senior staff, and capture detailed intake for new enquiries before transfer.
- Complaint escalation
- VIP client lists
- Intake + summary to CRM
Analytics and SLA controls
Measure what matters and improve weekly.
Operational KPIs
Track answer rate, transfer acceptance, first‑call resolution and time‑to‑answer per destination.
- Missed vs answered
- Transfer accept/reject
- FCR and SLA breaches
Quality & coaching
Use transcripts, summaries and tags to coach teams. Identify intents that need new rules or different destinations.
- Intent heatmaps
- Whisper efficacy
- Playbook updates
Security & GDPR
UK/EU hosting, encryption, role‑based access and retention. PII masking in whispers and redaction in transcripts as needed.
- DPA and audit logs
- Retention controls
- User‑level permissions
Routing capability matrix
Use this checklist in your vendor scorecard.
| Capability | Minimum Standard | Preferred (Best‑in‑Class) |
|---|---|---|
| Intent/keyword triggers | Basic keyword match | Intent + sentiment + keyword lists per route |
| VIP & priority | Single VIP list | Multi‑list with tags, per‑list destinations |
| On‑call schedules | Simple rotation | Day/night/weekend, blackout dates, acknowledgement |
| Geo routing | Region based | Postcode mapping with site hours and overflow |
| Whisper messages | Basic caller ID | Caller name, intent, source, CRM link, accept/reject |
| Failover | Fallback voicemail | Timed retries, next group, voicemail‑to‑text + ticket |
| Compliance | Recording notice | Scripted disclosures, consent capture, redaction |
| Analytics | Basic counts | FCR, accept/reject, SLA alerts, intent heatmaps |
See also: Appointment Booking • Lead Capture & CRM
What UK teams say about routing & transfer
Real wins after adding intelligent routing.
Rated 4.9/5 from 1,800+ UK reviews
Scroll sideways to see more reviews
★★★★★
“VIP clients jump the queue to account managers; everyone else is handled smoothly by AI. Fewer complaints instantly.”
★★★★☆
“We run three branches. Postcode routing stopped cross‑wiring and reduced internal transfers by half.”
★★★★★
“No answer? It tries the next group, then voicemail‑to‑text with a ticket. Nothing gets lost now.”
Live Transfer & Routing — FAQs
Answers for UK teams configuring escalation and failover.
Can staff reject a transfer?
Yes. Whisper prompts with “press 1 to accept / 2 to reject”. On reject or timeout, the rule advances to the next destination.
Do we need special phones?
No. Route to mobiles, VoIP extensions or landlines. Ring groups support mixed device types and presence.
Can AI stay on the line during handover?
Yes. Configure warm handover: AI reads a short summary to the callee, then drops, or stays for note‑taking if required and disclosed.
What integrations are available?
Send transfer outcomes, summaries and recordings (if enabled) to CRM, helpdesk or Slack via webhooks. See Lead Capture & CRM.
How quickly can we configure rules?
Most teams go live the same day. Start with top intents (emergency, bookings, complaints), then expand weekly from transcripts.
Can we restrict who sees caller data?
Yes. Use role‑based access and PII‑masking in whispers. Limit transcript visibility to specific roles.
Route urgent calls to the right human — first time
Start a free trial, add VIP lists and on‑call schedules, and enable whisper prompts today. Keep your UK number, connect calendars and go live in minutes.