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While call transfers in the contact center are expected, complex queries and outdated systems like IVRs can make transferring customers to your call center agent more difficult. As a result, customers are routed to the wrong department or to agents whose skills don’t match the caller’s needs.
Misrouted calls cause long wait times, frustrate customers, impact your service levels, and use agents’ time inefficiently, leading to a higher call transfer rate.
What is call transfer rate?
Call transfer rate determines how many times your customer’s call is transferred between your automated system and the agents and departments that follow during each customer interaction. It’s one of several voice metrics that call centers commonly track.
Types of call transfer
Several types of transfer are possible in the contact center and are determined by the complexity of the issue, the need for context, and the urgency of the customer’s request.
Call transfers can be broken down into three main categories:
Cold transfer
Callers are handed over to an agent, usually by an automated system, without handing over any detailed information from the conversation. For this call type, your customers will have to repeat their query.
Warm transfer
Information is collected from the customer and passed to the next agent to give them context about the customer’s issue and to help resolve the problem more efficiently.
Escalation transfer
Escalation is necessary when specialist customer support is needed to resolve an issue or if a customer with a complex query needs support from a more senior member of your team.
How to calculate call transfer rate
To calculate your call transfer rate, divide the total number of calls transferred in a given period by the total number of calls handled in that same timeframe and then multiply by one hundred.
For example, if there are 2,000 total inbound calls in a month and 150 of those calls are transferred, you will divide the number of transferred calls (150) by the total number of calls (2,000), resulting in 0.075. Convert this to a percentage by multiplying by 100, which gives a call transfer rate of 7.5%.
Why do call transfers occur in call centers?
Some call transfers are necessary to deliver the best possible customer experience. The right time to transfer a call depends on your business’s specific needs.
Every customer query matters, but some may need higher priority based on the type of call. Here are some reasons why call transfers occur:
1. To address urgent issues
In urgent situations, your customers need reassurance and a quick response. If a customer notices fraudulent activity on their online banking, the last thing they want to hear is, “Please hold the line” or “Sorry, you’ve come through to the wrong department.” Instead, they need to speak to an agent who can resolve the issue.
2. To provide expert knowledge and assistance
Customer questions about technical support or legal issues can be complicated and need expert knowledge for accurate answers. Some customers may have trouble explaining their problems or using the right technical terms and need specialized support to get to the root of the issue.
3. To support sensitive issues
Calls about sensitive topics need to be handled with care and empathy. It’s important to transfer your customers directly to a skilled agent who can offer compassionate support and guide callers through the process with minimal effort.
Productive vs “bad” call transfers
The quality of your call transfer process can make or break the customer experience. Poor execution will leave your customers feeling like they have no control over the conversation.
A productive call transfer should make your customers feel informed and assured that their problems are being handled efficiently. At every stage of the call, customers should feel understood and that the response they receive is accurate and personalized.
Long hold times, miscommunication, and a lack of context-sharing during each interaction are all signposts to a bad transfer process that will leave your customers frustrated and your agents feeling strained.
5 steps to improve your call transfer rate
Improving your call transfer process is important for boosting customer satisfaction, enhancing operational efficiency, and giving your customers more control over their interactions.
Here are 5 steps to improve your call transfer rate:
1. Let customers explain their problems in detail
Improving your transfer process means letting customers give a detailed explanation instead of restricting them to options on a self-service menu. This approach empowers your customers to control the conversation. It also enables more accurate routing and quicker issue resolution because you can direct customers to a subject matter expert.
2. Give your agents context about the customer issue
When your customer is transferred to an agent, they shouldn’t have to repeat their problem; it wastes both the customer’s and the agent’s time. By giving your agents context, they can direct customers to the correct department and remove the need for customers to repeat their issues.
3. Optimize transfer rates with detailed customer insights
With structured customer data and detailed insight into your call center metrics, you can identify where you have a higher proportion of calls that need to be transferred. When you know why your customers are calling at a granular level, you can move resources to support the teams that need it the most, enabling customers and agents to resolve problems faster.
4. Implement an AI voice assistant
AI voice assistants can engage in multi-turn conversations with callers and encourage them to stay in the conversation rather than press to speak to an agent. By engaging in customer-led conversation, the voice assistant gives callers the freedom to say whatever they want, however they want to say it, and the confidence that they will get the best possible resolution. In the majority of cases, callers can resolve their issues with a voice assistant. If they can’t, the details of the conversation can be handed to an agent to resolve the issue.
Here’s what a customer-led experience with a voice assistant sounds like.
5. Maximize your digital self-service channels
Many businesses have invested heavily in digital self-service channels to address high call volume and abandonment rates, but customers either have difficulty navigating confusing FAQ pages or prefer to pick up the phone. AI voice assistants enable you to bridge the gap between the phone channel and your existing digital channels. By providing an SMS containing a direct link to online resources that specifically answer customer questions, the voice assistant encourages customers to self-serve while reducing the number of repetitive call types that have to be transferred to your agents.
How an automotive company used caller insights to reduce misroutes and improve the agent experience
This multination automotive company improved its call routing and agent experience by using caller feedback. They discovered a high number of misroutes due to ineffective IVR systems.
To address this, they replaced the IVR with a customer-led voice assistant. The voice assistant turns each conversation into structured data. This data revealed the reasons for customer calls and identified pain points in the customer journey.
With insights from the PolyAI dashboard, the company now understands customer call reasons in detail. This has helped them optimize their Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) system, improving resource allocation. They’ve also used these insights to plan future business strategies and consider expanding the voice assistant’s role in handling routine inquiries, allowing agents to focus on complex issues.
Optimize your call transfer rates with PolyAI’s voice assistants
Improving your call transfer rate is crucial for a better customer experience in your contact center. Outdated IVR systems and inefficient processes can make transfers difficult, causing misrouted calls, long wait times, and frustrated customers.
Partially automate calls for efficient call transfer
A PolyAI voice assistant is designed to transfer calls efficiently without diminishing customer experience. That means carefully considering each call’s urgency, sensitivity, and revenue implications.
Partially automating the call before transferring reduces the need for your customer to repeat their query and makes it easier for your agent to provide an efficient and accurate response. A PolyAI voice assistant can begin a customer service request by collecting key information such as the issue description and account number. This information is then passed on to the agent as a screen pop on their desktop.
Reduce call transfers by asking clarifying questions
Customers don’t always know how to categorize their problems, so instead of restricting your customers to one-word answers on an IVR, our voice assistants ask open questions and enable callers to speak freely, just as they would with another person. This way, your callers can spend less time deciding which keyword will connect them to the right agent and more time resolving their issue.
At PolyAI, we’ve seen a 40% increase in engagement when voice assistants use simple, natural-sounding responses compared to a more robotic-sounding voice.
However you transfer your customer calls, your processes should make sure customers feel heard, that you understand and that you are getting them to the right place at the right time.
Discover how PolyAI can help you deliver effortless customer experience at scale.
Call transfer rate FAQs
Studies have found that call transfer rate benchmarks vary greatly (from 5% to 15% on average) depending on your industry.
There are a variety of factors that contribute to a high call transfer rate, including:
- Complex queries: When customers have complicated issues, the initial agent may need to transfer the call to a more experienced or specialized colleague.
- Outdated IVR systems: Poorly designed IVR systems can lead to misrouted calls, causing customers to select the wrong options or struggle to find the right department, resulting in multiple transfers.
- Skill mismatch: Calls not routed to the right agents with the appropriate skills often need to be transferred. This happens when the call routing system doesn’t accurately assess the customer’s needs or lacks sufficient information.
- Miscommunication and lack of context: When calls are transferred without proper context, the new agent starts from scratch, frustrating customers who have to repeat their problems.
- Urgent issues: Urgent problems, like fraud, need quick responses and may get transferred to specialists if not initially routed correctly.
- Technical support needs: Technical problems often need expert help, so general support agents transfer these calls to technical experts.
- Sensitive issues: Calls about sensitive matters require trained agents. If the initial agent isn’t equipped to handle them, a transfer is necessary.
A high call transfer rate impacts customer satisfaction in the following ways:
- Increased wait times: Frequent call transfers lead to longer wait times as customers are put on hold for the next available agent. This is especially frustrating for those with urgent or sensitive issues.
- Repetition of issues: High transfer rates force customers to repeatedly explain their problems to multiple agents, wasting time and causing frustration.
- Inefficient use of agents’ time: Agents spend more time managing transfers instead of resolving issues, leading to higher costs and less productivity, which negatively affects service quality.
- Increased frustration and decreased trust: Misrouted calls and multiple transfers heighten customer frustration and reduce trust in the company, potentially driving customers away.
- Negative Impact on first call resolution (FCR): High transfer rates often mean issues aren’t resolved on the first call, lowering FCR and directly impacting customer satisfaction.
