Hand the call to a colleague

When Avery rings you with a caller, you've had two answers: put them through, or take a message. But sometimes you pick up, hear the brief and know straight away that a colleague should take this one. Starting today, you can tell Avery so, and she'll ring them for you.

What changed#

A third answer during the brief.

• Name a colleague. Say "give this to Sam", "try Ortiz" or "pass it to the next person". Avery tells you she'll try them, lets you go and rings that colleague.
• Anyone on your team. You can name anyone listed under Team & transfers, whether or not they're on the routing rule for that call. "The next person" means the next person on that rule's list whose phone hasn't rung yet on this call.
• Pass a note along. Add a few words, like "tell him it's about the lease dispute", and Avery includes them in her brief.
• The colleague knows who sent it. Avery's brief to them says who took the call first and asked her to pass it on, along with who's calling and why.
• Up to two hand-offs per call, so a caller isn't passed around the office.
• If the colleague doesn't pick up, Avery takes a message. She doesn't go back through the rest of your routing list: the person who handed it off chose who should take the call.
• A name Avery can't place. If she doesn't recognize the name, or that person's phone already rang on this call, she says so and asks whether to put the caller through or take a message. If the name is close to someone's, she checks who was meant, and if two people share it, she asks for a first name.
• Ringing everyone at once. On a rule that rings everyone together, the person who answers can hand the call off too. The other phones stop ringing and Avery rings the colleague on their own.
• The caller just stays on hold. They keep hearing hold music while Avery reaches the right person.

On the record. The call in your dashboard says, for example, "Maria answered and asked Avery to try Sam." The alert email shows that ring as "answered, asked us to try a colleague".

Why it matters#

Picture a firm where the intake attorney is first on the list for new injury cases. A woman calls about a truck accident, and the intake attorney answers. Halfway through Avery's brief, he realizes the caller's husband is already a client of his partner, who should take this one.

Before, he had to take the call himself and transfer it by hand, or have Avery take a message for his partner. Now he says "give this to Sam, it's the Moreno family". Avery rings Sam, tells her he sent it over and why, and the caller reaches the right person without ever hearing that the call moved.

How to use it#

There's nothing to turn on. When Avery briefs you, just tell her who should take it. Make sure everyone you might hand a call to is listed under Team & transfers with their number.