Responder uses two related configuration pages:
- Transfer Destinations defines where a call can go and when that destination is available.
- Pre-call Transfer Rules defines conditions that can transfer a call before the normal agent flow.
Add a transfer destination
Open Responder → Transfer Destinations, then create or edit a destination. Depending on your setup, you can configure:
- Internal name and phone number
- Extension, if required
- Customer-facing transfer message
- Transfer reasons and agent guidance
- Schedule, timezone, and holiday behavior
- Warm-transfer behavior
- Which agents can use the destination
- Post-call email recipients
Use a name that makes the destination’s purpose clear to administrators. Write the transfer message for the caller, not for an internal operator.
For a destination outside the US, start the phone number with + and its country code, such as +61 412 345 678. Avoca validates international numbers against that country’s numbering plan, so a value with the right E.164 shape but the wrong digit count is rejected.
Use Post-call email recipients when specific employee contacts should receive the summary after a call transfers to this destination. Leave it empty to keep the team’s standard post-call email routing. This control appears only when eligible employee contacts are available.
Define why and when the agent should use the destination. Keep reasons distinct so the agent does not have to choose between overlapping instructions.
For scheduled destinations, decide what should happen when the destination is closed. The fallback should match your after-hours and callback policies in the Knowledge Base.
Resolve routing conflicts
The Transfer Destinations page flags a conflict when the same transfer reason is linked to multiple destinations that can be available at the same time. A page-level warning shows the number of affected reasons, and each affected destination has a Conflict badge.
Select View Reasons Graph to identify the overlapping reason and destinations. Then make one of these changes:
- Remove the reason from destinations that should not handle it.
- Make the reasons more specific when they represent different caller intents.
- Adjust time windows so only one destination for that reason is available at any moment.
Do not leave the conflict unresolved because the assistant can choose either available destination. Test the shared boundary between consecutive time windows as well as normal open and closed hours.
Open Responder → Pre-call Transfer Rules when a call should route before the normal conversation. Rules can use configured call reasons, equipment or job context, job types, business units, match thresholds, and destination limits.
Use the narrowest reliable condition. A broad pre-call rule can bypass the agent for calls that should have been handled normally.
Test the complete route
- Test a call that should transfer.
- Confirm the caller hears the expected message.
- Confirm the destination receives the call during open hours.
- Test the same reason outside the destination’s schedule.
- If the reason has multiple scheduled destinations, test every schedule transition.
- Test a similar call that should not transfer.
Verify phone numbers, extensions, schedules, and fallbacks before enabling a destination for live traffic. A successful save does not prove that the receiving phone system answered correctly.
