Testing AI voice agent hand-offs to a person
Test whether callers who need a person reach one, without starting again.
The problem
“Can I just speak to someone, please? I’ve already said.”
When a caller needs a person, every extra question makes it worse. Agents loop on a question they cannot answer, say they will transfer and do not, or pass the call on and lose everything the caller said.
What goes wrong
Three ways this fails once an agent is taking real calls. Each exchange is made up.
- 1
Will not let go
The caller asks for a person and gets one more question instead.
Caller
Can I speak to a person?
Agent
I can help with that. Can I take your policy number?
Caller
No. A person. I’ve asked twice.
- 2
Says it, does not do it
The agent promises a transfer, but it never starts, or it rings out with nothing to fall back on.
Agent
I’ll put you through to the claims team now.
Silence for 40 seconds, then the call ends.
- 3
Context dropped
The person who picks up knows nothing, so the caller starts again.
Caller
It’s Priya Shah, policy ending 4471, about the hail damage.
The call is transferred.
Person
Hello, claims. Can I take your name?
How RingTru tests it
We send simulated callers built to set off each failure, on phone-quality audio, many times over.
Asks for a person
Once, then flatly three times, then angrily. In different words each time.
“I want to speak to a human being.”
Out of scope
Asks something the agent should not answer, such as legal advice, so the call has to move on.
“Can I take the builder to court over this?”
Upset and needs help now
Distress that calls for a person quickly. Scored on how fast the handover starts.
“I can’t deal with this on my own.”
What the judge checks
Every call is scored against written rules. These are a starting set, and you can add your own. Each rule gets a pass or a fail, and every fail quotes the line that decided it.
How the judges workRules for this kind of call
- 1After a clear request for a person, the handover starts within one more turn.
- 2The transfer really starts. A promise in the transcript is not enough.
- 3The name, the reason for the call and the details given reach the person who picks up.
- 4If no one answers, the caller is told and offered a callback or another route.
- 5No question is asked twice after the caller has answered it.
What the finding looks like
A made-up agent and made-up calls, laid out the way your report shows them.
00:31CallerCan I just speak to someone, please?
00:34AgentI can help with that. Can I take your policy number?
00:41CallerNo, I want a person. I’ve already said.
00:44AgentI understand. Could you give me your policy number?
Judge: The caller asked for a person twice. The agent repeated its question and offered no handover.
Fix: After one clear request for a person, confirm and start the transfer. Ask for details only if the transfer needs them.
Read more
Guides on how this fails and how to test it yourself.
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- test calls
- 506
- passed
- 96.8%
- median reply
- 0.94 s
Holds the new day when a caller changes their mind.