Transfer ladder: who rings, in what order, when a caller wants a person

Transfer ladder

The Transfer ladder is one ordered list of people to try, and it is used in two moments: when a caller asks for a person during an AI call, and when someone calls your line and the assistant rings you first. The assistant goes down the list one at a time, in the order you set. Your cell is a rung like any other, so you can put yourself first, last, or anywhere in between.

How a transfer runs during an AI call

1. The assistant checks with FirstFiveMin first. A transfer is allowed only if the caller has not opted out, is not on your do-not-contact list, it is inside your working hours, and the rung has a number. The same check runs for every rung; a backup never skips it.
2. Before a rung rings, that number gets a text: who is calling and that a live person is being asked for, with the rung and pass ("rung 2 of 3, pass 1").
3. If nobody picks up, the assistant asks FirstFiveMin for the next rung and tries it. With two passes on, it goes down the whole list a second time.
4. When nobody on the ladder answers, the assistant tells the caller plainly that nobody is available right now and offers what it always offered: a callback request that alerts you, or a booked appointment. It never invents a number and never promises a time it cannot keep.

How the ladder runs on your line

When someone calls your line and the assistant is set to try you first, it rings the ladder the same way: rung 1 for its own number of seconds, then rung 2, and so on; two passes if you chose that. Each rung gets the pre-ring text. If nobody answers, the assistant takes the call (or texts the caller back, whichever you chose under Settings) exactly as before.

Set it up

1. Open Settings, scroll to Transfer ladder.
2. Use ▲ ▼ to change the order and ✕ to remove a number. + Add a number adds a rung with a label (for example "Maria" or "Office line") and a phone number; the button greys out at your plan's limit and says so.
3. Set the seconds each rung rings on your line (10–60). A transfer during an AI call rings each rung for the platform's standard time.
4. Choose Passes: once down the line, or twice before the assistant takes the call.
5. Press Save transfer ladder. A number that cannot be read as a US or Canadian phone number is dropped rather than guessed; a duplicate is kept once.

Which number answered, and the stats

On Calls, a transferred call shows Transferred to: Maria (rung 2 of 3, pass 1), and the same line is in the call's proof bundle. At the top of Calls, once the ladder has rung, a table shows each rung's rings, answers, answer rate and median seconds to pick-up over the last 30 days, with a CSV download. The weekly call-quality text includes one line on the ladder's week.

Good to know

• The number of rungs is part of your plan; the company account has the platform maximum.
• The order is the order you save. If you never touch the card, your cell is rung first and your two backups after it, exactly as before.
• An emergency call (see *Emergencies on a call*) climbs the same ladder, marked URGENT in the text.

When the assistant stays on the line

On accounts where FirstFiveMin has enabled conference calling for outbound calls, a transfer no longer hands the call away: the person you added joins the same call, and the assistant stays on it, muted, listening. While the two of you talk it says nothing. If the person who answered is driving or busy, either of you can hand the booking back with a short phrase — say "go ahead and book it" (or "adelante, agéndalo" in Spanish) and the assistant comes back, confirms it is with you, and puts the appointment on your calendar with the details it already collected. Say "I've got it" ("yo sigo") and it goes quiet again. The phrases are decided on our side, not by the assistant guessing, so an ordinary sentence never triggers them. Before each person on the ladder rings, they still get the heads-up text. If nobody on the ladder answers, the assistant simply continues the call and offers the callback as usual. Until conference calling is enabled on your account, transfers work exactly as described above.

Reminder texts for the people on your list

The people on your list are your own team, so when a step on a lead they took is overdue, they get one reminder text. The first time they open a lead's link they are asked "Text me reminders about leads I take?" with Yes and No. No answer means reminders stay on.

Under each person on the list (Settings, Transfer ladder) you see where they stand:

• Getting reminders: the default, or they said Yes.
• Said no: their reminders come to you instead, and you were texted once, by name, that they chose not to get them.
• Texted STOP: they replied STOP to a text from your business number, which blocks every text from it, not only reminders. Their reminders come to you, and you were texted once with a warning sign. Only they can fix it, by texting START to your business number: a carrier rule, not something FirstFiveMin can undo.

Send the question again texts the person a link to answer, from your own number. You can send it once every 7 days per person, and never to someone who texted STOP. Save any change to the order first: the button waits until the list is saved.

Handing an appointment to someone on the ladder

If your assistant is on, you can text it give the 4 pm to Luis to hand that appointment to a person on your ladder. Luis must be a rung with a name and a number; the name you type is matched to the name you saved ("Mia" finds "Mia Park"). The assistant shows you the text your customer will get and waits for YES. Then Luis gets a text with the time, the customer, the address and a link to a page for that one appointment (with Call, Text and Directions), your customer learns who is coming, and you get a confirmation. If the customer asked not to be texted, or it is outside their calling hours, the appointment is handed at once and you are told the customer was not texted. Handing it again to someone else makes the first person's link stop working. If no one on your ladder has a name and a number yet, the assistant says so and tells you where to add people; if you have no appointment at the time you named, it tells you that too.