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A transfer rule is only half the story. Once the agent hands a conversation over, a person has to pick it up. This page explains how that works, and how to make sure a transfer at 9pm is not a customer left waiting.

How your team finds out

A transferred conversation lands in the Inbox as Awaiting reply and, if assignment applies, assigned to a teammate. The team is alerted through browser notifications. Turn them on from the notifications bell, where New messages and New conversations can each be enabled. A newly assigned conversation shows an “Assigned to you” alert. Browser notifications only reach someone whose browser allows them and who has Ciarem open, so do not rely on them alone. The Inbox’s Awaiting reply count is the source of truth.

Set yourself available

The Inbox header shows your Session status, and it controls whether new conversations reach you:
  • Active: you receive new conversations.
  • Inactive: you do not receive new conversations.
  • On a break: you do not receive new conversations.
Set yourself Active during the hours you handle chats. If everyone is Inactive or on a break, a transfer has no one to go to. The Session status selector in the Inbox header: Active, Inactive, and On a break

Team availability and after hours

Readiness includes a Team availability check for this reason: someone needs to be Active to take handoffs. When your business is closed and no one is Active, a transferred conversation waits in the Inbox until someone comes back and works it. Nothing is lost, but the customer waits, so a couple of habits help:
  • Keep at least one person Active during business hours.
  • Check the Inbox’s Awaiting reply every day, first thing, and clear it to zero.
  • If a lot of transfers happen after hours, consider a transfer rule or first message that sets expectations about when a person will reply.
An unworked transfer is the same lost lead as an unanswered message, just slower. Availability plus a daily Inbox habit is what closes that gap.