Transfers let Rosie connect a caller to a real person while they're still on the line, instead of taking a message. You set up transfer scenarios — who to reach, at what number, during which hours — and Rosie matches a caller's request against them.
There are three types:
Cold hands the call straight over without checking whether anyone is there.
Warm puts the caller on hold while Rosie calls your number, explains who's holding, and asks whether you can take it.
Waterfall runs a warm transfer down a list of numbers until someone picks up.
Transfers are available on the Scale or Growth plan. Waterfall transfers require Growth.
How It Works
You create transfer scenarios in Agent Settings → Transfer Calls. Each scenario is a person or department, a phone number, and a choice of how the handoff should work: cold, warm, or waterfall.
On a call, Rosie matches the caller's request to one of your scenarios (eg - Billing Department). She announces the transfer out loud so the caller knows a handoff is coming, and confirms with the caller if they would like to be transfered.
When the caller confirms, Rosie initiates the transfer.
Rosie makes one transfer attempt per call — if it fails, she offers to take a message instead rather than trying the transfer again. She'll only transfer to a scenario that's currently inside its availability schedule; outside those hours she tells the caller that person isn't available and offers to help or take a message. And every attempt gets recorded on the call, so you can see afterward exactly who she tried and what happened.
Cold Transfers
A cold transfer is a straight handoff. Rosie says a line like "One moment while I connect you," passes the caller to your number, and drops off the call. She doesn't call ahead, doesn't tell anyone who's coming, and doesn't wait to find out whether a human picks up.
The caller hears the phone actually ringing, the same as if they'd dialed you directly. There's no hold music on a cold transfer.
Whoever answers gets no context about who is calling them.
Because Rosie is gone the moment she hands off, she can't tell a person from an answering machine. If your voicemail picks up, that counts as a completed transfer and the caller ends up leaving a voicemail.
Warm Transfers
A warm transfer means Rosie checks before she connects anyone. The caller goes on hold with music while she calls your number on a separate line, explains who's calling and why, and asks whether you can take it.
Here's what the person on your end hears when they pick up:
"Hey, this is Rosie from Ace Plumbing. I have Sarah Chen on the line. They are calling about a leak under their kitchen sink. Would you like to take this call?"
You answer out loud:
"yes," "sure," "put them through."
There's no keypad prompt and nothing to press. If you say yes, Rosie merges the two calls and tells the caller:
"You're now connected with Dispatch and I've briefed them on your situation. I'll drop off now," then leaves.
If you say you can't take it, she goes back to the caller, lets them know she couldn't connect them, and offers to take a message.
Other things worth knowing about warm transfers:
If your voicemail answers instead of a person, Rosie recognizes it's a machine and hangs up rather than briefing your voicemail box. She goes back to the caller and offers to take a message instead.
You can have her collect information before transferring. Turn on "Collect info before transfer" and tell her what to ask for — "get their name, address, and what's leaking" — and she'll gather it one question at a time, then use it in the briefing. Left at the default, she briefs with the caller's first name and reason for calling.
You choose the hold music the caller hears while she's working: soft guitar, upbeat classical, rock, or spa.
Rosie dials your team from one dedicated number. Save it in your contacts, and get everyone on your transfer list to do the same — if anyone has Silence Unknown Callers turned on, an unsaved number goes straight to voicemail without ever ringing. You'll find the number to save on the Transfer Calls page.
Waterfall Transfers
Waterfall is a warm transfer with backup. Instead of one number, you give Rosie an ordered list of up to five, and she works down it until someone picks up: rings the first number for 30 seconds, moves to the next if there's no answer, briefs whoever does pick up, and confirms they can take the call before connecting. The caller stays on hold with music, and she checks back in between attempts — "Thanks for your patience, still trying to reach someone for you" — so they know they haven't been forgotten. If she gets through the whole list without reaching anyone, she offers to take a message.
Waterfall transfers require the Growth plan.
Full setup instructions, see: Waterfall Warm Transfers.
Setting Up A Transfer
In Rosie, go to Agent Settings → Transfer Calls.
Select Add Scenario.
Pick the Transfer Type: Cold, Warm, or Waterfall.
Name the scenario after the person or department the caller would ask for — "Susan," "Billing," "Service Manager." Rosie uses this to match what the caller says, so use the words your callers actually use.
Optionally add a Description telling Rosie when to use this scenario— "trigger when the caller mentions a leak, flood, or that their water isn't working."
Enter the phone number to transfer to.
Waterfall scenarios take a primary number plus backups, in the order you want them tried.
For warm and waterfall scenarios, choose your hold music and decide whether Rosie should collect information before transferring.
Click Save in the modal.
Once you have saved the scenario, you can click the Calendar icon to set the Scenario Availability: always, your business hours, a custom schedule, or off.
Publish your changes.
Conversation Details
In your Conversations inbox in the Rosie admin:
A call where someone actually picked up shows as Transferred, along with the number and department it went to.
A call where Rosie tried and nobody took it shows as Unavailable, so a failed transfer never looks like a successful one.
For waterfall transfers, the call detail shows the full ladder — every number she tried, in order, with what happened at each one: answered, no answer, busy, declined, voicemail, or failed — plus who eventually picked up and any information she collected from the caller first.
Transfers are one of the call types you can get notified about. Check the Call Transfers option under your notification settings, and both successful and unsuccessful transfers will come through.
FAQs
Which plan do I need?
Cold and warm transfers are on the Scale and Growth plans. Waterfall transfers are on Growth. If you're on Professional, you'll see the Transfer Calls page with an upgrade prompt rather than the scenario editor.
How many transfer scenarios can I have?
You can have up to 20 transfer scenarios.
Can I transfer calls to the same number I have forwarded to Rosie?
No. Sending a call back to the line that forwards to her would just loop and Rosie would answer again.
Can different departments go to different numbers?
Yes, and that's the normal setup. Every scenario is independent — its own number, its own transfer type, its own schedule. Sales can cold-transfer to the shop line during business hours while the emergency scenario runs a waterfall down your on-call list at 2am.
Will Rosie transfer a caller just because they sound upset?
No. Rosie transfers when a caller's request matches one of your scenarios and they've agreed to be put through. She doesn't watch for anger or tone and escalate on her own. If a caller is frustrated, she acknowledges it and keeps helping.
Can Rosie transfer to an extension?
No. Extensions aren't supported, so use a direct line for the person or department.
What if the caller asks for someone I haven't set up?
Rosie asks what it's regarding first, because most of those calls turn out to be a question she can answer herself. If she can't, she'll tell the caller that person isn't available and offer to take a message. She won't invent a number to transfer to.
Is the rest of the call recorded after a transfer?
No. Recording stops at the handoff, so what you and the caller say once you're connected isn't recorded or transcribed. Everything up to that point — including what Rosie collected before transferring — is on the call as usual.
Can I turn transfers off for evenings and weekends?
Yes. Each scenario has its own availability schedule, so you can set one to business hours and another to always. Set a scenario's availability to None to switch it off without deleting it. Outside a scenario's hours, Rosie won't offer that transfer at all.
How many numbers can a waterfall scenario have?
Five in total — the primary number plus backups. Rosie tries them in the order you list them.
Can I mix transfer types in the same account?
Yes. Each scenario is set up on its own, so pick whichever type fits that destination.
Need Help?
If you have questions or want a hand setting your transfer scenarios up, reach out at support@heyrosie.com or through the support chat in your Rosie admin — we're happy to help.