Transfer Conversations from an Agent with an Omni-Channel Flow
When an agent encounters conversations that it can’t resolve, it uses the Escalation subagent to escalate the conversation. In the new Agentforce Builder, you can also run the Escalation subagent using the escalate utility function in Agent Script. Escalation and transferring works differently depending on the agent type and channel. You can customize the experience that customers receive when transferring isn’t possible.
Required Editions
| Available in: Lightning Experience |
| Available in: Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions. Required add-on licenses vary by agent type. |
To learn about channel support for other agent types, see the documentation for that type. |
| User Permissions Needed | |
|---|---|
| To build and manage Employee agents: | Manage AI Agents OR Customize Application |
| To build and manage Service agents: | Manage Agentforce Service Agents AND Manage AI Agents OR Customize Application |
Agentforce Service agents and Employee agents use the Escalation subagent to escalate conversations. If your agent doesn’t have the Escalation subagent, it can’t escalate sessions. To make sure that agents escalate according to your company policies, we recommend customizing this subagent with actions and instructions. For example, we made it easy for users to request a rep by using phrases such as "transfer to a representative." Consider adding phrases that are specific to your business needs to your agent’s instructions, such as "investment banker" or "front desk."
Escalation works differently depending on the agent template and channel. On enhanced messaging channels, service agents transfer conversations to a specified destination, such as a rep or queue, using an outbound Omni-Channel flow. Similarly, when an employee agent is connected to an Experience Cloud site with Enhanced Web Chat, the agent uses the Escalation subagent to transfer the conversation to the rep or queue you set in the Omni-Channel flow. Transfers aren’t supported for employee agents that are connected to the Agentforce panel in Lightning Experience or the Salesforce mobile app.
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Create and activate an outbound Omni-Channel flow from scratch that can route
your agent’s conversations to another destination, such as a service rep, queue,
or different agent. If using the same flow to route multiple types of records,
don’t use an input_record variable in your flow, as this variable must be linked
only to one type of record and the flow will not work for other types of
records.
The conversation history, including messages and information gathered, is also transferred to the next destination.
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Add the outbound flow to your agent in Agentforce Builder.
- From the App Launcher, enter Agent, and then select the Agentforce Studio app.
- On the Agents tab, click the name of your agent.
- In the Explorer panel, select the Messaging connection.
- On the canvas, in the Escalations section, select the outbound flow that you created in the Escalation Flow field. If your flow doesn’t appear in the list, activate the flow and try again.
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Add the outbound flow to your agent in the legacy Agentforce Builder.
- From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Agents, and then select Agentforce Agents.
- Click the name of your agent. Then, on the Details page, click Open in Builder.
- In the legacy builder, click the Connections tab.
- In the Escalations section, from the Escalation Flow field, select the outbound flow that you created. If your flow doesn’t appear in the list, activate the flow and try again.
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Add an escalation message. The agent sends this message before it attempts to
transfer the conversation to the destination specified in your outbound
Omni-Channel flow.
Your agent includes a default escalation message that you can edit to better match your company’s brand. As a best practice, configure the message to clearly indicate that the conversation is being transferred to a rep.
The escalation message is automatically translated based on the end user's language setting. If the language isn't supported, the original message is sent without translation.
- To test escalation, activate your agent and then chat with it on a connected channel. Agents can't escalate a conversation in Agentforce Builder because there isn't a messaging session associated with the conversation.
Customize the experience that end users receive when transferring isn’t possible. By default, when the transfer isn’t completed, the agent continues the session with the customer based on the Escalation subagent and retains the context of the conversation before the transfer was attempted. Agents attempt transferring with the Escalation subagent only once per session.
- Determine service rep availability and estimated wait time by adding the Check Availability for Routing action element to your outbound Omni-Channel flow.
- Update the escalation message to reflect your customized escalation experience. For example, you could say, "One moment while I check if there are any service reps available."
- Customize the Escalation subagent to guide the agent when a transfer isn’t completed. For example, add an instruction that tells the agent to create a case with the Create Case with Enhanced Data action in the Case Management subagent. Employee agents connected to Enhanced Web Chat don’t support case creation when escalation isn’t completed.
For example, this outbound Omni-Channel flow checks if reps are available and then routes the session to a queue. If no reps are available or a transfer isn’t possible, the flow ends and the agent continues the conversation session with the user.
