I’ve been using my VAPI agent to transfer calls to our customer service team, but I’ve noticed an issue: the CS agent and the customer can’t hear each other right away. What seems to happen is that the CS agent gets connected first, but the customer doesn’t join the call until much later. For example, I called in from my mobile as usual and the phone rang for over 20 seconds. By the time I was finally connected, I could hear the CS agent saying “Can you hear me?”—and before I could respond, they hung up. So it looks like there’s a delay between when the CS agent picks up and when the customer is actually bridged into the call. In the meantime, the customer either just hears ringing or silence. I’m trying to figure out what’s causing this unexpected delay. Does VAPI use an intermediary when transferring calls? I want to know if the problem is coming from the VAPI side or from my telephony setup.

Suggestion: Check your transfer plan configuration—especially if you are using a warm transfer mode like

warm-transfer-experimental

. Make sure the customer is not left on hold longer than necessary by reviewing the

holdAudioUrl

and bridging logic. For example, ensure your transfer payload looks like this:

json
"transferPlan": {
  "mode": "warm-transfer-experimental",
  "holdAudioUrl": "https://your-hold-music.mp3",
  "message": "Transferring a customer to you."
}

If delays persist, review your call logs for errors or misconfigurations as recommended in the [Vapi documentation](https://docs.vapi.ai/call-forwarding). Source: - [Call Forwarding](https://docs.vapi.ai/call-forwarding)

I can help look into this. What you’re describing sounds like a delay in bridging the customer to the CS agent, which can happen if an intermediary is involved. Can you share which telephony provider and transfer method you’re using? That will help identify whether the issue is on VAPI’s side or your setup. @Mizu

Could you also provide a call id?