How to handle escalations: when Maraba hands the call to a human

The goal of an AI receptionist is not to handle every call — it is to handle every call that can be handled without a human, and route everything else to the right person quickly and smoothly. Escalation is not a failure mode. It is a designed feature, and getting it right is as important as getting Maraba's answers right.

This guide covers how Maraba's escalation system works, how to configure it, and what happens when a transfer fails.

When does Maraba escalate?

Maraba escalates a call in four situations:

Configuring escalation targets

In your Maraba dashboard, go to Config → Escalation → Contacts. You can set up multiple escalation contacts:

• Primary: The first person Maraba tries to reach. Typically the business owner or a senior staff member.
• Secondary: If primary does not answer within a configured number of rings (default: 5), Maraba tries secondary.
• Tertiary / catch-all: If secondary also fails, the caller is given a message-taking option and Maraba records a voicemail or takes down the caller's details for a callback.

Each contact can be a mobile number or an internal extension. You can also configure time-of-day routing — the primary escalation contact during business hours is the front desk; after hours, it goes directly to the on-call staff member's mobile.

The escalation handoff — what the caller hears

When Maraba decides to escalate, it does not simply say "hold on" and put the caller on hold. It follows a structured handoff sequence:

The staff member hears a one-sentence brief from Maraba before the caller is connected. This means the human never has to start from zero — they know the context before they say hello.

What happens when the escalation fails

If both primary and secondary contacts fail to answer, Maraba does not abandon the caller. Instead:

1. Maraba informs the caller: "I wasn't able to reach our team right now — they may all be with other customers."
2. Maraba offers options: "I can take your name and number and have someone call you back, or I can take a detailed message. Which would you prefer?"
3. If the caller chooses callback, Maraba records the name, number, and best call-back time. This is sent to your WhatsApp immediately and appears in the dashboard's Escalations log.
4. If the caller chooses message, Maraba transcribes and summarises it and sends it to your WhatsApp.

In the Escalations tab of your dashboard, every escalation is logged with: the caller number, the escalation reason, which contacts were tried, whether the transfer connected, and the final outcome. You can filter by date, escalation reason, or outcome.

Setting escalation keywords for specific industries

Different businesses have different words that should always trigger an immediate transfer. Examples:

To add keywords: go to Config → Escalation → Trigger Keywords. Enter the word or phrase. Set whether it should transfer immediately (interrupt any ongoing response) or at the next natural pause in the conversation. Emergency triggers should always be set to "immediate."

After-hours escalation

After-hours escalations work differently. When your configured business hours have ended, Maraba still handles all inbound calls — but the escalation targets shift to your after-hours contacts. You may have a different person on call at 11pm than at 2pm, and Maraba supports this.

Under Config → Escalation → After-Hours Contacts, you set a separate escalation chain for outside business hours. Most businesses set this to a single emergency contact — the owner's mobile — rather than the full daytime chain. Non-urgent callers who reach the after-hours chain and cannot get through are offered a morning callback.

Reviewing escalation performance

In Dashboard → Analytics → Escalations, you will find:

• Total escalations this month
• Escalation connect rate (percentage where the transfer actually reached a human)
• Average time-to-connect after escalation is triggered
• Top escalation reasons (breakdown by trigger type)
• Missed escalations (where neither contact answered)

A healthy escalation connect rate is above 80%. If yours is lower, it usually means your team's phones are not available during peak call times. Review which hours have the most missed escalations and adjust staffing or escalation routing accordingly.