> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.maple.inc/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Call transfer issues > Why transfers to your staff fail or sound like "the restaurant is busy", and how to make them connect. When the AI transfers a caller, it puts them on hold and places a new outbound call from your Maple number to your transfer (handoff) number, then connects the caller once someone picks up. Because it’s an ordinary phone call, it only connects if that line is free and someone answers. That depends on your phone and carrier, not a Maple setting. ## Why callers hear “the restaurant is busy” Maple rings your transfer number for up to 30 seconds on each attempt. This is the same for every location and can’t be changed. - If no one picks up in that time, the AI tells the caller the restaurant isn’t answering right now and offers to take a note for your staff. - If your carrier’s voicemail answers first (often after about 20 seconds, a limit your carrier sets), the AI hears the voicemail, returns to the caller, says the restaurant is busy helping other customers, and offers to try again. ## What to check 1. **The transfer number is right and reachable.** Call it from another phone and check someone can answer. It’s under **AI Agents** → your agent → **Actions** → **Transfer to Staff** → **Transfer number**, not on the **Call Handling** tab. 2. **It isn’t your forwarded business number.** If your business number forwards to the Maple AI number and the transfer number is that same business number (or forwards back to it), the transfer loops back to the AI and no one answers. Use a direct number with no forwarding to the AI, such as a cell phone, back-office line or second store line. 3. **Voicemail waits longer than 30 seconds.** Ask your carrier to extend the voicemail trigger time on the transfer number past 30 seconds, or turn voicemail off on that line, so Maple’s full ring window can run. 4. **SMS notifications are on.** You still get the order or call details when a transfer isn’t answered. See [Voice configuration](https://docs.maple.inc/voice-core/voice-configuration.md). 5. **Test the full flow.** Call your business number, confirm the AI answers, ask for a transfer, and confirm it rings on the separate line. Right after a change, wait a few minutes first: new settings can take a short while to load. ## Transfers fail during busy periods A standard landline without call waiting takes one call at a time. If a second caller asks for a transfer while staff are on an earlier transferred call, the second transfer gets a busy signal. The AI tells the caller it couldn’t connect them and, once the **Max transfer attempts** on the Transfer to Staff action are used up, that it can’t try again. Nothing is misconfigured; this is most common at lunch and dinner peaks. - Ask your carrier for call waiting, a hunt group or a rollover line on the transfer number. - Pointing two transfer actions (for example a separate catering number) at the same phone number doesn’t add capacity. It’s still one line. - A mobile phone usually copes better than a single analog landline, since most cell carriers include call waiting. ## Ring Staff First By default the AI answers every call immediately. **Ring Staff First** rings your staff first and lets the AI step in only when no one answers. ### In the Maple portal 1. Go to **AI Agents**, open your agent, and go to **Call Handling**. 2. Turn on **Ring Staff First**. Maple answers, tells the caller it’s connecting them, and rings your **Transfer to Staff** number. If no one answers within about 30 seconds, the AI takes over. Under **Advanced**, turning off **If Staff Doesn’t Answer** makes Maple tell callers to try again later instead. Ring Staff First needs the **Transfer to Staff** action on, with a phone number set. 3. Choose an **Active Schedule**: **Always**, or **During Schedule** with specific days and time windows (for example weekdays only). 4. The Transfer to Staff number must be a different line from the one that forwards to your Maple AI number, or the call loops back to the AI. ### At your carrier instead A “forward on busy/no answer” code gives a similar result: your store phone rings first and forwards to the AI only if it’s busy or unanswered. - **Verizon:** dial `*71` followed by your Maple AI number. - **AT\&T / T-Mobile:** dial `**61*`, your Maple AI number, then `#`. - Codes vary by carrier. If these don’t work, ask your carrier for their “forward on no answer” or “forward on busy” steps. ## Good to know - Transferred calls show only your Maple number in your carrier call history. The caller’s own caller ID isn’t passed on a transfer; this is a telephony limit, not a Maple setting. - Extensions aren’t supported. The transfer number must ring through directly. - The retry count and the ring time per attempt are separate. Lowering **Max transfer attempts** won’t make the AI take over faster: each attempt still rings for up to 30 seconds (less if voicemail answers first). - Some VoIP, cable or bundled business plans have “linked”, “shared” or “companion” lines that ring together during forwarding. If the AI greets a caller but hears nothing back, or a transfer connects to dead air, ask your provider whether those features are on.