---
title: "Qualify & Transfer workflow"
description: "Learn how the Qualify & Transfer workflow works in Interlinked — a service workflow where the AI asks qualification questions before handing off the conversation to a human agent."
section: "Workflows"
url: https://interlinked-ai.com/en/resources/docs/qualify-and-transfer
lang: en
lastUpdated: 2026-04-17
---

# Qualify & Transfer workflow

## When to use this workflow

Choose **Qualify & Transfer** if you want the AI to gather important information from customers before a human takes over the conversation. This workflow is ideal for sales teams, law firms, financial advisors, or any business where a human agent needs to close the deal but does not want to waste time on unqualified leads.

The AI acts as a smart front desk — it collects structured data about the customer's needs, budget, timeline, and preferences, then escalates the conversation to a human agent who has full context and can pick up exactly where the AI left off.

## How the AI handles conversations

1. **Greet the customer** and introduce your services using your configured greeting message.
2. **Ask qualification questions** — The AI asks your custom questions one by one in a natural conversational flow.
3. **Store the answers** — All responses are saved as structured data on the customer's lead profile in the CRM.
4. **Hand off to a human** — Once all questions are answered, the AI escalates the conversation. The customer is notified that a human agent will continue the conversation.

<div class="docs-callout docs-callout-note">
  <p><strong>Note</strong></p>
  <p>When the AI hands off the conversation, it triggers a notification to the business owner. The human agent can then pick up the conversation from the CRM and respond directly through WhatsApp, Instagram, or Messenger.</p>
</div>

### What happens after handoff

When the AI hands off a conversation:

- **The AI stops responding** to that customer for **15 minutes**. This prevents the AI from interfering while the human agent is talking.
- The 15-minute pause also activates when you manually send a message through the messaging app (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger) or when you click **Take manual control** in the CRM conversation view.
- After 15 minutes of human inactivity, the AI resumes responding automatically.

<div class="docs-callout docs-callout-warning">
  <p><strong>Important</strong></p>
  <p>The 15-minute AI pause is a critical behavior to understand. If you take manual control of a conversation but do not respond within 15 minutes, the AI will start responding again. Make sure your team responds promptly after a handoff.</p>
</div>

## Custom configuration steps

### Qualification questions

Define the questions the AI asks before transferring. You can add any number of free-text questions. The AI asks them conversationally, one at a time.

This is the only custom step for this workflow — there are no calendar, payment, or location steps.

## What to do next

Continue to [Upload your product catalog](/en/resources/docs/upload-your-product-catalog), then [Add business context](/en/resources/docs/add-business-context), [Connect channels](/en/resources/docs/connect-channels), and [Publish and go live](/en/resources/docs/publish-and-go-live).