Offline Failsafe
Play a recording or transfer callers when your AI agent does not answer in time
Offline Failsafe (sometimes called failover) protects inbound voice and chat experiences when your AI agent is overloaded, delayed, or unavailable. On voice, callers hear your uploaded recording — in your language and tone — and optionally transfer to a human line. On chat, visitors see a merchant-controlled offline message instead of a stalled or empty conversation.
This applies to phone lines, voice-enabled web widgets, and chat channels. It does not replace your carrier's voicemail or cover a full telephony outage.
When it runs
Failsafe triggers when the primary agent does not join or answer within your no-answer timeout (5–60 seconds, default 15). Typical causes:
- Agent runtime at capacity
- Agent misconfiguration or deployment issue
- Unusually long cold-start before the first response
Open the settings page
Go to Build → Channels in the dashboard.
Click Offline Failsafe in the channel hub (or filter the list by Offline Failsafe).
You can also open a specific inbound line from the channels table — each voice channel can have its own override.
Direct path: /channels/failsafe in the dashboard. To pre-select a channel, use ?channel=<channel_key> in the URL.
Choose scope
| Scope | Applies to |
|---|---|
| Organization default | All inbound voice and chat channels unless an agent override exists |
| Agent | One agent's voice and chat channels only |
An agent-scoped config overrides the organization default for that agent only.
Configure the policy
1. Enable offline failsafe
Turn on Enable offline failsafe. Message-based actions require an uploaded recording before you can save with failsafe enabled.
2. Upload a voice recording
- Format: WAV or MP3
- Size: max 5 MB
- Length: recommended 5–30 seconds
Record the exact script callers should hear — Taliiq plays your file as-is (no synthetic voice on this path). This is ideal for Arabic greetings and bilingual messages.
2b. Set the chat message
For chat channels, fill in Chat title (optional) and Chat message — the copy visitors see when the assistant is offline or stopped. Chat message is required to save an enabled, agent-scoped config.
3. Pick an action
| Action | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Play recording and end call | Message plays, then the call ends |
| Play recording then transfer to human | Message plays, then bridge to your destination |
| Transfer immediately (no recording) | Skips playback and transfers right away |
4. Transfer settings (if applicable)
When transferring:
- Destination — E.164 number, extension, or
sip:user@pbx.example.com - Outbound trunk — Required for phone destinations; pick an active trunk from Build → Channels
5. Timeout and callback (phone only)
- No-answer timeout — How long to wait for the AI agent before failsafe runs (5–60 s)
- Capture callback number — After the recording, listen for keypad digits ending with
#(phone channels only; hidden for web widgets)
Click Save settings when finished.
Missed calls log
The same page lists missed calls — timestamp, channel, caller, callback digits captured, action taken, and status. Use this to follow up when failsafe handled a session instead of the agent.
Web widget behavior
For voice web widgets, failsafe plays your recording in the browser session when the agent does not connect in time — callers avoid a blank or frozen UI. Pair this with Web widget setup.
Chat behavior
For chat channels (widget and Agent Console chat), failsafe shows your chat title and chat message as an assistant bubble when the agent is offline or stopped — visitors get a clear status instead of a stalled conversation. There is no recording or transfer step on chat; configure it under the agent scope alongside the voice settings for that agent.
Related guides
- Channels overview — web, SIP, and trunk setup
- Create an agent — ensure agents are deployed and healthy first
- Outbound — outbound trunks used for transfer bridging