How to Use the Ring Call Action in Bot
Imagine a customer calls you on WhatsApp. What happens next?
Before DoubleTick introduced the Ring Call action, every incoming call was blasted to every available agent at the same time. It was chaotic. Agents would scramble, calls would get dropped, and nobody knew who was really responsible for picking up. There was no structure, no fairness, and no ownership.
The Ring Call action changes all of that.
Now, you decide exactly who gets a call and how it reaches them. You set the rules once, publish your flow in Bot Studio, and every incoming call is handled the right way — automatically.
This article walks you through everything you need to know, step by step.
Before You Begin
The Ring Call action lives inside Bot Studio. Here is how to get there:
Open your DoubleTick dashboard and go to Bot Studio.
Inside Bot Studio, navigate to Triggers and select On Incoming Call.
This is the only trigger that works with the Ring Call action. You cannot attach it to any other trigger, so make sure you start here.
Once you have selected the On Incoming Call trigger, you can add the Ring Call action and start building your routing flow.
Understanding the Ring Call Action
The Ring Call action has one job: decide who receives an incoming call.
Inside the action, you will find a dropdown menu with five assignment methods. Each method routes calls differently. You pick the one that matches how your team works.
Let us go through all five.
Assignment Method 1: Route Randomly to a Human
This is the simplest method. When a call comes in, the system randomly picks one agent from your team and sends the call to them. The only requirement is that the agent must have a calling license.
Think of it like a lucky draw — every call goes to a random winner.
Example: You have five agents, all with calling licenses. By the end of the day, ten calls have come in. One agent may have received four calls, another may have received two, and someone else may have received none at all. There is no pattern and no guarantee of equal distribution.
When to use it: This works well when your team is small, all agents are equally capable of handling any call, and you are not worried about workload balance.
One extra setting to configure here is the wait time — this is how long the assigned agent's phone rings before the call is considered unanswered. You can set this to 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, or whatever suits your team. If nobody answers within that time, the Call Not Answered node activates and you can decide what happens next.
Assignment Method 2: Round Robin
This method is all about fairness and continuity. It has two capabilities that work together to make sure every incoming call reaches someone.
The first capability is sequential assignment across calls. Calls are distributed one by one, cycling through the agents you have selected in order. Agent A gets the first call, Agent B gets the second, Agent C gets the third, and the cycle continues. By the end of the day, every agent in the rotation has handled an equal share of calls. No single agent gets overloaded while others sit idle.
The second capability is sequential escalation within a single call. If the assigned agent does not pick up within the set wait time, the call does not simply go unanswered — it automatically moves to the next agent in the sequence and starts ringing on their phone. If that agent also does not answer within the wait time, the call moves to the next agent after them. This continues through the sequence until someone picks up. The moment an agent answers, the cycle stops there.
Example: Agents A, B, C, and D are in the Round Robin sequence with a 15-second wait time. The second call of the day is assigned to Agent B. Agent B does not answer within 15 seconds. The call transfers to Agent C. Agent C does not answer within 15 seconds either. The call transfers to Agent D. Agent D picks up. The call is connected and the cycle stops.
This means Round Robin does two things at once — it distributes calls fairly across your team over time, and it also ensures that no single call gets dropped just because one agent was unavailable.
When to use it: Use this when you have a dedicated call-handling team, want equal distribution of calls, and need a built-in fallback that keeps escalating within the same sequence until someone answers..
Assignment Method 3: Ring All Simultaneously
This method rings multiple agents at the exact same time. The call connects to whoever picks up first.
Example: You select Swati and Satvik. A call comes in. Both of their phones ring simultaneously. Swati picks up after three rings — she gets connected to the caller. Satvik's phone stops ringing automatically.
Here is something useful to know: you do not have to ring all your agents. Even if five agents have calling licenses, you can choose to ring only three of them using this method. This gives you the flexibility to designate specific people for call duty on any given day.
When to use it: Use this when speed matters most. If getting someone on the call as fast as possible is the priority, this is your best option.
As always, if no one answers, the Call Not Answered node lets you define the next step.
Assignment Method 4: Route to Assigned Agent
This method is built for continuity. It routes the incoming call directly to the agent who is already handling that customer's conversation in DoubleTick.
Example: A customer named Priya has been chatting with your agent Ruchi. Ruchi is assigned to Priya's conversation. When Priya calls, the system recognises that her chat belongs to Ruchi and sends the call straight to her — no reassignment, no confusion.
This is powerful because the agent already knows the customer's history and context. The call feels like a natural extension of the conversation rather than starting from scratch.
When to use it: Use this whenever you want a personalised, ownership-driven calling experience where the same agent handles both chat and calls for a customer.
If Ruchi does not pick up, connect the Call Not Answered node to another Ring Call action and route the call to a backup agent or a different method.
Assignment Method 5: Escalate to Reporting Manager
This method adds a safety net. If the primary agent does not answer the call in time, it automatically escalates to their reporting manager.
This is the only method that requires two Ring Call actions working together.
Here is how to set it up:
Add the first Ring Call action and select Route to Assigned Agent. Set a wait time — for example, 15 seconds. Now connect the Call Not Answered node from this first action to a second Ring Call action. In the second Ring Call action, select Escalate to Reporting Manager.
Example: A call comes in for a customer whose chat is assigned to Ruchi. Ruchi's phone rings for 15 seconds. She does not answer. The call is automatically escalated and starts ringing on her reporting manager Amulya's phone. The customer never knew there was a gap.
When to use it: Use this for high-priority customers or situations where a missed call is simply not acceptable. It creates a structured safety net without any manual intervention.
What Happens When a Call Goes Unanswered
Every assignment method includes a Call Not Answered node. This node activates when no agent picks up within the set wait time.
You are in complete control of what happens next. You can route the call to a different agent, escalate it, send the customer a message, or build an entirely custom fallback flow. The important thing is that you always configure this node — never leave it empty. A call that falls through with no fallback is a missed opportunity.
One Thing You Must Know Before Going Live
Once you publish your Ring Call flow, it becomes the only way incoming calls are routed. The old behavior — where calls were broadcast to everyone — no longer applies. This is a good thing, but it means your flow needs to be set up correctly before you hit publish.
Test your flow internally first. Make a few test calls and confirm that calls are reaching the right agents. Check that your Call Not Answered nodes are all connected. Only then should you go live.
Summary
The Ring Call action puts you in the driver's seat for every incoming call. Whether you want random assignment, strict fairness, simultaneous ringing, personal ownership, or escalation to a manager — you can build it all inside Bot Studio in just a few clicks.
Set up your flow, test it thoroughly, and never worry about a chaotic call queue again.
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