Voice functionality - FAQs

This article covers known issues and workarounds for Voice in Intercom, as well as answers to frequently asked questions. Use this guide to troubleshoot quickly and find key information in one place.

When a customer abandons a call mid-ring before the IVR flow completes, Intercom does not route it to the Missed Calls inbox as expected. Instead, it assigns the conversation directly to a member of the inbound inbox, regardless of their current availability mode.

It automatically attaches to the existing case. There is a call button at the top of the support ticket that allows you to call the customer's number on file. It creates a new event within that same conversation rather than a separate one.

Yes, calls queue. In the team inbox, a number appears next to it indicating how many calls are currently waiting. If calls have been queuing for a certain amount of time, if it is out of hours, or if a set number of calls are queuing, they will move to either a voicemail or a callback.

Overflow can be configured to go to another queue, but very few teams are set up this way from the outset. By default, overflow goes to another inbox for callbacks rather than routing live to a different queue.

In the history and events of the call, Intercom shows whether a call was abandoned, dropped, or went unanswered.

It is possible, but the recommended approach is to create a separate conversation, turn that into a ticket, and then merge the call record into it. This is because reusable workflows are set up for web, Android, or iOS, and will not trigger correctly if the channel is phone. Always create the ticket from a non-phone conversation to ensure workflows function as expected.

Check the user data section on the right-hand side of the conversation. If the contact is linked to the correct customer record, their details will be visible there.

Yes. SLA and response timers on open conversations continue counting while you are on a phone call. The SLA works the same as it does for cases in Salesforce — the chat will wait until you are able to respond. First response time and time to close are calculated as averages across the month, so individual delays will not have a significant impact overall.

No. When you accept a phone call, you are automatically set to Away, which pauses inbound conversations and tickets.

One-way audio — agent cannot hear the customer happens most commonly on the first call of the day. The recording captures both sides of the audio correctly, meaning the issue is in real-time audio delivery to the browser rather than in the Intercom recording pipeline. The browser's audio context can start in a suspended state until the user interacts with the page, and the first inbound call may arrive before that state resolves.

Recommended solutions and best practices:

All inbound calls presenting the Access Group caller ID happens when the customer has an unknown caller ID, most commonly caused by a hidden number. Intercom displays the Access Group calling number when it deals with an unknown caller ID.

Feedback from teams using Intercom Voice has been very positive. They report that sound quality is better and that they prefer it to Natterbox.

Intercom follows your standard device settings. If you have headphones plugged in, the call rings through them. You also receive a desktop notification in the bottom right corner of Chrome, and the Intercom tab flashes to indicate an incoming call. Intercom help articles on notifications are also available to share if needed.

No, but you do receive a desktop notification in the bottom right corner, and the Intercom tab flashes to indicate an incoming call.

No. Calls use a standard ringtone that cannot be customised in the same way chat notification sounds can.

No, a secondary ringer is not currently available. As an alternative, you receive a pop-up notification and a banner in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, and the Intercom tab flashes to indicate an incoming call. This has been logged as a suggestion with Intercom.

Yes. Intercom follows your standard Windows audio output by default, but custom sound settings configured in Chrome or another browser could affect how audio is routed. If you are having trouble with sound, check your browser's own audio settings as well as your device settings.

Yes. Calls come through to your inbox, which is shared across all folders. You will be notified of incoming calls regardless of which folder you are currently viewing.

This is not currently available in Intercom. It has been logged as a suggestion with the Intercom team.

When a customer calls and there is no contact or lead with their phone number assigned, Intercom creates a new lead with that phone number. The issue is that the number can get aligned to an existing lead without a clear connection to the number or customer credentials. This has been identified as a bug by Intercom and is currently under investigation.

Workaround:

If this doesn’t work, please reach out to us through the Internal request portal as there's an admin setting that requires to be activated for this.

It's possible, but it isn't recommended. Reusable workflows in Intercom are set up to trigger on web, Android, or iOS conversations, and will not fire correctly if the originating channel is phone.

Recommended approach: Create a separate, non-phone conversation, convert that into a ticket, then merge the call record into it using the Merge into option. This ensures workflows behave as expected and the ticket has full functionality.

Conversation merges require both conversations to be aligned to the same Intercom contact or lead. Use the Manage participant option first, then merge the conversations once they are aligned to the same contact.

This happens when a call is logged against a different customer or contact than the one who actually opened the original case. As the two conversations are aligned to different contacts, Intercom won't allow them to merge until they're matched to the same contact.

No. When merged, the secondary conversation becomes part of the primary conversation. The primary conversation is the one you continue working with, and you can reopen it if needed.

If you can confirm the unknown number belongs to a known customer, you can update the customer record with that phone number. Proceed with care when the system warns about updating multiple linked conversations, and ensure you are merging into the correct record before confirming.

Use the merge into feature's search function. If you know the ticket ID, you can search for it directly. Alternatively, use the recent conversations feature, which shows all conversations that customer has had with any teammate.

Yes, it shows all conversations for that specific customer with any teammate. If the contact is only a lead, you can search for the actual customer's name and merge into the correct conversation.

Customers do not see an entry in their messenger unless the call has been merged into a ticket. For agents, you can view recent conversations from the same customer, see who was assigned to them, and use the merge into search feature to find specific tickets or search by teammate.

Yes. You can start a new conversation whilst speaking to a customer on the phone, for example to send them a URL or article link.

If a teammate does not appear when you try to transfer a call, this may be caused by one of the following:

It is strongly recommended rather than mandatory, as it improves the customer experience and ensures the receiving agent has key context about the customer. A straight transfer may be appropriate if, for example, the customer has simply called the wrong department. Always check with your team leader to ensure any process aligns with your product's existing procedures.

Transfers can be made to other queues. For cross-product or misdirected calls, it is recommended to use the existing external number for the relevant queue rather than internal numbers, to avoid confusion. Refer to the Access Support Queue Matrix in Salesforce for details on which queues are available.

For transfers between queues, it is recommended to use the existing external numbers that are already in use, rather than internal queue numbers. This avoids confusion, particularly for straightforward transfers to another department.

The customer is placed on hold at the point you select who you want to transfer to. They are not muted whilst you are browsing the transfer menu.

Workflows will not trigger on conversations or tickets that started from a phone call. This was not the intended behaviour.

For products going live with the Intercom Voice solution, Salesforce phone numbers are synced to Intercom so that when a customer calls, their number is already logged to their Intercom user record. This sync requires the phone number on the Salesforce contact to have the correct format and country code. If the format is incorrect, the Intercom phone field will not log the sync.

A call recording is not sent directly to the case, but a note is automatically added to indicate that a call has been made. This currently only works where there is both a chat and a call attached. To link the call directly, it is recommended to add the phone call URL as an internal note on the case.

Yes, it transfers to Salesforce, but it does not include all details such as the call recording itself. Only the standard base details that normally transfer are sent. To retain a direct link to the chat or call, it is recommended to add the relevant URL as an internal note on the Salesforce case.

No, you need to search for the account manually in Salesforce. However, if the customer's phone number is already linked to a record in Intercom, their details are visible within the conversation, and you may see a Salesforce link under their external profiles to navigate directly to their Salesforce record.

If the call is linked to the correct customer record in Intercom, you can use the information shown there to verify. If the record is not pulling up correctly or there is any doubt, continue to check in Salesforce to confirm the customer is entitled to support.

You can add notes within the conversation in Intercom. However, for ongoing company-level context such as complaint flags, continue to refer to Salesforce, as that holds the most up-to-date information for the customer's account.

There is no banner in Intercom in the same way as Salesforce. You may be able to see this information in the user data or company details within Intercom if it is being pulled across from Salesforce, but it is recommended to continue referring to Salesforce directly, as that holds the most current information.

Yes. By default, availability is set to 'all', meaning you can receive both conversations and phone calls, though not simultaneously — a phone call takes priority over a chat. You can change this setting to receive only calls or only conversations for a given day.

Yes. Once the wording is changed and saved, the updated message plays to the next customer who calls. In most cases this is handled by a manager or DSE, but it can be updated quickly when needed to notify customers of an emerging issue.

Yes. You must always have at least one browser tab open with the Intercom inbox. It does not need to be the active tab, but it must remain open. This works in the same way as Natterbox's web phone, and confirms to the system that you are available to receive calls and conversations.

All products included in your workspace will appear when viewing All. If additional products have recently gone live, you will start to see their interactions alongside existing calls.

To view calls for a specific product only, use a custom view. You can edit it to add more filters, such as Inbox assigned, and select the relevant inboxes.

where a CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) survey is part of the phone workflow and goes unanswered, the phone conversation will not auto-close.

By default, every call is recorded. The only time you would turn recording off is when taking sensitive information such as payment or billing details.

Call recordings are not private. Any teammate can access and listen to recordings associated with a conversation, in the same way all customer interaction history is visible to the team.

All call details are logged within the reports section under Human Support and Calls. This includes inbound and outbound calls, duration, time, and which agent handled them.

Switch from Reply to Note within the conversation and add the information there. This is useful for any follow-up actions needed. If no follow-up is needed, you can change yourself back to an active state before the wrap-up time expires.

No. You cannot directly call a teammate unless you have a customer on the line.