Using Switch, you can move customers from phone to chat conversations and reduce hold times, offering a better customer experience in a space where your team can handle volume more efficiently.

To set up Switch, navigate to Settings > Channels > Switch. Under the “Installation guide” you’ll find two ways to integrate Switch with your phone system:

First, you’ll need to request a phone number to forward calls from your existing phone system to Intercom Messenger. Your forwarding phone number will automatically generate when you select “Request phone number”.

Note: This number will be a US forwarding number which is not visible to your customers, it's only used in the background for forwarding calls to.

Important: There’s no charge to request this number but some phone systems may charge for forwarding a call to an external number, particularly if the number is international. Check with your phone plan and provider.

Call the forwarding number to experience the conversation switch. You will hear the pre-recorded thank you message, receive an SMS and find the conversation created in your Intercom Inbox.

You will need to create an option to forward to your new forwarding number in your IVR editor.

Here’s an example of how this looks in Aircall. Your IVR might look a little different, but it will follow a similar process:

Go to your IVR editor and add an IVR option to forward to an external number.

Then copy and paste in the forwarding number you received from Intercom.

Implement Switch as a silent option in your phone system by simply adding the IVR option to forward the call, without adding an audible message to the IVR menu description. This will let your team test the forwarding option in your phone system by dialling your chosen key number to switch to Messenger, but your customers won’t hear a prompt to switch.

Once you’re happy with the experience, add an audible message to the IVR editor so callers know switching to chat is an option.

Here are a few example scripts you can adapt to your business brand and voice:

You have the option to add a thank you message for opting to switch to the messenger.

Just go to step 4 and upload an mp3. 👇

If you have any questions during the installation process, check out these Switch FAQs for advice.

To integrate Switch via API, select “Install via API”. Your Switch API token will be available for you to copy and use when adding an option to your phone system.

Then make an HTTP POST request. You can include any custom variables you’d like in this call following the format below. These will either match existing user CDAs in Intercom or create new CDAs.

Important: When making the request, make sure your customer’s phone number is formatted using E.164 standards.

Tip: Pass data collected by your phone system (i.e. name, location, company) to Intercom and create multiple workflows based on information collected. You can set this up as part of the API call as a key <> value pairing. For example, if the caller pressed 1 to talk to support then switched, you could route based on the fact they already selected 1 on the phone.

Make a call to your API token from your phone system to experience the conversation switch. You will receive an SMS when you switch to chat and find the conversation created in your Intercom Inbox.

Important: The call to the API token must include the original caller’s ID. This is so the SMS can be sent to your Intercom Inbox.

Tip: We recommend implementing Switch as a silent option in your phone system first so your team can test the full experience before you set it live. To do this, simply add an option into your phone system without any audible messages.

Once you’re happy with the experience, add your audible message to introduce the new option for customers to switch to chat, then add your thank you / goodbye message.

Here are a few example scripts for "Switch to chat messages" to help get you started:

Here's an example script for a "Goodbye message" you can customize to fit your brand:

If you have any questions during the installation process, check out these Switch FAQs for advice.