Voice Escalation Procedures

Document ID: PLCY-VOI-003
Version: 1.1
Effective Date: January 21, 2026
Last Review: January 21, 2026
Owner: Hop And Haul Team

CONFIDENTIAL

This document is CONFIDENTIAL and for internal use only. Do not distribute outside the organization.

1. Purpose

This document defines the procedures for escalating voice agent calls to human support. It establishes role definitions, routing logic, on-call configurations, and handoff protocols to ensure drivers receive timely assistance for safety, support, and operational needs.

Related Documents:

PLCY-VOI-001 - Voice Agent Integration Policy (Section 7: Support Escalation Tiers)
PLCY-VOI-002 - Voice Agent Technical Specification
PLCY-ADM-002 - Admin Call Routing Configuration
PLCY-INC-001 - Incident Response Procedures

2. Escalation Architecture

2.1 Tier Overview

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  TIER 1: LLM VOICE AGENT                                            │
│                                                                      │
│  Handles: Ride offers, status inquiries, ETA, cancellation, FAQ    │
│                                                                      │
│  Escalation Triggers:                                                │
│  • "Speak to a person" / "human" / "help"                          │
│  • Safety keywords (accident, emergency, threat)                    │
│  • Unresolved after 3 attempts                                      │
│  • System error preventing completion                               │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
           ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐
           ↓                   ↓                   ↓
┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐
│  SAFETY OPS     │  │ DRIVER SUPPORT  │  │  FLEET ADMIN    │
│                 │  │                 │  │                 │
│  • Accidents    │  │  • App issues   │  │  • Fleet-specific│
│  • Emergencies  │  │  • Disputes     │  │  • Policy Q's   │
│  • SOS          │  │  • Technical    │  │  • Custom rules │
│  • Threats      │  │  • General help │  │                 │
│                 │  │                 │  │                 │
│  24/7 On-Call   │  │  Biz hrs + OC   │  │  Per-fleet cfg  │
└────────┬────────┘  └────────┬────────┘  └────────┬────────┘
         │                    │                    │
         └───────────────────┬┴────────────────────┘
                             ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  TIER 3: COMPANY LEADERSHIP                                         │
│                                                                      │
│  Handles: Serious accidents, DOT contact, media, legal             │
│  Escalation: Via Safety Ops or per incident severity               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

2.2 Escalation Paths

Trigger	Initial Route	Backup Route	SLA
Safety emergency	Safety Ops	Company Leadership	Immediate
"Speak to human"	Driver Support	Fleet Admin	<2 min
Technical issue	Driver Support	Safety Ops (if urgent)	<5 min
Fleet-specific	Fleet Admin	Driver Support	<5 min
Unresolved issue	Driver Support	Safety Ops	<5 min

3. Escalation Triggers

3.1 Safety Escalation (Immediate)

Keywords/Phrases:

"accident" / "crash" / "collision"
"emergency" / "911" / "help me"
"threat" / "danger" / "unsafe"
"SOS" / "panic" / "attack"
"hurt" / "injured" / "medical"

System Triggers:

SOS button pressed in app
Route deviation alert unresolved
Duress code entered
Driver incapacitation detected

Action: Route immediately to Safety Ops, no delay.

3.2 Support Escalation (Standard)

Keywords/Phrases:

"speak to a person" / "human" / "representative"
"help" / "support" / "problem"
"not working" / "broken" / "error"
"cancel" / "refund" / "dispute"

System Triggers:

Driver requests transfer
3 failed interaction attempts
Tool execution failure
OpenAI unavailable

Action: Route to Driver Support queue.

3.3 Fleet-Specific Escalation

Triggers:

Fleet Admin configured keywords
Fleet-specific policy questions
Custom escalation rules per fleet

Action: Route to designated Fleet Admin if available, else Driver Support.

4. Role Definitions

4.1 Safety Ops

Attribute	Detail
Responsibility	Safety incidents, emergencies, SOS response, accident handling
Availability	24/7 on-call rotation
Authority	Can dispatch emergency services, contact fleet management, escalate to leadership
Tools	Live GPS access, driver contact, 911 dispatch integration
Training	Emergency response, de-escalation, DOT regulations

Safety Ops Actions:

Acknowledge call within 30 seconds
Assess situation severity
Dispatch emergency services if needed
Contact fleet management
Document incident per PLCY-INC-001
Escalate to leadership for serious incidents

4.2 Driver Support

Attribute	Detail
Responsibility	Technical issues, app problems, disputes, general inquiries
Availability	Business hours (8 AM - 8 PM local) + after-hours on-call
Authority	Can resolve disputes, issue credits, modify ride status
Tools	Admin dashboard, ride history, driver profile
Training	Platform operations, customer service, basic troubleshooting

Driver Support Actions:

Acknowledge call within 2 minutes
Identify issue category
Resolve or escalate as appropriate
Document resolution
Follow up if needed

4.3 Fleet Admin

Attribute	Detail
Responsibility	Fleet-specific issues, policy questions, driver management
Availability	Per-fleet configuration (typically business hours)
Authority	Manages fleet drivers, sets fleet policies, approves exceptions
Tools	Fleet dashboard, driver roster, policy configuration
Training	Fleet management, platform configuration

Fleet Admin Actions:

Handle fleet-specific inquiries
Authorize policy exceptions
Manage driver issues within fleet
Escalate to Driver Support for platform issues

4.4 Company Leadership (Tier 3)

Attribute	Detail
Responsibility	Serious incidents, media inquiries, legal matters, DOT contact
Availability	On-call for escalations
Authority	Full decision authority, external communications
Escalation Triggers	Serious injury, fatality, regulatory contact, media inquiry

5. Call Routing Logic

5.1 Keyword-Based Routing

INPUT: Driver utterance or system event

IF contains_safety_keywords(input):
    → Route to Safety Ops (immediate)

ELSE IF contains_support_keywords(input):
    → Route to Driver Support

ELSE IF fleet_has_custom_routing(driver.fleet_id):
    IF matches_fleet_keywords(input, driver.fleet_id):
        → Route to Fleet Admin
    ELSE:
        → Route to Driver Support

ELSE IF agent_unresolved_count >= 3:
    → Route to Driver Support

ELSE IF system_error:
    → Route to Driver Support

5.2 Safety Keywords (Priority List)

python

SAFETY_KEYWORDS = [
    # Emergency
    "emergency", "911", "accident", "crash", "collision",
    # Threat
    "threat", "danger", "unsafe", "attack", "weapon",
    # Medical
    "hurt", "injured", "medical", "ambulance", "hospital",
    # Panic
    "sos", "panic", "help me", "scared", "kidnap",
    # Incident
    "fire", "smoke", "breakdown", "stranded"
]

5.3 Support Keywords

python

SUPPORT_KEYWORDS = [
    # Transfer request
    "speak to", "human", "person", "representative", "agent",
    # Help
    "help", "support", "assist", "problem", "issue",
    # Technical
    "not working", "broken", "error", "bug", "glitch",
    # Dispute
    "cancel", "refund", "wrong", "mistake", "complaint"
]

5.4 Routing Decision Flow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    ESCALATION TRIGGERED                          │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                               ↓
                    ┌──────────────────────┐
                    │ Analyze trigger type │
                    └──────────┬───────────┘
                               ↓
        ┌──────────────────────┼──────────────────────┐
        ↓                      ↓                      ↓
   ┌─────────┐           ┌──────────┐           ┌──────────┐
   │ Safety  │           │ Support  │           │  Fleet   │
   │ keyword │           │ keyword  │           │ specific │
   └────┬────┘           └────┬─────┘           └────┬─────┘
        ↓                     ↓                      ↓
   ┌─────────┐           ┌──────────┐           ┌──────────┐
   │ Safety  │           │  Driver  │           │  Fleet   │
   │   Ops   │           │ Support  │           │  Admin   │
   └────┬────┘           └────┬─────┘           └────┬─────┘
        │                     │                      │
        │              ┌──────┴──────┐               │
        │              ↓             ↓               │
        │         Available?    Unavailable         │
        │              │             │               │
        │              ↓             ↓               │
        │         ┌────────┐   ┌──────────┐         │
        │         │ Connect│   │ Voicemail│         │
        │         │        │   │ + Page   │         │
        │         └────────┘   └──────────┘         │
        │                                           │
        └──────────────────┬────────────────────────┘
                           ↓
                    ┌─────────────┐
                    │ Log event   │
                    │ Start timer │
                    └─────────────┘

6. On-Call Configuration

6.1 Schedule Structure

Role	Primary	Backup	Rotation
Safety Ops	1 person	1 person	Weekly
Driver Support (after-hours)	1 person	1 person	Daily
Fleet Admin	Per fleet	Per fleet	Fleet-defined

6.2 On-Call Schedule Example

Safety Ops (24/7):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Week 1: Alice (Primary), Bob (Backup)                       │
│ Week 2: Bob (Primary), Charlie (Backup)                     │
│ Week 3: Charlie (Primary), Alice (Backup)                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Driver Support (After-Hours: 8 PM - 8 AM):
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Mon: David | Tue: Eve | Wed: Frank | Thu: Grace | Fri: David│
│ Sat: Eve (all day) | Sun: Frank (all day)                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

6.3 Escalation Timeouts

Scenario	Timeout	Action
Primary no answer	30 seconds	Page backup
Backup no answer	30 seconds	Page leadership
Leadership no answer	60 seconds	Emergency protocol

6.4 Notification Methods

Priority	Method	Tool
Critical (Safety)	Phone + SMS + Push	PagerDuty
High (Support)	Phone + Push	PagerDuty
Normal	Push notification	PagerDuty
Low	Email	Automated

7. Handoff Protocol

7.1 Agent → Human Transition

Voice Agent Script:

"I'm connecting you with a [Safety Specialist / Support Representative].
Please hold for just a moment."

[Music/Hold tone plays]
[Transfer initiated]

If transfer fails:

"I'm having trouble connecting. A team member will call you back
within [X] minutes at this number. Is that okay?"

7.2 Context Transfer

When transferring, pass to human agent:

Field	Content
`call_id`	Unique call identifier
`driver_id`	Driver identifier
`driver_name`	First name, last initial
`driver_phone`	Callback number
`vehicle_state`	MOVING / STOPPED / PARKED
`escalation_reason`	Safety / Support / Fleet / Unresolved
`conversation_summary`	Last 3 exchanges summarized
`active_ride_id`	If applicable
`fleet_id`	Driver's fleet
`recording_consent`	GRANTED / DENIED / WAIVED

Context Transfer Format:

json

{
  "call_id": "call_abc123",
  "driver_id": "drv_xyz789",
  "driver_name": "John D.",
  "driver_phone": "+1XXXXXXXXXX",
  "vehicle_state": "STOPPED",
  "escalation_reason": "support",
  "conversation_summary": "Driver reported app showing wrong pickup location. Attempted to refresh, issue persists.",
  "active_ride_id": "ride_456",
  "fleet_id": "fleet_001",
  "recording_consent": "granted"
}

7.3 Human Agent Greeting

Standard Greeting:

"Hi [Driver Name], this is [Agent Name] from Hop And Haul [Safety/Support].
I see you were having [issue from summary]. Let me help you with that."

Safety Greeting:

"[Driver Name], this is [Agent Name] from Hop And Haul Safety.
Are you safe right now? What's happening?"

7.5 Human Dispatcher Standards (per PLCY-COM-001 Section 6)

Human dispatchers contacting drivers MUST follow the same communication principles as the automated system:

Principle	Requirement
Voice-only	No required screen interaction while driver is moving
No time pressure	Never use urgent or pressuring language
Hands-free	All communication completable via voice response only
No coercion	Accept "no" immediately, no follow-up pressure

When Human Dispatch Applies:

System failures or escalations
Complex multi-stop coordination
Driver-initiated questions

Prohibited for Human Dispatchers (same as automated system):

Urgent or pressuring language ("hurry," "last chance," "you need to decide now")
Requests to view a screen or tap a button
Complex routing instructions during the decision call
Guilt-based framing for declines

7.4 Recording Handoff

Consent Status	Handoff Action
GRANTED	Continue recording, human informed
DENIED	Recording off, human informed
WAIVED (emergency)	Recording continues, documented

8. Single-Person Operations

8.1 Use Case

For small fleets or early-stage operations, one person may handle all escalation types.

8.2 Simplified Configuration

Single Operator Mode:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  ALL ESCALATIONS → Single On-Call Person                    │
│                                                              │
│  Primary: [Operator Name]                                    │
│  Backup: [Backup Name or Voicemail]                         │
│                                                              │
│  Hours: 8 AM - 10 PM                                        │
│  After-hours: Voicemail + SMS alert                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

8.3 After-Hours Behavior

Urgency	After-Hours Action
Safety (critical)	Page operator immediately (phone + SMS)
Support (normal)	Voicemail + SMS, callback next business day
Fleet-specific	Voicemail, callback next business day

8.4 Voicemail Script

"Thank you for calling Hop And Haul. Our team is currently unavailable.

If this is a safety emergency, please hang up and call 911.

For all other inquiries, please leave a message with your name and
phone number, and we'll return your call within [X] hours.

[Beep]"

9. Audit Logging

9.1 Escalation Event Log

Field	Description
`escalation_id`	Unique identifier
`call_id`	Source call identifier
`timestamp`	When escalation triggered
`trigger_type`	SAFETY / SUPPORT / FLEET / UNRESOLVED / SYSTEM
`trigger_detail`	Keyword or event that triggered
`source`	LLM_AGENT / DRIVER_REQUEST / SYSTEM
`destination_role`	SAFETY_OPS / DRIVER_SUPPORT / FLEET_ADMIN
`destination_person`	Who received the escalation
`response_time_ms`	Time to human answer
`resolution`	How escalation was resolved
`resolution_time_ms`	Total time to resolution

9.2 Sample Log Entry

json

{
  "escalation_id": "esc_001",
  "call_id": "call_abc123",
  "timestamp": "2025-12-30T14:30:00.000Z",
  "trigger_type": "SUPPORT",
  "trigger_detail": "Driver said 'speak to a person'",
  "source": "DRIVER_REQUEST",
  "destination_role": "DRIVER_SUPPORT",
  "destination_person": "agent_david",
  "response_time_ms": 45000,
  "resolution": "App refresh resolved pickup display issue",
  "resolution_time_ms": 180000
}

9.3 Metrics & Reporting

Metric	Calculation	Target
Escalation rate	Escalations / Total calls	<10%
Average response time	Avg(response_time_ms)	<120 sec
First-call resolution	Resolved without re-escalation	>85%
Safety response time	Avg for safety escalations	<60 sec

10. Integration Points

10.1 PagerDuty Integration

Event	PagerDuty Action
Safety escalation	Create P1 incident, page on-call
Support escalation	Create P3 incident, notify on-call
No answer (timeout)	Escalate to backup
Resolution	Resolve incident

10.2 Twilio Call Transfer

Transfer Types:

Type	Use Case	Implementation
Warm transfer	Standard support	Agent stays on briefly
Cold transfer	High volume	Direct transfer
Conference	Complex issues	3-way call

Warm Transfer TwiML:

xml

<Response>
    <Dial>
        <Number statusCallback="/transfer-status">+1XXXXXXXXXX</Number>
    </Dial>
</Response>

10.3 Hop And Haul API Integration

Endpoint	Purpose
`POST /escalations`	Log escalation event
`GET /drivers/{id}/context`	Get driver context for handoff
`POST /incidents`	Create incident record (safety)

11. NIST 800-53 Control Mapping

Control	Title	Implementation
IR-4	Incident Handling	Safety escalation procedures
IR-5	Incident Monitoring	Escalation logging and metrics
IR-6	Incident Reporting	Escalation audit trail
AU-2	Event Logging	All escalations logged
AU-3	Content of Audit Records	Full context captured

12. Document Control

Version	Date	Author	Changes
1.0	December 30, 2025	Hop And Haul Team	Initial release
1.1	January 21, 2026	Hop And Haul Team	Aligned with PLCY-COM-001 v3.0: Added Section 7.5 Human Dispatcher Standards defining voice-only, no time pressure, and hands-free requirements for human dispatchers per PLCY-COM-001 Section 6.

Voice Escalation Procedures ​

1. Purpose ​

2. Escalation Architecture ​

2.1 Tier Overview ​

2.2 Escalation Paths ​

3. Escalation Triggers ​

3.1 Safety Escalation (Immediate) ​

3.2 Support Escalation (Standard) ​

3.3 Fleet-Specific Escalation ​

4. Role Definitions ​

4.1 Safety Ops ​

4.2 Driver Support ​

4.3 Fleet Admin ​

4.4 Company Leadership (Tier 3) ​

5. Call Routing Logic ​

5.1 Keyword-Based Routing ​

5.2 Safety Keywords (Priority List) ​

5.3 Support Keywords ​

5.4 Routing Decision Flow ​

6. On-Call Configuration ​

6.1 Schedule Structure ​

6.2 On-Call Schedule Example ​

6.3 Escalation Timeouts ​

6.4 Notification Methods ​

7. Handoff Protocol ​

7.1 Agent → Human Transition ​

7.2 Context Transfer ​

7.3 Human Agent Greeting ​

7.5 Human Dispatcher Standards (per PLCY-COM-001 Section 6) ​

7.4 Recording Handoff ​

8. Single-Person Operations ​

8.1 Use Case ​

8.2 Simplified Configuration ​

8.3 After-Hours Behavior ​

8.4 Voicemail Script ​

9. Audit Logging ​

9.1 Escalation Event Log ​

9.2 Sample Log Entry ​

9.3 Metrics & Reporting ​

10. Integration Points ​

10.1 PagerDuty Integration ​

10.2 Twilio Call Transfer ​

10.3 Hop And Haul API Integration ​

11. NIST 800-53 Control Mapping ​

12. Document Control ​