Call forwarding
Managing your call agents' work is as important as organizing your marketing processes. It can help you reduce the number of missed calls and catch up with the callers asap.
Optimization of your call-center work and managing the calls stream are one of the prioritized tasks in the business processes. So, there are different tools you can use for it: a voicemail, IVR, greeting audios, and other ones for setting the distribution of the calls to your call agents.
We recommend our users create call routing schemes for working and non-working days and hours using the IVR setting. So this helps to minimize the number of missed calls and direct the caller to the correct department.
But, if you already have another PBX, you are also free to set the most optimizing configurations for distributing the calls to your call agents.
Create a new call forwarding scheme using the following configurations:
Enter a name of a call forwarding scheme. For example, the department's name to which you will redirect the calls.
Now select the destination you want to direct the calls to:
Voicemail — audio for non-working days and hours;
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) — a setting for relocating the calls to different departments or specific call agents using the tone keypad;
Webhook forwarding number — a number for redirecting the calls into your CRM system or other services;
Call center — the call will be forwarded to the phone numbers or SIP accounts added to the call queue. There can be different scenarios for the call queue;
SIP-account — a SIP user account that contains all configurations for the telephone connection via the Internet;
Phone number — your company telephone number;
External SIP account — a SIP user account you can take from your provider;
Employee — the call will be forwarded to the phone numbers and SIP accounts, which are attached to the employee;
Department — the call will be sent to the phone numbers and SIP accounts of the employees who are connected to the selected department;
You can combine a few destinations in one scheme. For example, first, you can set call distribution to a SIP account (or a few of them) for 20 seconds, then to a phone number - for 20 seconds, and add the voicemail block.
Then enter a timeout in seconds for forwarding the calls from one destination to another if the call won't be answered from it (a call agent might be on another line or unreachable).
And finally, select a call forwarding type for the scheme:
Sequential — for routing the calls from one destination to another alternately.
Parallel — for routing the calls in parallel to a few destinations.
Pro tip: you can set different call routing schemes for each number or the pools of numbers connected to the project.
If you didn't activate the Virtual PBX product — you wouldn't be able to use the extended settings for the call forwarding. You can set up the call routing only to the SIP account and the different phone numbers in the reserved call forwarding scheme.
Examples of configuring call routing
Example with sequential routing
First, in the "Call forwarding location" list, select the SIP accounts you've created in the project.
Then add another location and put your company phone number.
The last block will be added for the voicemail audio to inform your callers that you will connect them asap.
Set 15 seconds for a timeout.
Don't forget to set the sequential call forwarding type for these locations and save.
Main call routing settings are completed!
Example with parallel routing
Add the SIP account for the first agent.
Then add the SIP account for the second agent.
Set up 30 seconds for the timeout.
Select the parallel type of routing and save.
Then add another block with the different phone number of your company.
Call routing settings are completed!
Example of the reserved forwarding scheme
Add the SIP account of the agent that you created before.
Set 30 seconds timeout for the first block and save the settings.
Then add the extra block with the phone number, so the call won't be lost if the agent wouldn't be able to answer the call for the SIP account.
Set 60 seconds timeout for the second block and save it.
Reserved call forwarding settings are completed!
Advanced settings
To manage your call agents' schedule better, we recommend configuring the advanced settings like working days and hours: mark the days of the week you want to get the clients' calls to organize the call center's work.
Set the main branch for working days and hours. For example, you want to receive the calls from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Mon-Fri. So, set the marks in the check-boxes from Mon to Fri and select the working time.
Configure the advanced audio settings to make your company brand more known and loyal to the clients: introduce the company brand to a caller and make it more known using greeting audio.
Then add voicemail for the non-working hours from Monday to Friday. So it will be from 12:00 am to 9:00 am and from 5:00 pm to 11:59 pm.
After that, add voicemail for the weekends.
The general rings can be annoying sometimes, so you can also upload background audio.
What's next?
Now, as you've already configured the call routing schemes for receiving the calls from your web page visitors, go to the next step and enable the insertion. For this, connect the phone numbers to the project.