Christmas is fast-approaching and there’s lots to do before the big day. But routing your calls to the right place during Christmas office closures, is one thing you won’t want to miss off your to-do list.

Within call routing, you can configure a number of useful features, that determine where incoming calls go when they reach your phone system.

Read our simple guide below to configuring presets and time-based routing, so customer satisfaction doesn’t drop during the festive period.

Feature 1: Presets

What is a preset?

A preset is a pre-defined set of rules, that can be enabled or disabled at any time. Presets allow you to pre-configure rules for your incoming numbers and then activate these rules when they are needed. For example, you may have a rule which, at the click of a button, sends all your calls to a mobile or straight to voicemail during Christmas closures.

How do I access existing presets?

When you first visit the presets page, you'll see a list of presets already configured in your phone system.

Each preset will show its name, any associated numbers and a status button. If the preset is currently disabled, a green Enable button will be displayed, and if it's enabled an orange Disable button will display.

How do I add a new preset?

Clicking the Create a new preset button on the presets page, will allow you to add a new preset to your phone system.

Enter a name for the preset, choose if you want to enable it immediately, then click Save to finish. You'll then be taken to the edit area for the preset, where you can configure numbers to which the preset is applied, as well as where it will send calls.

How do I edit a preset?

Clicking on the name of the preset, or the edit icon next to it, will allow you to edit it.

Preset details

Initially, you'll see a Preset details tab. Here, you can edit the name and enable or disable the preset.

Incoming numbers

Here, you can configure different destinations for each incoming number that the preset will apply to. Leave the option blank if you don't want the preset to apply to a certain number, or, choose the destination type followed by the specific destination, to apply it to any number.

Internal numbers

Here, you can configure different destinations for each internal number that the preset will apply to. Leave the option blank if you don't want the preset to apply to a certain number, or, choose the destination type followed by the specific destination, to apply it to any number.

Just press Save at any time to update any configuration, or Delete if you wish to remove the Preset.

Find out more information about setting up presets here.

Feature 2: Time-based routing

What is time-based routing?

Time-based routing allows you to adjust the routing of your incoming calls, based on the time of day. For example, you can use these to automatically forward calls to voicemail, over the Christmas period.

When you first visit your Time-based routing page, you'll see a list of previously configured time routes.

You'll be able to see the name of each route, its destination, and any numbers in your phone system that it applies to.

How do I add a new time-based route?

Clicking the Create a new route button, will allow you to add a new time route.

Start by entering a name for the route, followed by the time range. If you want to run the route all day, leave that blank. Otherwise, it's recommended that you start the route when you first want to close, then finish it when you reopen, such as 17:30 - 09:00 if you operate from 9am to 5:30pm. Your default settings for each number, will then apply during office hours.

Next, choose a day of the week, which can be every day, an individual day, or commonly chosen groups of days, such as weekdays or weekends. Then choose any numbers you wish to apply the route to.

Finally, you can choose any destination in your phone system, to send calls to when the route is active.

Then just click Save to finish, after which your route will automatically send calls to your chosen destination, during its active hours.

How do I edit a time-based route?

Clicking the name of a time route, or the edit icon next to it in your list, will allow you to edit it.

You can rename the route, update the time range and day of the week to run it, then enable or disable numbers to apply it to.

Finally, you can change the destination for your route, click Save to apply any changes, or Delete if you wish to remove the time route from your phone system.

Find out more information about setting up time-based routing here.

Have a question?

If you need any help setting up either presets or time-based routing, please give us a call on 0330 088 0900 and we'll be happy to help you set this up.