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UC – Answering Rules – Tips and Examples

To manage your call forwarding, login to the user portal and select “Answering Rules”

Answering rules give the user full control of how incoming calls to their extension number are treated.  See  Answering Rules – Full Reference  for full details of every option including call blocking, call forwarding, ring time and simultaneous ringing.

This article covers:

Timeframes – when a rule is implemented

Time frames control which answering rule is used to route calls.  By default, there will be a timeframe called “Always”, but you may want to use different rules depending on the time of day, if a holiday or weekend.   Ask Support or your System Administrator if you need to have a custom timeframe setup to meet your needs.  Some frequently used timeframes.

  • Holidays:  The public holidays for the year when the business will be closed.  Often, this is used for incoming main number to go to different voice menus or call queues on public holidays.
  • Business hours:  These can be as customised to fit each day.  Eg Mon-Thursday 9am-5pm closed for lunch 12.30 t0 1pm.  Friday 9am-3pm.
  • User specific work hours:  Eg for a part time user Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9am to 2pm.

Timeframes – which order?

The order that the rules are placed in is very important.  The most specific goes first.  Typically this would be specific days like holidays.  Next would be regular business hours.  The final rule would be “always”, which would handle calls at time when no other rule applies.  The order of rules can be changed by dragging the rule up or down using the arrows on the left hand side.

Generally, most users will just set up a rule for “Always”.

Call Forwarding

An answering rule can be created using “Add Rule”, or edited by clicking on

The most common call forwarding setting is “Always”.  A typical use of this would be to forward calls to a colleague, or a cellphone when out of the office.  Check the Call Forward – Always” box and enter the number or extension. (If you are using a Yealink phone, this will also synchronise with the call forward setting on the phone.)  You can also  select another user’s voicemail, a call queue or even a voice menu.  Start typing the name or extension of the user and you will see the options.

Other options allow to call forward:

  • When on an active call
  • When busy (rarely used, because calls usually will go to another line rather than ring busy)
  • When unanswered.  By default,  this goes to voicemail, but you can choose to go to another extension or even another user’s voicemail.
  • When Offline:  This would only be used if your office phone is offline.  For example when your internet is down.

Simultaneous Ringing

Simultaneous ringing allows an incoming call to ring on multiple devices.  For example, a call could ring on the main phone, home office phone, laptop app and  a cellphone.  This can be done all at the same time, or sequentially.

To setup

  • click enabled to activate
  • Include user’s extension:  This will include the primary device of the user.
  • Ring all user’s phones:  Will ring all the devices assigned to the user
  • Answer confirmation for offnet numbers:  A cell or landline number would be offnet numbers.  This option will play a message to the recipient,  notifying them that this is a forwarded call and ask the user to press 1 to accept.
  • To add additional numbers or devices, enter in the box.   The primary device of a user is just the user’s extension numbers.  Additional devices have a letter suffix, eg 220a.  The Reachuc mobile app always has the  suffix ‘m’, eg 220m.  The timer next to the number can be set to delay the ring of the device after the start.  In the example above, initially the user’s main device will ring.  Then after 5 seconds, the Reachuc mobile device 202m will also ring.  After 10 seconds, the cell number will also ring.
  • In most cases, voicemail is enabled.  With voicemail, the maximum total ring time of all the devices before going to voicemail is set on top left of  the Answer Rule page

 

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