Inbound Call Routing

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Overview

The Inbound Call Routing page is where you take manual control of your phone system. You can redirect calls away from their normal destination instantly, without touching any schedule or waiting for anything to take effect. Go to Inbound Call Routing in the left menu to open it.

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How routing works on your site

When the page loads, a banner at the top tells you which routing style your site uses: Most sites use Combined routing.

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Scheduled Routing

This section shows the time-based schedules configured for your site. You do not need to touch this in day-to-day use, as the schedule runs automatically. The card shows you what each schedule does:

• During scheduled hours: where calls go when the practice is open (for example, Reception)
• Outside scheduled hours: where calls go after hours (for example, an after-hours message)

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Bypass Schedule

If you need to force calls to always go to the open-hours destination, regardless of the time, click Bypass Schedule. This is useful when you are open outside your normal hours and do not want callers to hear the after-hours message. To restore normal automatic scheduling, click Restore Schedule.

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Manual Call Flow

This is where you switch the active mode for your phone system. The banner shows which mode is currently active. The colour of that banner tells you something useful at a glance. It is green when your phones are following their normal schedule, and amber when you have manually overridden it, as in the Break Mode example further down. Amber is a reminder that something you set is in charge, and will stay in charge until you change it back. All inactive modes appear as clickable cards below the banner. Click any card to switch to that mode immediately. There is no Save button, so the change takes effect the moment you click.

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Available modes

If a mode has a play button next to its name, click it to preview the recording before you switch.

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Ending a break automatically

Break Mode can end itself after a set time, so a break nobody remembers to turn off does not run all afternoon. On the Break Mode card you will see End automatically after, with buttons for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes plus Custom… for any other length up to 8 hours. Click one of those instead of the card itself and two things happen: the phone system switches to Break Mode, and it books itself to return to Normal when the time is up. Clicking the card itself still works exactly as it always has, and sets no timer. A break only ends by itself if you choose a length. Once a timer is running, the banner shows a live countdown and who set it:

• Ends in counts down to the minute and second, so you can see at a glance how long is left.
• Add 15 min adds a quarter of an hour to whatever time is left. It does not restart the countdown, so a break with 10 minutes to go becomes 25 minutes.
• Remove timer switches off the automatic return but leaves the break running. Use this when a break is going to run longer than expected and you would rather end it yourself.

Anyone on your team can add time or remove the timer, not only the person who set it, so nobody is left waiting on a colleague who has gone home. You can do the same from the dashboard. On the Inbound Calls card, open the three dot menu and choose a length underneath Break Mode. If someone ends the break from a desk phone before the time is up, the timer notices within about half a minute and stands itself down, so it will not switch anything back on you later.

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Phone codes

You can also switch modes from any desk phone without opening the portal: Dial the code and the mode changes straight away. If a desk phone has a key set up for one of these modes, its lamp follows the mode whichever way you set it. Change Break Mode in the portal and the lamp on the phone lights, exactly as it does when someone dials the code.

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Who changed it and when

Under the active mode, the banner tells you who put the phones into that mode and at what time. This is the quickest way to answer “why are we on break?” without asking around. When someone changes the mode in the portal, you see their name: When someone dials the code on a desk phone instead, you see the extension it came from: What you see depends on how the change was made: When a change comes from a desk phone, the phone system can tell us which phone was used but not who was standing at it, so you get the extension rather than a person’s name. Changed outside the portal is not an error. It appears when the phones were changed somewhere we cannot attribute, such as directly in the phone system itself or by a closure you scheduled in advance. Rather than name the last person who happened to use the portal, which would be misleading, the banner says plainly that it does not know.

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Main Number Diversion

This section stores the mobile or external number that calls are sent to when Main Number Divert is active. To set or update the number, type it into the Diversion number field and click Save. The number is saved but not activated until you select Main Number Divert in the Manual Call Flow section above. If a number is already saved but divert is not active, the page shows a reminder banner telling you how to activate it.

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Workflows

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Send all calls to a mobile (Main Number Divert)

Use this when you need all incoming calls to ring a mobile, for example if the office is unstaffed but someone needs to be reachable.

1. Go to the Main Number Diversion section at the bottom of the page
2. Check the Diversion number field: confirm the mobile number is already correct, or type a new one and click Save
3. Scroll up to Manual Call Flow
4. Click the Main Number Divert card
5. The banner changes to show Main Number Divert is now active, and all calls will ring that mobile

To stop the divert and go back to normal:

1. In Manual Call Flow, click the Normal card
2. The banner changes back to Normal, and calls return to your usual destination

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Put the phone system on break

Use this when the whole practice is on a short break and you want callers to hear a break message instead of ringing through.

1. In Manual Call Flow, find the Break Mode card
2. Either click the card itself, or pick a length under End automatically after if you want the phones to come back on their own
3. The banner changes to show Break Mode is active, with a countdown if you chose a length
4. All calls now hear the break message and hang up

To bring calls back when the break is over:

1. Click the Normal card
2. Calls return to Reception (or your usual destination)

If you set a length, you do not need to do anything: the phones return to Normal by themselves when the time is up. You can still end the break early by clicking Normal, and the timer stands itself down.

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Switch to your after-hours announcement

Use this when you close early or want callers to hear your after-hours message right now, outside of the normal schedule.

1. In Manual Call Flow, click the After Hours Announcement card
2. The banner shows After Hours Announcement is active
3. Callers hear your after-hours recording

To go back to normal:

1. Click the Normal card

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Use Override Mode for a special closure

Override Mode is different from After Hours Announcement. Here is the key difference: To activate Override Mode:

1. In Manual Call Flow, click the Override Mode card
2. The banner shows Override Mode is active
3. All callers hear the override announcement, regardless of the time of day

To go back to normal when you reopen:

1. Click the Normal card

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Frequently asked questions

I clicked a mode but nothing seems to have changed. Why? Check the banner: you may have clicked the mode that is already active. If the banner already shows your chosen mode, you are already set correctly. Can a mode switch back automatically at a set time? Break Mode can. Choose a length under End automatically after and the phones return to Normal on their own. See Ending a break automatically. Every other mode stays on until you change it. If you want routing to switch on a regular schedule, ask your Pear administrator to set one up via Calendar and Scheduling. What happens to my break timer if the phone system goes offline? The break still ends. If the portal cannot reach your phone system at the moment the time is up, it keeps trying, and the phones return to Normal as soon as it can get through. A break may end a little late, but it will not be left running. I set a 30 minute break and pressed Add 15 min. How long is left? Forty five minutes from when you started, so fifteen more than you had. Adding time tops up what is left rather than restarting the clock. Can I use a desk phone instead of the portal? Yes. Use the phone codes listed in the Manual Call Flow section. Dial from any extension on your system. Who put the phones on break? Look under the mode name in the banner. It shows the person who set it if they used the portal, or the extension it was dialled from if they used a desk phone. See Who changed it and when. The banner says “Changed outside the portal”. Is something broken? No. It means the phones were changed somewhere we cannot put a name to, most often directly in the phone system or by a closure scheduled ahead of time. Everything is working normally, and the mode shown is still correct. We would rather tell you we do not know than name the wrong person. Why does a desk phone change show an extension instead of a name? The phone system records which phone dialled the code, not who was using it at the time. If several people share a phone, you will see the phone.