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Call routing

Every SimpleVox number has its own call flow: the steps a call goes through from the moment it comes in. Your Office number can ring the front desk while your Crew number rings the techs in turn and sends after-hours calls to voicemail.

Where to set it up

Section titled “Where to set it up”

Go to Settings → Phone numbers, choose a number and open the Call flow tab. The flow is drawn as a tree, starting at Call comes in. Select a step to change it, or use the + on the line between two steps to add one there.

A number's Call flow tab, following a call during business hours and then one after hours.

Admins can change the call flow on every number. Someone who is an Owner of a number (set on its People tab) can change that number’s settings too. Members can see the flow but not edit it.

Changes apply from the next call. A call that’s already ringing keeps the flow it started with.

A new number starts with a simple flow: it rings the people you set the number up for, all at once for 20 seconds, then goes to voicemail. Change it whenever you like.

Steps you can add

Section titled “Steps you can add”
Step What it does What happens next
Ring person Rings one person on every device they’re signed in on. If they don’t answer, the next step.
Ring group Rings up to 10 people: everyone at once, one at a time in order, or taking turns. If nobody answers, the next step.
Forward to a number Rings an outside phone, such as a mobile or an answering service. Depends on the setting. See below.
Play audio Plays a saved clip to the caller, such as a welcome or a closed message. The next step.
Check business hours Splits the flow into an Open path and a Closed path. Open or Closed, depending on the time.
Voicemail Plays the number’s voicemail greeting and takes a message. The call ends.
Hang up Ends the call. The call ends.

On Boost, routing rules can also screen likely spam before anyone’s phone rings. See Spam call protection.

A flow can hold up to 25 steps. Every path ends in voicemail, a hang-up or a forward that connects straight away, so a call can’t go round in circles.

Ring a group

Section titled “Ring a group”

Choose how the group rings:

  • Everyone at once. All of them ring together. The first to answer takes the call.
  • One at a time, in order. Tries each person once, in the order you set. Drag people into order.
  • Take turns. Each new call starts with the next person, then tries the rest once. Good for spreading calls evenly across a crew.

A ring group step, cycling through everyone at once, one at a time in order, and taking turns.

Pick a ring time from 5 to 60 seconds. With everyone at once, that’s how long the whole group rings. In order or taking turns, it’s how long each person rings. New steps start at 20 seconds.

You can only ring people who have the number. Add them on the number’s People tab first. When the call comes in, anyone who is already on a call or has no device ready, for example because their browser phone is off, is skipped. If too many devices would ring at once, the app asks you to ring fewer people together or one at a time.

Forward to a number

Section titled “Forward to a number”

Enter the number to forward to, including its country code, and how long it should ring. Then choose what happens when someone picks up:

  • Ask them to press 1. The person who answers hears “Call for Office. Press 1 to take it.” Pressing 1 connects them. If their voicemail answers or nobody presses 1, the call moves on to the next step, such as your SimpleVox voicemail.
  • Connect straight away. Whatever happens at that number is final, including its own voicemail. Nothing can come after this step.

The phone you forward to sees your SimpleVox number calling, not the caller’s number.

A forward counts as an outgoing call toward your fair use. If outgoing calls are paused for your business or have reached their limits, a forward set to Ask them to press 1 moves on to its next step, and one set to Connect straight away ends the call.

Use Ask them to press 1 when you forward to a personal mobile. A call you miss then comes back to your SimpleVox voicemail and inbox instead of disappearing into your personal voicemail.

Play audio

Section titled “Play audio”

Plays one of the number’s saved clips, then moves on. You can upload, record or generate clips with text to speech. See Greetings and audio.

Business hours

Section titled “Business hours”

Each number’s opening hours live on its Business hours tab. They only affect calls once the call flow has a Check business hours step.

  1. Open the number’s Business hours tab and choose Edit hours.

  2. Tick each day you’re open and set the times. You can add up to 4 periods a day, for example to close over lunch. Copy to Tuesday–Friday copies Monday’s hours across the week.

  3. Save, then open the Call flow tab and add a Check business hours step where you want it, usually right after Call comes in.

  4. Fill in the Open and Closed paths. A new hours step keeps your existing steps on the Open path and sends the Closed path to voicemail.

Hours follow your workspace time zone, set in Settings → Workspace → Time zone. Every number uses that time zone, and daylight saving changes are handled for you. The Business hours tab shows whether the number is open right now.

There’s no holiday calendar. To close for a holiday, clear that day’s hours and put them back afterwards.

When nobody answers

Section titled “When nobody answers”

Each ring step has a No answer path, and a forward set to Ask them to press 1 has a Not taken path. Whatever you put there runs next. When you add a step, whatever was already at that point moves after it, so a path that ended in voicemail still does.

  • Voicemail. The caller hears the number’s greeting, leaves a message after the beep, and it lands in the number’s inbox with a transcript and summary. See Voicemail.
  • Hang up. Open the menu on a Voicemail step and choose Hang up instead. Add a Play audio step before it if you’d like to say goodbye.

A forward set to Connect straight away never comes back. If nobody answers at that number, the call ends there, unless that phone’s own voicemail picks up.

Example setups

Section titled “Example setups”

Check business hours

  • Open: Ring person (you), 20 seconds, then voicemail.
  • Closed: Play audio (“We’re closed for the day and open again at 7”), then voicemail.

You pick up messages from the inbox between jobs and call back from the summary.

No phone tree, no hold queue

Section titled “No phone tree, no hold queue”

Call flows are built to get callers to a person quickly:

  • No phone tree. Nobody has to “press 1 for sales.” Give each line of work its own number and route by time of day instead. See Route callers without a menu.
  • No hold queue or hold music. Calls ring the people you choose. If nobody can pick up, the caller leaves a voicemail, and its transcript and summary tell you what they need.
  • The right person from the first ring. Calls aren’t transferred between teammates once answered, so ring the people who can handle the call. A ring group lets whoever’s free pick up.
Section titled “Related”