TMS Feature - PBX Manager - Inbound Routes : Support Portal

Update Date: May 2023

Created By: Marizane Brummer

Inbound Routes is a list of actions determining how a call coming into the company will be handled. These actions can send the call to an extension, queue, IVR or a preset script.

Routes can be set as operator-based or time-based. Time-based actions happen automatically depending on a schedule or given time and date, whereas operator-based can be manually adjusted. For example - a receptionist might toggle between office hours and after-hours, or a route may automatically go from office to after-hours based on time and day of the week.

With inbound routes, “actions” refers to the set of conditions that will govern whether a call matches a route or not.

The left-hand pane shows the available action groups and the option to create a new action group. Action groups are designed to easily manage the routing of several DIDs at once. To create an action group, click on the “Create New action Group” option and give the action group a name, then select the create action group button.

The right-hand pane of the inbound routes page contains two content tabs, being “Actions” and “DID Assignments”, these are used to add actions to the selected Action Group, and to later assign DIDs. A defined action with a schedule and a type is referred to as a “handler”.

Whilst it is possible to have multiple operator-based handlers or multiple time-based handlers in a single group, it is not possible to mix the two types in a single group. It is also important to note that handlers are processed in a drop-down order, and the first matching handler will be utilised. There are four levels of settings within a handler as outlined in the following:

Action group Settings

The initial level of settings allows the administrator to choose between time-based and operator-based type routes.. If the handler/ type is set to blank, or the delete action icon (dustbin) is selected, the route will be removed.

Time-based Action Type (Handlers)
- There are three preset schedule options for quick and convenient selection.
- Date and time can be modified for the new handler option (the * represents the “any” option).
- When a handler is created, the system automatically creates a default action that simply hangs up the call.
Operator-based Type (Handler)
- Controlled manually by an operator (e.g. receptionist)

Handler Settings

When the action group is set to operator-based, the handler can be set as either “Day”,” Night”, “Temp”, or “Any”. It is useful to always end with an “Any” handler to cover any hours outside of those the administrator might have specified with other handlers. The “Temp” handler is often used as a routing handler for occasions such as company functions or public holidays.

When the Action group is set to time-based, the handler date and time can be chosen from 3 presets:

Catch-All, which represents any time and date.
Weekend, which includes Saturday and Sunday, at any time.
Office Hours, which includes Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm.

Once a time-based handler is chosen, it can be customised to suit requirements.

Note that once a route level setting is chosen, a “Hangup” action will be created by default and should be modified to the desired action.

Action Level Settings

Action level settings allow the administrator to choose from a list of actions:

Queue
Hunt list
IVR/Menu
Extension
Feature Code
Reroute Call, which allows the user to forward the call to another number, such as a mobile number for after-hours support.
Play File and Hangup
Hangup

These topics are covered in their relevant sections in this user guide.

Action Details

Parameter level settings include any settings for the previously chosen action. The parameters required for each action are outlined below:

Queue/Huntlist/IVR/Extension Action Parameters

These four actions all have similar parameters, with the exception of choosing the particular corresponding destination, i.e. when Queue action is taken, choose the appropriate queue.

Select destination
Prepend to CallerID - This is an optional parameter allowing a text string to be inserted before the CallerID, which will show up on the screen when presented to a device. For example, this is useful in showing queue names to agents when they belong to multiple queues.

Feature Code Action Parameters

This is an advanced topic, which requires an understanding of feature codes, and their parameters and will be covered more in-depth in its chapter.

Specify feature code
Input parameters according to the specified feature code

Reroute Call Action Parameters

Provide the destination number

Play File and Hangup Parameters

Select a file to play

After the appropriate actions and parameters have been set, click “Apply”.

DID Assignments

Once an action group has been created and configured, DIDs can be assigned to it by selecting the “DID Assignment” tab, and dragging DIDs into the Assigned column. This functionality ensures that large amounts of DIDs can be easily assigned to an action.

The order in which handlers are listed is the order in which the system will execute them. This order can be changed as needed. Once it finds a match, the system won’t try further handlers.

Action groups can be edited and deleted from the left-hand panel; however, an action group can only be deleted once all DIDs have been removed from it.