ANSWERING RULES OVERVIEW

You can locate Answering Rules in the tab bar of your SONAR portal. In this section, you can create various answering rules that will change how calls are directed and forwarded at different times.

NOTE: Office managers and call center supervisors need to be in “My Account” view to access their answering rules.

Common Answering Rules and Time Frame Use Cases


Time Stamps 

0:00 Intro 

0:15 Default Time Frame 

0:30 Scenario 1 - Holiday and Vacation (OOO) 

1:35 Scenario 2 - Doctors Office 

2:50 Scenario 3  - Landscaping Employee 

3:35 Contact Support for Help 



ANSWERING RULES AND TIME FRAMES

Answering Rules must be used in conjunction with Time Frames. If you do not have a corresponding time frame already in place, you cannot create a new answering rule. The SONAR portal will inform you if you have entered a timeframe that was previously deleted.

ANSWERING RULES ICONOGRAPHY

  Edit a greeting or answering rule.
Add a number or extension.
  Delete an answering rule.


BASIC ANSWERING RULE FUNCTIONS

Within the Answering Rules tab, you can easily access, edit, and delete any answering rules currently in place. 

You can change your ring duration before the timeout by clicking the drop-down menu between “ring for” and “seconds.”

  • Decreasing the duration will give you less time to answer the call but will ensure that your net2phone Canada voicemail is activated if the call is unanswered.
  • Increasing the duration will give you more time to answer the call but may activate your personal voicemail if the call is unanswered.

By dragging answering rules using the arrow buttonson the left side, you can arrange the priority in a top-down order. Whichever answering rule is currently active will have the active tag next to its name.

The icons on the right side allow you to edit or delete answering rules.

The Block button gives you access to a pop-up window where you have the option to block a specific number or block all anonymous/unknown incoming calls.



ADDING AND EDITING ANSWERING RULES

Whether you are adding a new answering rule or editing an existing one, the pop-up window is the same. 

ANSWERING RULE OPTIONS

Time Frame – select a preexisting time frame and link it to this answering rule.

Enabled – enables or disables the current answering rule you are viewing or creating.

Do not disturb – blocks all calls going to your extension and sends them directly to your voicemail box. If you have Do not disturb activated you will not be able to select any Call Forwarding or Simultaneous ring options.

Call Forwarding – calls will forward to a specified extension, number, or phone. You can configure call forwarding based on the following:

Always – this option will bypass your primary net2phone Canada device and send calls directly to the extension or phone number you have entered. Please note that when entering an external number, you need to enter 10 digits without spaces, brackets or dashes.

When busy –  while visible, the “when busy” option is not available for use for individual answering rules as you will never have a busy signal with net2phone Canada. This option is visible as it can be used when managing answering rules for queues and other features.

When unanswered – this option will ring your net2phone Canada phone first and send calls directly to the extension or phone number entered if you don’t answer. When entering an external number, you need to enter 10 digits without spaces, brackets or dashes.

net2phone Canada SureAnswer – this option will only forward a call if your net2phone Canada phone goes offline due to a power outage, internet outage, etc. This feature is often used in conjunction with a mobile phone.

Simultaneous ring – you can configure multiple devices to ring at the same time to ensure you never miss a call. You can configure simultaneous rings based on the following:

Include user’s extension – ensure your primary extension is included if you want your phone to ring.

Ring all user’s phones – select this if you have multiple phones associated with your extension. This includes softphones and mobile apps. 

Enable net2phone Canada SmartAnswer – used to configure an external phone number that will ring at the same time as your net2phone Canada phones. When you answer a call, you will first hear a prompt asking if you want to connect to the caller or not. You can press 1 to answer, or hang up to reject the call. If you reject the call, the caller will be sent to your net2phone Canada voicemail rather than your mobile voicemail.

Extension, number or phone – You can enter an additional extension or phone number to ring along with your personal extension. You also have the option to add a ring delay. The green plus button will add additional fields if you want to enter more numbers.

When selecting another extension, there will likely be three main options to choose from:

User –  if you select an another user’s extension, the call will follow that user’s personal answering rules (the call may be forwarded again).

Phone – if you have multiple devices configured, you may want to forward calls to an additional extension. In this case, each additional device is associated with an extension followed by a letter (i.e. 501m for your mobile phone). Your primary device will never have a letter. If a call is sent to an additional device and is not answered, it will be transferred back to your primary extension’s voicemail.

Voicemail – if selecting an additional extension’s voicemail, the call with be sent straight to voicemail without ringing any of your devices.



ACTIVE ANSWERING RULE IN THE HOME TAB

For quick access, you can view and change your answering rule in the Home tab. It will display your current active answering rule, which extensions are associated with that rule and the time frame it uses. You can change your Active Answering Rule by clicking the drop-down above your current answering rule.

    

NOTE: Office managers and call center supervisors must be in the Home section of “My Account” view.

To see the Time Frame your active answering rule is using, you can hover over the answering rule name.

Going on vacation soon? Check out our blog post helping you prep for time off


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