Answering Rules Overview
Table of Contents
In this section, you can create various answering rules to change how calls are directed (or redirected), at different times of the day (or week). Office managers and call center supervisors need to be in “My Account” view to access their answering rules.
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 Client Portal will inform you if you have entered an invalid time frame.
Common Answering Rules and Time Frame Use Cases
This video was created for an old instance, the process is the same.
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 (not applicable)
Basic Answering Rule Functions
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 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 buttons on the left side, you can arrange the priority in top-down order. Whichever answering rule is currently active will have the active tag next to its name.
Add and Edit Answering Rules
Within the Answering Rules tab, you can easily access, edit, and delete any answering rules currently in place. 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 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 the Client Portal. 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 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.
TBi SureAnswer – this option will only forward a call if your 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 softphone and mobile apps.
Enable TBi SmartAnswer – used to configure an external phone number that will ring at the same time as your 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 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.
