The right call handling, in hours and out.
Route calls differently depending on the time of day and the day of the week. Set your opening hours, choose what happens in hours and out of hours, and add holidays so callers are always looked after. Set up in the portal, no engineer needed.
Set your hours, then choose what happens in and out of them
Business-hours routing, sometimes called time-based call routing, checks the time of day and the day of the week for every call and handles it the way you have chosen. Open or closed, weekday or weekend, holiday or not, the right thing happens automatically.
- 1 Set your opening hoursTell the system when you are open across the week, for example Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. You can set different hours for different days, including split shifts and weekends.
- 2 Choose your in-hours handlingWhen a call comes in during opening hours, decide where it goes. Ring a team with a ring group, play your phone menu, or send it straight to the right extension.
- 3 Choose your out-of-hours handlingOutside your hours, decide what callers get. Send them to voicemail, play a closed message, or divert the call elsewhere, such as an on-call mobile.
- 4 Add holidays and let it runAdd bank holidays and one-off closures so those dates are handled correctly too. From then on the system follows your hours automatically, with no daily admin.
Need to close early?
Flip to night mode in the portal and callers immediately get your out-of-hours handling, then flip back when you reopen. Handy for a quiet afternoon or an unplanned closure.
Control exactly how calls are handled, hour by hour
Everything is configured in the portal. Change your hours, swap the out-of-hours destination or add a closure whenever your business changes.
Weekly opening hours
Set when you are open across the week, with different hours per day, split shifts and weekend hours if you need them. The system follows the schedule automatically.
In-hours vs out-of-hours routing
Choose one destination during opening hours, such as a team or a phone menu, and a different one outside them, such as voicemail, a closed message or a divert.
Holidays and one-off closures
Add bank holidays and one-off closures like a training day or Christmas week. Holidays take priority over your normal hours, so those dates are handled correctly without any reminders.
Manual day/night switch
Flip between day and night modes yourself for the exceptions, like closing early on a quiet afternoon. Callers get your out-of-hours handling straight away, then back to normal when you flip it back.
Works with the rest of your call handling
Business-hours routing decides when calls happen. The features below decide what happens next, in hours and out. They are all part of the phone system and set up in the same portal.
Auto attendant
Play one phone menu during opening hours and a different greeting or routing out of hours and at weekends.
Ring groups
Ring a whole team at once during your hours so the first person free picks up the call.
Voicemail
Send out-of-hours callers to voicemail so nothing is missed, with messages waiting for you when you reopen.
Common questions
How are callers handled after hours?
You decide. Once a call comes in outside your opening hours, you can send it to voicemail, play a closed message, or divert it elsewhere, such as an on-call mobile or another team. The same applies at weekends and on the holidays you set. You choose the out-of-hours handling once and it runs automatically.
Can I set holidays and one-off closures?
Yes. Add bank holidays and one-off closures such as a staff training day or Christmas week, and calls are handled with your out-of-hours routing on those dates. Holidays take priority over your normal weekly hours, so you do not have to remember to change anything on the day.
Can I close early on the day if I need to?
Yes. As well as your set weekly hours, you can switch manually between day and night modes in the portal. So if you decide to close early on a quiet afternoon, you flip to night mode and callers immediately get your out-of-hours handling, then flip back when you reopen.
Do I need to remember to switch it on and off each day?
No. Once your opening hours are set, the system follows them automatically by time of day and day of week, including overnight and at weekends. The manual day/night switch is there for the exceptions, like closing early, not for everyday running.
Which plan is business-hours routing on?
Business-hours routing is part of the phone system and is included on the Standard plan at £6.95 per user per month. There is no separate licence to buy, and you can set it up yourself in the portal.
Look after every caller, whatever the time
Set your hours, choose what happens in and out of them, and let it run. Keep your number, go live quickly and get real UK support if you need a hand.