RINGOFFICE CLOUD PHONE SYSTEM INCOMING CALL ROUTING

Incoming Calls

From the RingOffice Customer Self-Care Portal, you can control incoming call routing behavior of your Extension. This includes ring time, call forwarding and voicemail as well as the preferred sequence of where to send calls first. To manage this, login to your RingOffice customer portal at https://customer.ringoffice.com

• Go to the IP Centrex tab
• Click on ‘Phone Lines’, then click ‘Configure’ button beside the line which you need to manage. This will open up settings of this line.
• Click IP Centrex once again (for the line being managed).
• From the menu on the left, click on ‘Incoming Calls’.
• In the field “Default Answering Mode "you will see the following options to select your preferred sequence of behavior for incoming call routing:
  • Ring, Forward, Voicemail: Ring to the registered phone system for the ”Timeout” duration first. If call goes unanswered, then follow defined Forwarding rules (if any) for the duration defined. If call is still unanswered, then send to Voicemail of the line (if feature is enabled). Voicemail messages can be forwarded to email.
  • Ring Then Forward: Ring to the registered phone system for the ”Timeout” duration first. If call goes unanswered, then follow defined Forwarding rules (if any) for the duration defined.
  • Ring Then Voicemail: Ring to the registered phone system for the ”Timeout” duration first. If call goes unanswered, then send to Voicemail of the line (if feature is enabled). Voicemail messages can be forwarded to email.
  • Forward Then Voicemail: Follow defined Forwarding rules (if any) for the duration defined. If call goes unanswered, then send to Voicemail of the line (if feature is enabled). Voicemail messages can be forwarded to email.
  • Ring Only: Ring to the registered phone system for the ”Timeout” duration first. If call goes unanswered, then disconnect the call.
  • Forward Only: Follow defined Forwarding rules (if any) for the duration defined. If call goes unanswered, then disconnect the call.
  • Voicemail Only: Send the call to the Voicemail feature of the line (if feature is enabled). Voicemail messages can be forwarded to email.
  • Reject: Reject/disconnect the call
• In the “Timeout” field, set the duration of time you would like calls to ring to a registered phone system or device.
• Click ‘Save’ and test.

Group Call Pickup *40

The Group Pickup feature enables members of the same Huntgroup to answer each other’s calls by dialing a Group Pickup Prefix. If this feature is enabled, simply dial access code *40 to answer a call ringing on any extension in the Huntgroup you belong to. Note that group pickup must be enabled for the customer and the Huntgroup.

Call Forwarding

This section covers Call Forwarding features and functionality that can be managed from the IP Phone or from the RingOffice Customer Portal.

Enable Forward All *72

*72 is the shortcut you can dial to set a call forwarding number from your phone. After dialing, you will be prompted to dial the forwarding destination number. For North American numbers, be sure to enter the number starting with 1, e.g. 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX. This will create and enable a Follow-Me rule in your account. *72 sets the default answering mode to "forward_then_voicemail"

Disable Forward All *73

*73 is the shortcut you can dial to disable a call forwarding number set by using *72. After dialing, you will hear a confirmation that forwarding has been disabled. *73 sets the default answering mode to "ring_then_voicemail".

Advanced Forwarding and Follow Me

Each extension has a powerful forwarding feature that can be managed through the RingOffice Customer Portal. This allows you to set up basic and advanced call forwarding rules. For example, you can have a call ring your phone but if you do not answer, follow you to ring your mobile, and if you still do not answer go back to your office voicemail. You can also preset time of day based forwarding rules.

In the RingOffice Customer Portal. Go to ‘IP Centrex’, then Extensions. Beside your Extension, click the wrench icon ‘Configure’ and then once again go to ‘IP Centrex’ for your Extension. You will see a link on your left called ‘Forwarding’. Here you can set your preferred Call Forwarding and Follow Me rules, Don’t forget to click ‘Save’ after updating your desired settings.

Failover Follow Me / Fail to Cell

When creating a Follow Me rule in the RingOffice Customer Portal, setting the rule name to “:FTC:” will enable the Failover Forward (or Fail to Cell) feature. Normal Follow Me rules are triggered after attempting to ring to the registered phone or device on the line. With an “:FTC:” Follow Me rule enabled, the system will first check  the registration status of the phone or device. If a phone or device is registered to the line, then the “:FTC:” Follow-Me rule will not be triggered (i.e. excluded from routing). If however the system does not find any phone or device registered to the line, calls will be routed to external failover number or cell phone.

Call Transfer

The method of transferring calls may vary depending on the type of IP phone handset being used. Below are some general descriptions of how to use the transfer feature:

Blind Transfer to an Extension

Attended Transfer to an Extension

In Attended transfer, the Transfer feature on the phone can also be used to transfer a call directly to an Extension Number (e.g. 200), Account ID (e.g. 0201234200) or External Phone Number (e.g. 14162345555) in much the same way as in a blind transfer. However, the difference is that the before completing the transfer, the call connects the transferrer to the destination number or transferee so they can communicate before the transferrer completes the transfer (usually by hanging up or pressing the transfer key again).

Transfer to an Extension Voicemail without Ringing

To transfer a call directly to the voicemail of an extension without ringing, you can simply perform a Blind Transfer using the following prefix: aa999Extension (e.g. aa999200).

Auto Attendant

When the Auto-Attendant feature is enabled on any Line or Account, it automatically changes the Default Answering Mode for Incoming calls to ‘Calls routed to auto-attendant’. Once this is done, all other actions like ‘Ring’ or ‘Forward’ will be skipped and all incoming calls will be routed only to the Auto Attendant.

Configure/Manage Auto Attendant settings

To configure/manage Auto Attendant settings, login to the RingOffice customer portal at https://customer.ringoffice.com

• Go to the IP Centrex tab
• Click on ‘Phone Lines’, then click ‘Configure’ button beside the line on which your Auto Attendant is configured. This will open up settings of this line.
• Click IP Centrex once again (for the line being managed).
• Click on ‘Auto Attendant’ from the menu to the left to view Auto Attendant settings.
• Select the Menu you wish to manage and click Edit. By default, there will be one ‘ROOT’ menu where all calls go to first.
• Click on ‘General’ tab to manage Active Time windows.
• Click on ‘Prompts’ tab to record or upload your greetings. The system allows you to upload auto-attendant greetings up to 3 MB, mono-channel, .mp3 or .wav format.
• Click on ‘Actions’ tab to set Auto Attendant behaviour for various key press options. Use the ‘Transfer’ feature to send calls to internal destinations like extension numbers or hunt group numbers. Use the ‘Transfer to E.164 number’ feature to send calls to external destinations like landline/mobile numbers (when doing so be sure to start all North American number with 1).
• Click ‘Save’ and test your Auto Attendant by calling into the line.

Audio Greeting Format

RingOffice allows you to personalize your Voicemail Greetings and Auto Attendant Prompts. The system supports common audio formats such as .aiff, .au, .gsm, .mp3, .ogg, .wav. The limitation on the audio file size is 3 MB in our Web Self-Care portal. We advise to record files with these attributes: 8,000 Hz, 8-bit, Mono channel.

You can use any sound recorder app like Windows Sound Recorder or a 3rd party voice talent service to record your prompts. In Windows Sound Recorder you must use the ‘Save As’ option to save this format.

Auto Attendant Actions

• Default – Plays the Default prompt from the current menu and returns to the “Play Menu prompt” step (this is the action used for all menu items where the initial value has not been modified).
• Disabled – Caller will hear system prompt “This selection is not available”. “Play before Action” prompt will not be played
• Transfer – Transfers the call to a given telephone number or extension. The phone number should be entered in the same format as the customer would use to dial it from an IP phone in his IP Centrex environment; for example, to transfer a call to extension 123, simply enter 123.
• Transfer to E.164 Number – Transfers the call to a given number. The number should be specified in E.164 format: the country code, followed by the area code, and then the number (e.g. 16045551234 for Canada).
• Dial extension directly – Transfers the call to an extension number entered by the caller from his phone. The extension number should start with the same digit as the “Dial extension directly” option. To prevent abuse (e.g. someone attempting to enter a long-distance number in this way), you can specify the maximum allowed number of digits in an extension (Max Size).
• Prompt for extension # – You will hear the prompt to enter the extension number. You can specify the maximum allowed number of digits in an extension (Max Size).
• Transfer to Voicemail – Switches to voicemail mode. This should be designated as an action for the “Fax” event, in order to allow storage of received faxes.
• Menu “ROOT” – Transfers the user to the selected menu.
• Directory – Launches this company’s dial-by-name directory.

Setting up Dial by Name Directory

The Dial by Name Directory feature allows callers to search for an extension user by entering the first few characters of the user’s last name. In each Auto Attendant, an ‘Event’ with Action ‘Directory’ can be selected. To be useful, this event should be mentioned in the Auto Attendant greeting script to prompt callers of the option to use the company directory. When sending calls from the Auto Attendant to the dial by name company directory feature, the following additional setup steps are needed:

From the Customer Self-Care Portal, go to the “IP Centrex” tab and then click on the “Extensions” from the menu tree on the left. Click the “Edit” icon or double click on the Extension name or number to open the Edit Extension window and set as follows:

• Fill in the ‘Extension Name’ in the format ‘last name, first name’ since the directory searches by last name
• Check the ‘Published’ checkbox for these entries
• Record or upload the recorded name of the extension user
• Click ‘Save’ and repeat for all extensions that should be searchable via the directory feature

Transfer to an Extension Voicemail without Ringing

Transfer Call directly to Voicemail of an Extension – Use “Transfer” action but send calls to destination of our special IVR application (aa999%) which sends directly to voicemail. Please configure the action of the needed event of AA to forward calls to aa999Account_ID or aa999Extension (e.g. aa999201).

Forwarding Incoming Calls before Auto-Attendant

Any Line/Account that requires both Forwarding and Auto-Attendant features to work in concert (e.g. Forward first and then go to Auto Attendant) must be configured according to the method described below:

For example, if you want incoming calls to 14165551234 to be forwarded to Huntgroup 2000 (or Receptionist extension 200) during business hours (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday) before being sent to the company Auto Attendant, and for calls to go directly to the company Auto Attendant outside business hours, use the following settings:

1- The DID Account 14165551234 should have Forwarding feature enabled, Default Answering Mode set to “Forward only”, and Dialing Rules explicitly ‘Disabled’.

2- The Auto-Attendant Account should be named as: 14165551234AA

3- In the Account 14165551234, set ‘Order’ forward ringing strategy and create the following 2 forwarding rules:

– the first rule should point to the Huntgroup 2000 (or extension 200) with Ring Schedule matching the required business hours defined in its Forward Settings

– the second rule should point to the Auto-Attendant Account 14165551234AA with Ring Schedule defined as ‘Always’ in its Forward Settings