Set up your first line
A line is a phone number that belongs to your organization. Setting one up is five short steps, and you can try the routing with a simulated call at any point, before any real call reaches it.
1. Get the number
Section titled “1. Get the number”Numbers are connected to your organization by the Care Connect team: tell us the area codes you want, or the numbers you already have and want to bring over, and they appear under Phone in the sidebar. Until an organization is connected to the carrier it runs in a Sandbox, shown as a badge in the header. Everything below works in the sandbox; the calls are simulated instead of placed, which is exactly what you want while you are setting up.
2. Name it and give it a fallback
Section titled “2. Name it and give it a fallback”Open the line and choose Edit line. The label is what your team sees in the sidebar (“Main line”, “After hours”). The fallback number is where a call goes when nobody is on call, and Forward to the fallback number turns that on. A line can also carry its own time zone; leave it blank to use the organization’s.
3. Choose how it routes
Section titled “3. Choose how it routes”Under Routing, pick the flow type:
- Simple forward. Every call goes straight to the fallback number.
- Shifts. Whoever the schedule says is on call. Nobody on call, the fallback answers.
With Shifts chosen, a Shifts section appears on the line. Each shift is a person from the directory, a start and an end in the line’s time zone, and an enabled switch. Shifts cannot overlap. See Routing and shifts for the detail.
4. Decide what people hear
Section titled “4. Decide what people hear”Under Call experience: the prompt the on-call person hears before the call connects, which caller ID they see (the caller’s number, or the line’s own so they know it is the on-call line ringing), and the message a caller hears when nobody is on call and there is no fallback. See Call experience.
5. Try it
Section titled “5. Try it”At the top of the line, Dry-run a call asks the same router that answers real calls what it would do for a call at a given time, from a given number, without placing one. Simulate a call goes further and writes a real call record, so it appears in the line’s recent calls and in call history like any other. Use the dry-run to check a schedule and the simulation to see what your team will see.
Before real texts and emergency calls
Section titled “Before real texts and emergency calls”Under Compliance, the carrier needs an E911 emergency address for the line, and a messaging registration (10DLC) before it can text. Neither blocks setting up routing, but both are required before the line is fully usable. See Compliance.