Time-Based Routing (After Hours and Holidays)

Time-Based Routing changes where calls are routed based on the time of day, week, or year. This is useful when coordinating schedules for after-hours mailboxes and IVR menus.

How do I set up After Hours Routing?

In this example, let's imagine your business (or your client's business) is open from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday and from 9am to 1pm on Saturday.  You want after-hours calls to go directly to voicemail instead of ringing the office when no one is there.

     1.  When defining the time based route, the Default Destination is where you will want calls to be routed when the rules of the route ARE NOT met (this will be your after hours destination). 

     *  Remember to Apply Changes () as you go.

Once you've named your Route and defined the Default Destination (where calls should be routed after hours), you can add your Range(s).  The ranges you will define will be your standard operating hours.

     2.  Select the Route name and click on the Add Range ( ) button.

The first range we will define is the Monday-Friday portion.  Each portion of the Range definition works on the "And" principle.

   3.  Using our example, we will define the Hours as from 9am to 5pm and the Workday from Monday to Friday.  Since these are the hours you will be open on a regular basis, we do not need to define Date and Year.  

Be Sure to define the Time Match Destination Type and Destination.  This is where you will want calls to be routed during the hours you are open.

     4.  After submitting, repeat step 3 again, to define the hours you are open on Saturday (again, using our example).  Note that the Weekday range is from Saturday to Saturday.  You can define the Time Match Destination Type and Destination to be the same as during the week, or select different settings for this range.  

     *  Remember to Apply Changes () as you go.

When complete, you will have defined a schedule such as the following example. Any time not defined in the Schedule will use the Default Destination routing (defined when you first created the Route).

With this defined Route, the system will evaluate an incoming call as follows:

     1.  Is it between 9am and 5pm on any Monday thru Friday? 

- If yes, it will route the call to the specified Time Match Destination Type & Destination specified in the range. 

     - If no, it looks at the next rule:

    2.  Is it between 9am and 1pm on any Saturday?  

- If yes, it will route the call to the specified Time Match Destination Type & Destination specified in the range. 

    -  If no:

   3.  The system will route the call to the Default Destination that you defined when creating the Route (your after hours destination)!

Important Notes

• Time-based routes are meant to be "recurring schedules" and are NOT absolute time-ranges.
  • Example: You cannot create a rule that says "December 24 at 2pm to December 26 8am". This is not possible, you must create 3 different rules: December 24 @ 2pm to 11:59pm, December 25 @ Midnight to 11:59pm, and December 26 @ Midnight to 7:59am.
• You cannot have a rule that spans more than one month or year.
  • Example: You cannot create a rule that says "December 31st at 3pm to January 1st at 8am". You must create 2 rules: December 31 @ 3pm to 11:59pm, and January 1 @ Midnight to 7:59am.
• Also note, you must set the correct Time Zone for the schedule to work in your (or your customer's) time zone.  (The Time Zone field is available for editing in the Add Route screen and may be edited at a later time.)

How do I set up Holiday Routing?

Now that you've learned a bit about how the system works, it can be seen that it does not work well for holidays, because holidays are absolute date/time ranges (for example, from December 25 to January 2).  Nor can you combine Relative (daily) rules with Absolute (holiday) rules.

The solution is simple:  You will need 2 different Time-Based Routes: one for holidays and one for business hours.  Remember, in "How do I set up After Hours Routing?" you defined your normal business hours.  So all we need to do now is define the holiday route.

     1.  Create another route for your holiday.  For this new Route:

          a.  Set your Default Destination Type to "Time-Based Routing"; and

          b.  Set the Destination to "Time-Based Route: xxxxxxx (After Hours, using our example).

     2.  Select the Route name and click on the Add Range ( ) button. If your office will be closed from December 24 at 2 pm until January 2 at 9 am, you will need to create the following 3 ranges:

          i.  From 2 pm, December 24 to 11:59 pm, December 24.  (Weekday and Year can be left on the "Any" designation).  Be sure to select the Time Match Destination Type and Destination for where the calls will be routed during this time period.

          ii.  From midnight, December 25 to 11:59 pm, December 31.  Same as (i) above with regard to Weekday, Year, Time Match Destination Type, and Destination.

          iii.  From midnight, January 1 to 11:59 pm, January 1. Same as (i) above with regard to Weekday, Year, Time Match Destination Type, and Destination. 

We don't need to create a range for midnight to 9 am on January 2 because that time period is already covered in your "After Hours" route.

*  Remember to Apply Changes () as you go.

     3.  The final, crucial step is to set your Inbound Call Flow to your new created holiday route, by setting:

          a.  Voice Destination Type:  Time-Based Route; and

          b.  Destination:  Time-Based Route: xxxxx (Christmas Week, using our example).

With this defined Route, the system will evaluate an incoming call as follows:

     1.  Incoming call to xxx-xxx-xxx goes to Time Based Route > Christmas Week

     2.  Christmas Week evaluation:

a.  Is the call coming in on December 24th? If so, is it coming in between 2 pm and 11:59 pm?

b.  Is the call coming in on December 25 thru December 31? If so, is it coming in between Midnight and 11:59 pm?

c.  Is the call coming in on January 1st? If so, is it coming in between Midnight and 11:59 pm?

     3.  If the answer to any of the above is YES, then the call will follow the rule's Destination.

     4.  If the answer to any of the above is NO, then the call will follow the route's Default Destination (in our example, the After Hours route.)  This is because, if none of the rules are satisfied, the call must continue down the path:

     5.  After Hours evaluation:

a.  Is the call coming in any day Monday-Friday?  If so, is it coming in between 9am and 5pm?

b.  Is the call coming in on Saturday?  If so, is it coming in between 9am and 1pm?

     6.  If the answer to either of these questions is YES, then the call will follow the rule's Destination.

     7.  If the answer to both these questions is NO, then the call will follow the After Hours route's Default Destination.