Supportdesk

Flow Control: switch actions on or off with a single click

 

 

The Fonzer telephone exchange has three types of conditions within which you can have one or more actions performed:

What is a flow control? A flow control is the switch under which you determine the actions of an alternative route for the incoming telephone at times when you are not in the office, during busy times, meetings, unforeseen circumstances, etc. (e.g. an ad-hoc transfer to voicemail, a huntgroup, a colleague, your mobile number, a queue, an IVR). This alternative route can include one or more actions and you can create as many flow controls as you like. A flow control can be easily switched on or off with a slide switch in the User Panel, via the Qaller Plus smartphone app or with a short code on your fixed phone (you will hear and see if it is switched on).

 

Contents

1. Adding a flow control to the dial plan and enabling or disabling it

 1.1 How to add a flow control to a dial plan

 1.2 Switching a flow control on and off

2. Applications

 2.1 Call forwarding to moble

 2.2 Activating a notification (SOUND-component) during a team meeting

 2.3 Switch to queue in case of heavy telephone traffic

 

1. Adding a flow control to the dial plan and enabling or disabling it

A flow control is the switch under which you determine the actions or route of the incoming telephone for unforeseen circumstances. So you add it to a calling plan of your choice. You can set one or more switches per calling plan.

 

1.1 How to add a flow control to a dial plan

  1. Log in as [ADMIN], click on [DIAL PLANS] in the Panel and open the dial plan to which you want to add a flow control or create a new dialplan.
  2. Drag the rerouting component to the top of the dial plan or where you want to reroute on demand.


    fig.1


  3. fig.2

  4. Place all desired actions under this flow control. Make sure that they are indented one level so that they only apply to the enabled flow controls.

1.2 Switching a Flow control on and off

a. As [ADMIN] you can set the Flow control status with the switch on/off in the dial plan settings.
You can also set the short code of the flow control as speed dial on your phone(s). When you call this number you will hear whether the diversion is switched on or off.

 

b. If you have the Qaller Plus app as [ADMIN] you can set the dial plan with flow control as your Incoming Call Routing and have the switch available on your mobile app as well.

mceclip5.png

c. If you are a [USER], you can call the speed-dial/short code on your fixed or mobile phone to switch flow control on or off with the appropriate sequence number. In the example in fig.3 you call 2222*2 and you will hear whether the diversion is on or off.

mceclip6.png

mceclip1.png

2. Applications

Below we would like to give you some examples of scenarios that may apply to your environment.

2.1 Call forwarding to mobile

When you are in the office, you want an incoming call to ring on two office phones. If there is no answer, voicemail follows. When you leave the office, you want to be able to transfer your number to your (1) or your colleague's (2) mobile number with one push of a button.

For this situation, set up the dial plan as follows:

  1. The standard call route during opening hours switches to a Hunt Group followed by Voicemail
  2. On top of that you provide 2 FLOW CONTROLS: 1 to your own mobile number (1) and 1 to that of your colleague (2). You place these above your standard call actions because a call always goes through the route from top to bottom.
  3. The short code 2222*1 or the switch activates rerouting to (1). With 2222*2 the flow control to (2) is switched on. Or you click on the preset speed-dial buttons of your device. In this example, both flow controls were assigned to the Flow Control group  mceclip2.png  so that when flow control 1 is activated, flow control 2 is automatically deactivated.

2.2 Activating a notification (SOUND-component) during a Team meeting 

Every month you organise a team meeting, but the busy schedules of your field staff don't always allow you to plan it at a fixed time. In order to be able to meet undisturbed, it is practical if you can activate a Team meeting mode at the push of a button. The Fonzer FLOW CONTROL component makes this possible in a very simple way.

In this situation, you set up the dial plan as follows:

  1. The standard call route during opening hours is a transfer to the receptionist, then a transfer to a group of two employees and finally voicemail.
  2. A flow control [TEAMMEETING] has been defined containing the ANNOUNCEMENT [Message.mp3] followed by a Hang-up (the connection is broken).
  3. The flow control is above the normal call route, so that activating the diversion can override the normal route. A call always goes through the call route from top to bottom.
  4. Code 2222*1 is used to activate and deactivate call forwarding. Or you can press the preset speed-dial key on your phone.



2.3 Switch to a Queue in case of heavy telephone traffic

You have just launched a marketing campaign and you know that afterwards there is always a rush of callers. It would be a shame to have to disappoint your customers or leave them on voicemail because your normal capacity is insufficient. Using Flow Control, you can react very quickly by inserting an ANNOUNCEMENT with a greeting and an indication of how busy it is, followed by a transfer to the QUEUE. The customer knows that he has dialed the right number and can wait with a pleasant background tune and/or be informed of his place in the queue.

For this situation, set up the calling plan as follows:

  1. The normal call route during opening hours is a transfer to the receptionist, then a transfer to a group of two employees and finally voicemail.
  2. A flow control [RUSH HOUR] has been defined with a SOUND/ANNOUNCEMENT [PATIENCE] and redirection to the Waiting Line of the sales department. In the Queue you can also add a welcome and possibly a periodic message with music. You could therefore omit the Sound component and immediately transfer to the Queue.
  3. The flow control is placed where it would be if the diversion were always active, i.e. after the normal call forwarding and before voicemail. A call always traverses the call route from top to bottom.
  4. Code 2222*2 is used to activate and deactivate call forwarding. Or you can press the preset speed-dial key on your phone.

 

Related articles