Introduction
Answering Rules are a secret productivity weapon. With a little planning, these setups can help any business create powerful call routing applications.
This guide explains some basic information about answering rules and how they work in Pilot Voice. It also includes the full list of Answering Rule options to help your team customize and streamline things to suit your company.
How Answering Rules Work
Create as many rules as you wish per User. They’ll always be prioritized from top to bottom and by Time Frame. You may only use a Time Frame once per set of Answering Rules. However, two different Time Frames may overlap. Confused yet? Here's a good example to help explain:
A Holiday Time Frame and a Business Hours Time Frame. If the holiday took place during business hours, both sets of answering rules would apply—but only the first one listed will be processed. Only account admins can update shared Time Frames in the Pilot Voice portal.
Not sure which Answering Rule is up and running now? The blue Active icon appears next to the rule name to help you find it easily. In this example, the Default rule is active.
How Ring Time is Determined
A standard ring time is 30 seconds, or about five rings. However, answering rules process for the number of seconds set in your Ring setting. After that, the call rolls over to the Unavailable destination or voicemail (if voicemail is enabled, you don’t have to specify it in the Answering Rule destination). If neither options are selected, the caller will just hear a busy tone.
The List of Answering Rule Options
These options are available with each rule:
| Option |
Description |
| Time Frame |
Time Frame under which this rule will be processed. Additional Time Frames may be created on the appropriate tab |
| Enabled |
The rule is enabled per the parameters created |
| Do Not Disturb |
This is synced to the DND option on Polycom phones |
| Call Screening |
If enabled, only numbers listed in the Allowed box will bypass call screening |
| Always |
Immediately sends the caller to this destination |
| When Busy |
Forwards calls if you are on the phone or during DND mode |
| When Unanswered |
Forwards calls after the Ring timeout |
| When Offline |
If an endpoint cannot receive a call (usually due to loss of network connection) the caller will be sent to this destination |
| Simultaneous Ring |
Used to create a ring group |
| Include User's Extension |
Adds user's extension to the ring group. Not recommended for Call Routing users |
| Ring All User's Phones |
Ring any phones attached to the user. This does not apply to Call Routing users |
| Answer Confirmation for Off-net Numbers |
If a number not associated with your organization’s Pilot Voice account is listed below, the receiving party will get a confirmation prompt before accepting any call |
| Just Ring User's Extension |
This feature enables or disables the ringing of your telephone only. Checked = incoming call rings just your telephone. Not checked = feature is disabled. |
Now you’re ready to customize Answering Rules to your team’s preferences. Add new rules or edit your options with this tutorial.
