What is Time of Day Routing?
Call forwarding via time-of-day routing — also known as time-based routing — is an easy-to-use, straightforward feature that forwards incoming phone calls based on the time of day. Calls can be forwarded on a time-based schedule to any destination, whether it is a mobile phone, voicemail box, VoIP number, etc.
How Does Time-Based Routing Work?
Using TOD routing, you can preset where calls get routed depending on the time of day.
When calls come into your virtual number, they are automatically forwarded to any of your destination numbers based on the time of day. The most significant advantage: the receiving telephone number can be located anywhere in the world.
This feature can be configured in just a few clicks. The diagram on the right shows how to set this feature up.
Key Points of Interest When You Route Calls Based on Time of Day
This feature helps businesses remain available 24/7 and ensures the best customer service is delivered. It also helps businesses expand across time zones. Here are some of the things you can do with time-of-day routing:
- Set up business hours and choose how calls are handled when the business is closed.
- Customize how calls are forwarded throughout the day; prepare for peak hours and slow periods.
- Maximize efficiency by automatically routing calls based on the time of day they come in
- Manage calls from different time zones easily by routing calls to agents in similar time zones
- Enable calls to be received on different devices based on specific times of the day
- Enable your phone staff by ensuring calls in each location are received during the most optimal times of the day
- Adopt a follow-the-sun customer service model to offer 24/7 support in your customers’ time zones
Setting up Time of Day Routing with Your Virtual Number
Global Call Forwarding offers the Time-of-Day Routing feature with all virtual number plans. It can easily be customized through our online control panel. Additionally, this feature doesn’t have any extra cost. The video below shows how to configure TOD routing in less than 2 minutes:
Examples of How Time-Based Routing Can be Used
This smart service allows you to organize how incoming calls get answered by setting up automatic routing. Here are some examples of how you can manage call traffic throughout the day:
- Route calls received from Monday thru Friday between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM to your office line.
- Route calls received from Saturday thru Sunday between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM to your mobile phone.
- Route calls received on Sunday between 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM directly to your voicemail.
- Advanced call routing combinations are unlimited, so you can create the Advanced Forwarding setup that best fits your needs!
- Route calls based on your customers’ needs and typically calling times
Time-of-day routing is one of the most useful and versatile options for a business in need of enhancing their communication efforts or supporting their current demand. It can be used in a variety of different circumstances while enabling support for businesses of all sizes.
Whether you have a startup and are expanding beyond your current location, or you have a large-scale corporation and need to handle a high volume of calls that may be coming in from other time zones, time-of-day routing can be an essential aspect of managing your customer support initiatives. This way, time-based routing helps businesses expand globally.
Time-of-day routing enables you to have the ability to route incoming calls to specific phone numbers depending on the time of the day; exactly as the name implies. In the same manner as call forwarding, time-based routing can also be used as a way to easily direct calls specifically to a different number, a mobile phone, or even a voice messaging system at certain hours.
Automatic rerouting of calls gives your business additional simplicity and automation, organizing communication even further, which can be so beneficial.
