How to Have a Virtual Number Forward Calls to Different Numbers Based On Time of Day

Time of day call forwarding is a standard advanced feature on all of our pay-as-you-go plans including local, toll free, and international call forwarding.

Time of Day Call RoutingVirtual phone numbers are among the most flexible phone number types available.

Not only can you configure your virtual number to forward to a phone in a remote destination, you can also program call forwarding so that the virtual number forwards calls to different numbers based on the time of day.

It takes just a few clicks to set up time of day routing. Once it’s set, call forwarding takes place automatically.

Why Use Time of Day Call Forwarding?

This feature is extremely useful for both domestic and international companies. For instance, your office may have a routine where the office manager presses a few keys at the end of the day to forward all incoming calls to voicemail, an answering service, or another call center. The next morning, someone must press disable call forwarding as well as check voicemail and return calls.

While this common practice works, it has its flaws including:

  • Human error — if someone forgets to forward the calls at the end of the day, you may miss important phone calls that come in after hours. Likewise, if call forwarding is not disabled in the morning, you may inadvertently have some calls forwarded to voicemail during business hours until this problem is rectified.
  • Lower levels of service — Callers may not care to leave a voicemail message or, in a world of instant gratification, they may perceive your company as offering inferior customer service if you’re unavailable 24/7.
  • Lost opportunities — Even worse, some callers may opt to call your competitors if their calls go to unanswered or to voicemail.

Likewise, if you serve multiple time zones, your call volume could peak or wane at certain times of the day. Thus, it may make sense to route your calls to one of your larger offices during peak call volume times.

If you’d rather automate this process, time of day call forwarding is the answer. For example, to have your calls answered 24/7, you could set up time of day routing so that calls are handled by your main office during normal business hours and then forwarded to an answering service or call center every night at 5:00pm. Once morning rolls around again, the system would then route your incoming calls back to your main office according to the schedule you set up. You could even configure call forwarding to automatically forward calls to an alternate number during your office staff’s lunch hour.

With time of day call forwarding, there’s no chance of anyone forgetting to forward calls. It’s completely customizable to best meet your business’s unique staffing and call volume requirements.

How to Set Up Time of Day Call Forwarding

Start by signing up for one of our virtual phone numbers. Time of day call forwarding is a standard advanced feature on all of our pay-as-you-go plans including local, toll free, and international call forwarding. Pick the plan that makes the most sense for your business. Because there are no contracts, you can scale up or down as your needs change — or cancel at any time without penalties.

Next, sign into your account and select the time of day call forwarding option. Set up the schedule to route incoming calls to specific numbers according to the day of the week or time the call comes in.

Remember, you can change your call forwarding settings, including time of day routing, at any time.

Read on