Features › Use cases › Answer every call without a receptionist
Use case · interactive walkthrough
Answer every call without a receptionist
One main number gets calls for Sales, Support and individual staff. Nobody has time to answer and transfer each call, and after hours the phone just rings out.
Tip: change the switches above the diagram and press ▶ Play. The address bar keeps your exact scenario, so you can copy the link and send it to a customer. Presenter mode ↗
What if…
- Busy season? Add "press 3 to track an order" that plays a recorded status update and returns to the menu.
- Sinhala, Tamil and English callers? Start with a short language menu, then a separate welcome menu per language.
- Several branches? Give each branch its own number and greeting, all sharing one staff directory.
- Urgent problems after hours? Add "press 1 for the on-call engineer" to the after-hours greeting, forwarding to a mobile.
- No time to record greetings? Type them in and let text to speech read them out.
Questions to ask next
For the presenter: map this flow to the customer's own business.
- Which teams or people do callers ask for most often?
- What are your opening hours, and which public holidays and Poya days do you close?
- How long should a phone ring before the call moves to voicemail or another team?
- Who should receive messages left after hours, and how quickly must they reply?
- Do callers need the menu in more than one language?
Features that make it work
Each of these appears as a tag on the steps above. Open one to see every use case that relies on it.
- Auto attendantTelephonyA recorded greeting answers every call and lets callers press keys to reach the right team or person without a receptionist.
- Call forwardingTelephonySend calls to another extension, a mobile or an external number when busy, unanswered or always.
- Call queuesContact centerCallers wait in line in order of arrival until the next agent is free, instead of hearing a busy tone.
- Caller IDTelephonyShow who is calling, and choose which number your outgoing calls present.
- Custom promptsTelephonyUpload or record your own greetings and announcements, so every menu sounds like your business.
- Dial by nameTelephonyCallers spell the first letters of a person's name on the keypad and are connected to them.
- Direct numbers (DID)TelephonyPublic phone numbers that ring straight to a menu, team or person on your system.
- Direct extension diallingTelephonyCallers who know an extension number can key it in during the greeting and skip the menu.
- Holiday calendarTelephonyA list of public holidays and closure days, including Poya days, that time conditions follow automatically.
- IVR menuTelephonyMulti-level keypad menus that route callers, play information, or hand off to other menus, queues and people.
- Music on holdTelephonyMusic or recorded messages play while callers wait on hold or in a queue.
- Ring groupsTelephonyRing several phones at once or one after another, so whoever is free can answer.
- SIP trunkingTelephonyConnect the system to CyberGate Telco's voice network over the internet instead of copper lines.
- Time conditionsTelephonyRoute calls one way during business hours and another way at night, at weekends and on holidays.
- Voicemail to emailUnified communicationsVoicemail messages arrive in email as audio files, so nobody needs to dial in to check them.
- VoicemailTelephonyCallers leave a recorded message when nobody can answer, per person or for a whole team.
Check your understanding
Two tracks at mid level: Business for owners and team leads, Technical for IT staff. Every question is a scenario, so you apply the flow rather than recall terms.