Route calls by business hours and public holidays in Flow

How time-based routing works in Flow

Business hours call routing in Flow uses two steps. The Time & Day step checks the time and the day of the week. The Date step checks for particular dates, such as public holidays. Each step has a Match exit for calls that fit its criteria and a No Match exit for every other call. You decide what each exit does.

A flow that closes on public holidays has this shape. Without holidays, it starts at the Time & Day step.

Build the flow from the top down, so each step has a place to go.

Open or create your flow

1. In the Enfonica Console, go to Flow.
2. Open the flow you want to change, or select Create flow to start a new one.

If you don't close on public holidays, skip to Set your business hours.

Close on public holidays

A Date step at the start of the flow sends holiday calls to your after-hours path, even when they fall within your usual hours.

1. Drag the Date step from the left sidebar onto the flow tree, directly under the start of the flow. It's then the first step a call reaches.
2. Select the step to open its step form.
3. Under Criteria, the step starts with one criterion, today's date. Select the pencil icon next to it, change it to the first holiday you close for, and then select Confirm. If you leave it as it is, today's calls go to your holiday path.
4. For each other holiday, select Add criteria, select Date, choose the date, and then select Confirm.
5. For a shutdown over several days, such as Christmas to New Year, add a Date range instead of each day. For an early close, such as noon on Christmas Eve, add a Date & time range.
6. Set Timezone to the timezone of the team that answers the calls. It starts as your computer's timezone.
7. To close the step form, select anywhere on the canvas. The step has two exits, Match and No Match.
8. In the Match exit, add what holiday callers should get, such as a Voicemail step, or a Play step with a holiday message.

Your business hours go in the No Match exit. The next section shows how.

Set your business hours

1. Drag the Time & Day step into the Date step's No Match exit. In the sidebar, it's listed as Time - Day. If your flow has no Date step, drag it directly under the start of the flow.
2. Select the step. Under Criteria, it starts with Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.
3. If your hours are different, select the pencil icon next to the criterion. Under Days, choose the days you're open. Set the Start time and End time, and then select Confirm.
4. For each extra set of hours, such as Saturday morning, select Add criteria, and set it up in the same way.
5. Set Timezone to the same timezone as your Date step.
6. Close the step form, and then drag a Call step into the Match exit.
7. Select the Call step, select Add recipient, and then add your team's phone numbers or your phone system's SIP address.

Send after-hours calls somewhere else

Whatever you put in the Time & Day step's No Match exit handles every call outside your hours. Choose one of these:

• Take a voicemail. Add a Voicemail step, and add who receives each message by email or SMS. For every setting, see Set up voicemail to email.
• Forward to an after-hours number. Add a Call step with the number of your on-call or answering service.

The Call step has a Complete exit for answered calls and an Incomplete exit for calls that nobody answers. Add a Voicemail step to the Incomplete exit of your business-hours Call step too. Then callers can leave a message when everyone is busy.

To send public holidays to this same after-hours step, put a Go To step in the Date step's Match exit instead. Select it, select Configure, select Target step, and then choose your after-hours step.

Publish the flow and connect your number

Only the published version of a flow takes calls. Save Draft keeps your changes without making them live. The flow must also be the first incoming call handler on each number that should follow these hours.

1. Select Publish, and give the flow a name if the editor asks for one. The editor confirms with "Flow published".
2. Go to Phone Numbers > My numbers, and select the number.
3. Under Incoming call handlers, select Add, select Flow, and then choose your flow.
4. Use the arrows next to the handlers to move the flow to the top of the list.
5. Select Save Changes. Repeat these steps for each number that should use the flow.

Check that it worked

1. During business hours, call your number from a mobile. The call rings your team.
2. To test the after-hours path without waiting, open the Date step, select Add criteria, select Date, and then select Confirm. A new date starts as today.
3. Publish the flow.
4. Call your number again. The call goes to voicemail or your after-hours number. If you leave a voicemail, it arrives by email or SMS.
5. Remove today's date from the Date step with the trash icon next to it, and then publish the flow again.

If calls still ring when you're closed, see Calls aren't following your flow.

Questions