How do I set up a central phone number?

Most of our customers have a central telephone number that receives all incoming calls. This number is usually published in the telephone directory, on the Internet or on business cards - an in most cases this number is connected with the reception, the switchboard or the front desk. 

In all sipgate tariffs, the central telephone number can be set up easily via a group with time profiles. This allows you to remain flexible if requirements change - for example over the holidays, company vacations or simply during your lunch break.

For example, if your central number is connected with your front desk and your co-worker is absent for a certain period of time, you can set up a forwarding to another user or to a voicemail.

Time-Based routing for Groups

First of all, you need to set up a group with an individual number of users an connect this group with your central phone number. In our example, we call this group "reception".

In the second step, please switch to the group-routing of the group "reception". Here, click "edit". Now you can set up the forwarding rules, either to a voicemail or to another phone number.

If you have opted for forwarding to a voicemail, you can now select an individual greeting. You have the option of creating several individual greetings in which you can, for example, draw attention to your opening hours and/or company vacations. You can also record these individual messages directly on your telephone.

Two time profiles are available to you. With the different profiles, you can set additional options within the routing so that different redirects take effect at certain times. For example, you can schedule your opening hours and lunch breaks. You can also set up two different voicemails. In the first voicemail, for example, you could activate the answering machine function to answer incoming calls. In the second voicemail, you can record a message in which you draw attention to the opening hours. It is also possible to deactivate the answering machine function.

In addition, you can set up forwarding to another user. Therefore, just add a user instead of a voicemail in the second step.

Automatic forwarding on public holidays for groups

You can not only set up specific time profiles for groups, but also automatic forwarding on public holidays. The time-based routing that has already been set is retained and automatically reused after the public holiday.

With the public holiday profile, you can use practical templates for the public holidays in your respective area to configure the routing in advance. This means that incoming calls on these days are immediately forwarded to voicemail with an individual greeting.

As an administrator, you can set up the public holiday profile for a group. Proceed as follows: Group ➔ Edit routing ➔ Public holidays ➔ Add public holiday profile.

Then select your area ( England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales) from a drop-down menu. The public holidays for your selected area for the coming year will be displayed and updated automatically. If you still want your group to be available on certain public holidays, simply uncheck the box next to the relevant day. Click Next to save the settings.

In the next step, you can define a greeting for voicemail forwarding. You have the option of either using our ready-made greeting templates or uploading your own greeting. You can also specify a greeting that applies to all public holidays or upload individual greetings for individual public holidays - for example, to wish your customers a Happy New Year. Finally, click save announcement to save and activate your forwarding.