Smart Routing

Smart Routers allow you to directly route callers based on information that can be immediately gathered about them, such as whether they are repeat callers, their estimated location, their caller ID, the website they were using before calling, the current date and time, and more. Using if/then conditions, you can build smart routers to execute complicated routing based on specific caller information.

You can route calls to a smart router from a tracking number, a voice menu, or a call queue, and you can use smart routers to send calls to a voice menu, call queue, geo router, receiving number, or even another smart router in your account.

Click here to watch our video walkthrough on smart routing.

Smart routers are available on Marketing Pro, Sales Engage, Enterprise, Growth, and Connect plans. Click here to learn how to check or change your current plan.

Create a Smart Router

The instructions below will now appear in a step-by-step guide (wizard). Within the wizard, you can freeze/unfreeze the top portion, which contains explanations of the current step below, by clicking the freeze panel icon in the upper right corner. 

For our more experienced customers, we have added an Exit Wizard button that, when clicked, will end the wizard session and resume set up in the long form setup. 

If you wish never to use the wizards we have also added an option to turn them off within the Account Settings page under Behaviors. 

1. Navigate to Flows → Smart Routers. (You will be taken to a new setup page if you have no smart routers. Otherwise, click New Smart Router in the upper right corner.)
2. Enter a Name for your Router.
3. Click + Add Route on the right side of the page.
4. Here, you will begin to construct the rules for your Router. The fields under "If all of the following rules match" will define the conditions for this Route. Use the drop-down menus to build your rule ("if" statement).
   • See Condition Details below for detailed information on each condition option.
5. If you need to use multiple conditions—such as "If new caller is yes" and "tag includes 'sales call'"—use the + and + Add Rule buttons to build more complex rules.
   • "And" operator: to add an "and" rule, use the blue + symbol to the right of the drop-downs you used to create your first rule.
   • "Or" operator: to add an "or" rule, use the + Add Rule button in the top right of the Routes section.
6. Use the "Then perform the following actions" section to define what will happen to calls that meet the conditions you've created ("then" statement). Choose an option from the Route caller to drop-down:
   • Hang up: terminate the call
   • Voice Menu: send the caller to voicemail, prompt them to make a selection from menu options, etc.
   • Phone Number: route the call to a receiving number
   • Geo Router: route the call to a geo router (location-based routing)
   • Smart Router: send the call through another smart router
   • Queue: route the call to a queue of agents in your account
   • Agent: route to a single agent in your account
   • Tracking Number Fail-safe: default to the fail-safe number associated with the tracking number that was called.
   • Salesforce Router: route the call to a Salesforce router in your account
7. To play a message to the caller before executing the routing option, enter a message in the Play Message field or create or upload your own recording. Otherwise, leave this field blank.
8. To automatically tag calls that follow this Route, click + Add Action in the bottom left of the Routes section and select Tag this call. In the Tag field that appears, enter up to three tags to be applied to the call.
9. Click Save Changes.
   
10. If you need to add more routes, click + Add Route and repeat the above steps to create another routing option
11. Scroll down to the "If none of the above routes were taken" section and choose how you would like to handle calls that don't match any of the routing scenarios you have already built ("else" statement).
12. If you want to apply tags to these calls or play a message for the caller, set those options here.
13. Click Save Changes.
    

Holiday Router Presets

There are two Holiday Router Presets available:

• US Federal Holiday Router 2023: US Federal Holiday based on a 9 am start time
• Canadian National Holiday Router 2023 - Suggested Canadian National Holidays based on a 9 am start time 

Follow these steps to create a Holiday Router using a preset:

1. Navigate to Flows > Smart Routers
2. Click on the Use a Preset button
3. Select one of the following:
   1. US Federal Holiday Router 2023
   2. Canadian National Holiday Router 2023
4. Save Changes

Testing Routing Rules

Each block of routing rules you create in your smart Router can be tested to see if your rules apply to an existing call in your call log.

1. Click the Test button in the upper right of the Route panel.
2. Select a past call to test the rules for this Route.
3. Check the test results.
   • If the call does meet the rules to use this Route, the Route will be highlighted in green and a checkmark will appear next to the route rules.
   • If the call does not meet the rules for this Route, the Route will be highlighted in red, and an x will appear next to the route rules.

Condition Details

Several conditions can be used to determine which Route a call will take. All options are listed below, including information on what each option does and how each one can be configured.

New Caller

Checks if this number has called any of your numbers before. Choose yes or no.

• Example: "New caller is Yes" indicates a first-time caller.

Last Called

Checks the difference in time between this call and the last time you received a call from this number. You can create rules for people who have called within the last 24 hours, 48 hours, 7 days, 30 days, or 60 days.

• Example: Use "Last Called is within 24 hours" to identify frequent callers.

Time of Call

Checks whether the call is occurring during one of the schedules in your account.

• Example: Use "Time of Call is not within Business Hours" to route to your after-hours voicemail.

Caller ID

Checks the contact name associated with the caller's number. Choose from is, contains, starts with, ends with, is set, or is not set.

• Example: "Caller ID contains Wireless Caller" can be used to identify callers using cell phones who do not have names listed.

Caller Number

Checks the phone number the person is calling from. Choose from is, contains, starts with, ends with, is set, or is not set.

• Example: Detect "Caller Number starts with 555" to route the caller to your (555) area code receiving number.

Restricted Number

Checks if the caller has blocked their own caller ID. Choose yes or no.

• Example: If "Restricted Number is Yes," send the caller to a voice menu to confirm they are not a robot or spam caller.

Location of Caller

Checks the caller's location (based on caller ID listing) against geo-routers in your account. Choose the name of the geo-router to check.

• Example: Use "Location of Caller is not within Branch Router" to send the call to voicemail.

City, State/Region, and County

Checks for the relevant information in the address associated with the caller's number.

• ​Example: If "City is Chicago," Route to your Chicago branch number.
• Example: If "Country is not Canada," hang up the call.

Landing Page and Referring Page

Checks the landing or referring URL in the web session data associated with the call.

• Example: You can send calls that match "Landing Page contains awesome-new-product" to your Awesome New Product specialist's number.

Day of Week and Month

Checks for the current date and day of the week. Choose from any day or month.

• Example: "Day of Week is Sunday" can be used to route calls to your weekend answering service.
• Example: If "Month is December," route it to your holiday voicemail.

Tag

Checks for any tags that have already been applied to the call (from a voicemail, another router, or a call trigger). Choose any existing tag in your account.

• Example: If "Tag includes support," Route to your support queue.

Enhanced Caller ID

If you have enhanced caller ID enabled, the following options are also available:

• Gender
• Phone Type (checks for mobile devices)
• Education
• Homeowner Status
• Household Income
• Marital Status
• Market Value
• Has Children