What is call routing?

Call routing refers to the technology that enables the routing of calls, or the "directing" of a call from one point to another, or one person to another. Generally, call routing may refer to the routing of a call from one point to another via a telephone network, which is what happens when you place a call from any phone. For example, if you live in California and you call your sister in Ohio from your home phone, your telephone service provider will use highly intelligent technology will select a specific route for your call to travel, based on various factors such as time of day, congestion, and cost.

In regards to IVR solutions, call routing may also refer to the technology that enables businesses to route calls to different endpoints based on specific preferences, such as staff availability, time of day, and overall call volume.

What are the benefits of call routing?

Call routing can assist your business in routing calls using intuitive technology, eliminating the need for a live person to answer every phone call, saving your business valuable time and money.

Call routing is often used in conjunction with other IVR solutions such as "auto attendants," also known as "virtual receptionists." A virtual receptionist is able to analyze the requests of a caller using advanced technology and can route the call to the appropriate party within your organization, or, in some cases, deliver the information the caller needs automatically via a voice recording when prompted by the caller.

Call routing can also be used to direct calls to specific people within your organization based on who placed the call. For example, say you have placed an advertisement for your business on the television and radio, and in the newspaper. In each advertisement, you are marketing a different product, and in each advertisement, you used a unique toll-free number. With call routing, you may automatically route incoming calls to specific toll-free numbers to different salespeople based on their knowledge of the different products you are selling. In this case, call routing saves your salespeople time, reducing the need for them to transfer incoming calls to a more qualified salesperson. It also increases the chances that your potential customers will reach someone knowledgeable about the product in which they are interested, likely maximizing your sales.

Ifbyphone's Advanced Routing allows for a company to redirect a phone call based on numerous criteria sets. Current supported criteria include:
- Day of week - Call is routed depending on the day of the week.
- Hours within a day - Call is routed depending on the current hour of the day.
- Phone number pattern matching: Useful if you want to forward all Office calls that start with 555-676 to a certain location
- Area Code - Calls can be routed based on area code of caller

Additional Resources

Ifbyphone Glossary

Ifbyphone Blog

Ifbyphone Services