Call routing

Automatically direct business calls to the right place using just a few simple rules with call routing.

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What is call routing?

VoIP call routing with OpenPhone is a seamless process that directs incoming calls to the right team member, department, or voicemail. It leverages the power of the internet to transmit voice signals as digital data, ensuring efficient and effective communication.

Call routing software allows inbound calls to a single line — say, your company's main office number — or direct calls to any other phone line within your business. Inbound calls can route through a phone menu or interactive voice response (IVR) system to a team, department, or a specific team member — providing you with automatic call distribution. Automatic call distribution occurs during business hours, which you can set differently for every phone number on your account.

3 key types of call routing systems

There are three methods of call routing available on OpenPhone.

Shared number routing

Shared number routing rings any available teammates on a shared phone number simultaneously. This is best for businesses where teams share responsibility for incoming calls.

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Shift-based routing

Shift-based routing sends calls to team members who are currently working at the time of the call. Users can set their own shifts that supersede business hours in the phone system, allowing them to clock out uninterrupted.

Round-robin

Round-robin distribution simultaneously rings teams in batches between one and 10. Incoming call notifications stop when someone answers the call or until no more batches are left to notify. The call then would just go to voicemail. 

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Start routing calls more effectively

  1. Get up and running in minutes.

  2. Avoid paying extra hardware, set up, and IT support costs.

  3. Call and text from almost anywhere - all you need is WiFi.

  4. Use your business number on any computer, smartphone, or tablet.

  5. Easily scale your phone system as your team grows.

Benefits of call routing

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No more missed calls

Avoid missing calls and reduce unnecessary callbacks with intelligent call routing that encompasses your entire team. Simultaneous ringing notifies all devices that have access to a shared phone number whenever there’s an inbound call. Shift-based routing sends callers to available team members depending on each teammates’ specific schedule.

An elevated experience

Elevate the customer experience with shorter wait times and clearer instructions. Phone menus help direct callers based on their language preferences if you provide multilingual support. You can also provide a playback audio message for direction to your business or other commonly asked questions. Plus, automatically send calls directly to voicemail when your business is closed.

Maximize efficiency

Prevent phone calls from becoming a frustrating experience by sending calls directly to properly trained teams. Route to sales teams, contact centers, and other business departments without purchasing dozens of integrations. Make a positive impact on your customers from the first call to the last.

How does call routing work?

The way call routing works depends on the settings enabled by your business phone system. On OpenPhone, calls can go to direct numbers or shared numbers. For shared numbers, calls ring through to all team members with access to the line. 

Create better work/life balance

You can use phone menus to play a custom greeting such as “For sales press, 1…” so that callers can reach the right team based on voice commands.

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Set clear boundaries

Best of all, you only receive call notifications when you’re available. For teams, that means during working hours so you can set clear boundaries with your customers and enjoy work/life balance.

Call routing strategies for small businesses & growing teams

Startups rely on direct routing strategies that send calls to any available team member. Anyone with access to a phone number that serves as the main number can take incoming calls.

Many growing teams prefer phone menus that automatically route calls based on system settings. Set business hours and specific actions can also immediately forward callers to live agents or informational audio recordings. Phone menus can also help filter out robocalls and other spam to save your team even more time

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Why use OpenPhone for call routing

OpenPhone makes it easy to manage teams of any size. Manage an unlimited amount of phone numbers that your team can use across any device with WiFi access, including phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. Easily add numbers and teammates to your phone system based on your business needs over time as your company scales. Port your numbers directly or create new ones with a unique caller ID. Allow everyone to share the same phone calls on a team number or assign individual numbers.

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Work together from a shared number

Enable teams to provide the best experience to customers and any other work contacts with internal threads and mentions. Communicate directly within team-only threads to craft the best possible response. Use business hours to set active call times. Plus, allow individuals to set shifts that set clear expectations and ensure calls never go answered while your business is open. Shared inboxes allow all team members to check missed calls and respond to them as soon as they become available.

Automatically route calls with a phone menu

You can also easily add a phone menu to any OpenPhone number complete with rules and specific settings that affect the final destination of calls. Choose to route individual contacts to shared numbers, specific teammates, audio recordings, or outside phone numbers. Route calls can automatically go to voicemail to maintain a professional relationship with your contacts when not available.

Your call routing rules with OpenPhone can also include round-robin distributions that send calls to small batches of team members. 

Make more informed operational decisions

Keep track of when call volume spikes with OpenPhone’s analytics. These allow administrators and other decision-making groups to check individual statistics for team members and the overall group. Gain a better understanding of busy times of day and increase team member response with adjusted availability and more efficient routing choices.

Monitor calls

Spot check the quality of your customer service by hopping into calls at any time. Always be aware of who is on an active call with a specific contact with shared numbers. You can even use call whispering and direct messages to provide real-time guidance throughout the training process.

Once the call is complete, listen to the complete call recording to identify areas of improvement or success. You can store recordings to provide additional context for teammates and equip individuals to continue any conversations in less time.

You can improve your customer experience and automatically direct callers to the right destination with call routing software. Get started with OpenPhone’s free trial today to try out the modern business phone solution for seven days.

Why thousands of growing teams use OpenPhone

Save time on routine tasks, provide a better experience to your customers and streamline communications using OpenPhone.

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Access all the numbers you’ll ever need

OpenPhone allows you to get as many numbers as you need for your business. You can assign numbers to individual employees, teams, or specific locations. Get US or Canadian numbers with local area codes that inspire trust, or a North American toll-free number to serve clients across the continent. Plus, you can port in existing numbers without worrying about service interruptions. Just take these two steps: signup for an OpenPhone account and fill out this one-minute form.

Customize every business number

OpenPhone’s cloud-hosted phone solution lets you easily have a professional phone presence. You can use phone menus (IVR) to direct callers to specific employees or departments. If they reach your business voicemail, you can use professional greetings to provide your business hours and clear expectations on when they can expect to hear back from you. You can also add another layer of professionalism by creating an outgoing caller ID.

Call and text contacts without limits

With OpenPhone, you don’t have to worry about overage fees or maxing out your call minutes. You can make unlimited phone calls and text messages (SMS and MMS) to anyone in the US or Canada. If you have contacts in other countries, you’ll only pay a fraction of what you’d spend with a traditional carrier.

Feel free to use devices you already own and love — you can reach contacts from your computer, tablet, or smartphone from almost anywhere. All you need is an internet connection or mobile data to reach your  contacts.


Support ongoing team collaboration

Help your team stay aligned on your business phone communication by creating a shared number. With shard numbers, multiple teammates can send and receive messages at the same time. That way, your team can split responsibility for incoming calls and messages — and no one gets overwhelmed.

Catching up on conversations is also flat out simple using shared numbers.  All phone interactions (call recordings, voicemails, and text messages ) are in the cloud under a unified inbox.

Not sure how to answer a specific message? You can collaborate in context using team-visible only threads. Just tag your teammates below the message and work on a solution async or real-time.

Speed up your workflow with integrated tools

Connect OpenPhone to other key tools in your tech stack to automate routine tasks and reinvest your saved time into other facets of your business t. For example, you can automatically log all phone communications by integrating your OpenPhone account with HubSpot’s CRM. Even if calls are missed, push voicemail transcriptions to your email or Slack account to keep up with your customer support. Plus, OpenPhone’s Zapier integration lets you tie 3,000+ other apps with your phone system  to streamline your workflows.

Stay up to date with contact info

Easily manage your contacts from anywhere. Using OpenPhone, it’s easy to sync contacts with your current CRMs (HubSpot, Google, etc.) and always know who’s on the other line. You can also use OpenPhone’s lightweight CRM to organize and manage contacts through any device. Continuously add details to individual contact profiles — ages, birthdays, and other notes — that are always visible to teammates. That way, you can build your business relationships and provide the best customer experience possible.

Delight your customers with fast-paced responses

Respond to contacts at lightning speed by leveraging the power of snippets. You can easily save frequent message responses as snippets and send them to contacts in seconds. Feel free to send snippet messages on the fly or schedule your replies in advance to save time. If contacts happen to reach out again before your scheduled message is sent, you can automatically cancel your reply to prevent awkward conversations.

No hidden fees

Find out how much you’re investing in your business phone solution upfront on our pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Can’t find the answer here? Check out our Help Center.

What call routing options does OpenPhone offer?
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OpenPhone currently provides access to three call routing options: round-robin distribution, shift-based routing, and shared number routing. Reduce wait times and easily manage phone calls with one of these three options.

Which plans include call routing?
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OpenPhone’s Starter plan provides access to phone menus and shift-based and shared number call routing. Round-robin call distribution and advanced phone menus are available through our Business plan.

​​Is it possible to have a phone menu option that route calls to a non-OpenPhone number?
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Yes, call management features in OpenPhone allows users to make call transfers from VoIP numbers to any other US or Canadian phone number.

How do you recommend building out a call routing strategy?
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If you have a distributed team, use call routing software to direct callers to an associated time zone or language preference. If your team is centralized, you can use routing center software to move customer calls from toll-free numbers to any devices your team uses to take calls.

What is round-robin call routing?
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OpenPhone uses Internet to provide you with additional phone numbers on top of your existing devices. Download OpenPhone on your mobile or use it on the web to make and receive calls and messages.

What routing rules can I set for a phone menu with OpenPhone?
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The following phone menu options are available in OpenPhone:
- Forward to an OpenPhone number
- Forward to an outside phone number (any US or Canadian phone number)
- Let the call through (calls will come through to all available members of the phone number)
- Send to a specific member of the phone number*
- Send to voicemail*
- Play audio* (share business hours, business address/directions, or any other information)

If the caller doesn’t select an option after the menu greeting plays, you can have the greeting automatically play again or any of the other options listed above*.

*Requires the OpenPhone Business plan

Ready to improve your team's communication?

Join thousands of businesses already using OpenPhone to communicate better with their customers.