When a caller needs a person, it puts them through to your team.

1. 1

   The caller asks for a person

   Someone says they want to speak to a human, or to the team. It tells them it is connecting them and hands the call over.

2. 2

   It is inside your business hours

   By default, transfers happen only during the hours you set, read in your own time zone, so a 10 p.m. call is not put through to a phone nobody is holding. You can also pick a person to take transfers after hours.

3. 3

   You chose who answers

   Set a main number, such as your front desk or your cell, and add up to 5 named numbers (15 on Growth) like Sales or Service, each with a note on which callers belong there. It never dials a number that is not on your list.

1. 1

   Switch on round robin

   It is off until you turn it on, since not every team wants it. Then put the same team name, such as Sales, on each person who should share the calls.

2. 2

   Calls take turns

   Each new call starts with the next person on the team, so over a day everyone gets about the same number of calls.

3. 3

   Set it once, change it any time

   Add or remove someone and the rotation follows from the next call. A caller who asks for someone by name still reaches that person, and switching round robin off puts every call back to one person each.

1. 1

   It checks before it connects

   With call screening on, a caller who asks for someone is asked to hold a moment. The receptionist then privately rings that person's phone and tells them who is calling and why.

2. 2

   The person being asked for decides

   They hear something like "Gene from ABC Company is calling about a new fax machine. Do you want to take it?" They can have the call put through, ask for a message, or say they are not interested, in which case the caller is told politely.

3. 3

   The caller never hears the check

   While it checks, the caller hears normal ringing. If the person has a question first, the receptionist asks the caller and comes back to them. If nobody picks up or voicemail answers, the receptionist comes back to the caller and takes a message.

Call screening is off until you turn on “Screen calls before transferring” during setup or in your Transfers settings. It works on real phone calls, not the voice demo on this site, and needs a direct line or a cell phone rather than a main number plus extension.

See how call screening works, what it costs, and try the demo →

• Outside your hours

  By default, it tells the caller the team is away, then offers to book them a time on your calendar or takes a message for the morning. You can also pick a person to take transfers after hours.

• When a question has a written answer

  Hours, services, area and the prices you chose to share are answered from your notes, so the team only takes the calls that need them.

• When it is an emergency

  Anyone describing an emergency is told to hang up and call 911. That instruction comes before any transfer.