What is Call Routing?

Just as internet traffic can be routed to maximize the efficiency and functionality of web features for a large volume of net users, incoming call traffic can also be given intelligent routing plans in order to keep business flowing effectively in the midst of a large volume of callers. CloudTalk's Call Flow Designer offers users the ability to design different call flows for different numbers through which company contacts will be calling in. Additionally, Essential, Expert, and Custom plan users have the ability to implement conditions to further organize calling traffic based on the external contact number calling in, or derived from other pre-stored information about the contact.

How to Set up Call Flow

Check out this short video to see an example set up of a basic call flow through the CloudTalk Dashboard, or read on for more details and use cases.

Creating a New Call Flow Design

From the Dashboard, click the lefthand tab labeled Numbers. Here you should see a list of existing numbers supported through CloudTalk. You will also be given the option to + Buy a number or port an existing number.
Once you've decided which number you want to create a route for, click the blue pencil icon on the far right of the chosen number's row to open the Call Flow Designer for that number. If no current call flow exists, the page may appear blank, with only the number showing in a small white box.
Whenever we add a new step, we will do so by clicking the blue + icon at the end of the previous white box or branch tip. To view or edit a step already made, we can click the gray cog icon within the white box labeled as the step in question.
Most action steps include a box labeled Seconds to wait on this step. To avoid recursive loops and other flow problems, make sure to enter an amount of time in seconds to represent the buffer time which a caller will wait on a step before the system repeats a prompt or pushes the call to the next stage.

Note: If you're looking for a detailed guide for setting up your call flow, along with examples and screenshots, you can check out our dedicated call flow page here.

Call Flow Action Types

	Routes all calls to a single agent.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Search, select agent name`
	If an incoming caller exists on the contact list and has a favorite agent listed, this caller will be routed to the listed agent. When no preferred agent is listed, this step is skipped.	`>Enter seconds to wait`
	Calls will be routed to a selected agent group.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Search, select group name`
	Choose a pre-recorded message or music to play for callers. Sounds must be uploaded into CloudTalk via Account->Sounds->`+ Add Sound`.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Search, select Greeting to play`
	Option for calls which cannot be resolved or answered in a given branch. Select which group or agents should receive this voicemail. Edit agent email settings for the voice recordings. Voicemails assigned to a group will be sent to emails of all agents in group when set "yes".	`>Search, select Name of the voicemail` `>Send voicemails to agent's email? y/n/company settings` `>Attach voicemail recording to the email? y/n/company settings`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Redirects the call to an external number outside CloudTalk. Be aware that CloudTalk will attempt to use the original caller-id for ease of use on the answer side, which may conflict with country restrictions or CLIR.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Enter The number, where you want to redirect`
	This setting allows for the recording of a specific branch of the call flow. Without this, call recording settings will default to the general rule chosen in Settings.	`>Enable call recording (toggle)`
	Select this option to enable the use of fax machines. Choose an email to which fax messages will be sent. This step cannot be combined.	`>Enter E-mail address, where you want to send the fax`
	Assign a number to a conference room in order to reach a conference from public phone numbers. This step cannot be combined.	`>Search, select Name of the conference room`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Log information onto an external information system by sending a request to a defined endpoint. *This is a legacy action which is not recommended for use in newly created call flow scenarios. Action has been fully replaced with HTTP Request.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Enter API Endpoint URL`
	*This is a legacy action which allowed the use of custom setups prepared by the CloudTalk development team. It is no longer recommended for newly created call flow scenarios.	`>/`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Log information into an external information system by sending a request to a defined endpoint. CloudTalk will not wait for or process the response before proceeding to the next step in the call flow. *This is a legacy action which is not recommended for use in newly created call flow scenarios. Action has been fully replaced with HTTP Request.	`>Enter Webhook Endpoint URL`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Before forwarding a call to an external number, use this step to change the Outbound Caller ID. Be aware, you will lose information about the caller's number.	`>Enter Number, to what you want to change`
	Allow callers to type in the extension of an agent or group. As the caller must know the extension, a greeting can be added to list possible extensions.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Search, select Greeting to play before dialing`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Allow callers to navigate the call flow by typing in numbers on their devices according to pre-recorded directions.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Search, select Greeting for IVR` -------------------------------------- Following Branches `>Failover for no key pressed (check)` `>Select IVR keyboard number`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Route callers based on the day or time the call occurs. Useful for managing holidays and rotating agent availability.	`>/` -------------------------------------- Following Branches `>Failover for no other time condition met (check)` `>Branch active from/to (edit times)` `>Day setting, holidays (check)`
*Expert, Custom	Send callers to another set of already existing steps in the flow. Useful to direct callers in a particular branch to another CloudTalk number flow.	`>Search, Choose a number which has the relevant call flow to jump to` `>Choose a step within that number's call flow to start on`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Filter calls through a series of conditions, branching the call to a different result depending on select details about the call or contact. *Continue reading below this table to learn more about caller routing with Condition Splitter	`>/` -------------------------------------- Following Branches `>Add Condition (at least one required)` `>>Name` `>>Select property` `>>Select operand` `>>Enter value to complete logical statement`
*Essential, Expert, Custom	Send a custom HTTP request when this branch of the call flow is reached.	`>Enter Endpoint URL` `>Select Method: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE` `>Add new Request Headers` `>Add new Request body` `>Parse response (check)` `>Retain data after call (check)`
	Following a greeting or pre-recorded message, callers are prompted to input a response on the keypad before progressing.	`>Enter seconds to wait` `>Search, select Greeting` `>Enter/inc/dec Pattern (number)` `>Confirm character: */none` `>Retry on invalid (check)`
	Create an endpoint to an otherwise unresolved or ambiguous branch end, to avoid calls in this path being marked as missed.	`>/`

Contact-Based Routing with Condition Splitter

The Condition Splitter action step allows users to use information about a contact stored in CloudTalk in order to further specify the route a call will take in the call flow. When adding a branch with a condition splitter, a user will be prompted to set logical conditions to filter calls coming through that branch into different subsequent actions. These filtering conditions can be based on details about the incoming phone number, like a country code, as well as information stored in the system about the caller, such as associated tags or personal data.

Select Property to observe:

Call - External number
Call - Waiting time
Contact - Name
Contact - Title
Contact - Company
Contact - Industry
Contact - Address
Contact - City
Contact - ZIP Code
Contact - State
Contact - Tags
Contact - Custom fields
Contact - Type

Select operand for Property:

is equal to
is not equal to
starts with
ends with
contains
is set
is empty

Type in value to finish the statement. An example statement would be something like, "Contact - Tags > contains > sale".

What is Call Routing?

How to Set up Call Flow

Creating a New Call Flow Design

Call Flow Action Types

Contact-Based Routing with Condition Splitter

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