A phone number is only as good as where it rings. With virtual numbers, routing rules live in the cloud, so you can change them in seconds and they work even when your office systems don’t.
Business hours
Define opening hours per number, in the caller’s time zone:
- In hours: ring the team, queue or IVR.
- Out of hours: voicemail, an on-call mobile, or a team in another time zone.
- Holidays: a separate schedule for public holidays in each market.
A support line for Germany should follow German holidays even if your team sits elsewhere.
Ring strategies
- Simultaneous ring: everyone rings at once; the first to answer takes it. Good for small sales teams.
- Sequential (hunt): try person A, then B, then C. Good for primary/backup cover.
- Round-robin: spread calls evenly. Better handled in a queue for larger teams.
Failover
Failover protects you when a destination is unreachable because a PBX is down, internet fails or Teams has an outage.
- Primary: your PBX, SBC or Teams.
- Secondary: a backup SBC or second site.
- Last resort: a mobile number or provider voicemail.
Because the failover decision is made in the network, calls still land even if your office is completely offline. Test it regularly by deliberately taking the primary offline.
Overflow
When all agents are busy or a queue passes a wait threshold, overflow to another team, a callback option or voicemail instead of letting callers ring forever.
A sample setup
| Time | Destination |
|---|---|
| Mon to Fri 08:00 to 18:00 | Support queue in Teams |
| Weekdays after 18:00 | On-call mobile (simultaneous ring, 2 people) |
| Weekends and holidays | Voicemail to support inbox |
| Any time Teams is unreachable | Backup mobile |
Frequently asked questions
Can routing change without touching my PBX?
Yes. Time-of-day and failover rules on the number work independently of your phone system.
Does failover cost extra?
Routing features are normally included. Forwarding to a mobile is billed at the forwarding rate. See forwarding to a mobile.
See routing features