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Thirdlane

Inbound Call Routes

Inbound Call Routes associate an external phone number (DID/DDI) with a set of Rules that determine where and how incoming calls to that number are handled. Each rule pairs a Condition with an Action (an Action Script that sends the call to a destination such as an IVR/Voice Menu, queue, extension, or hunt group).

Note that DIDs on Inbound Routes are restricted to those assigned to the current tenant, and number patterns are not used. (The legacy Single Tenant edition allows entering DIDs and patterns directly.)

DIDs with an assigned Inbound Route show a checkbox and can be edited; DIDs without a route do not have the checkbox and can be “assigned” when you create a new Inbound Route. Creating an Inbound Route changes the phone number status to “Used in Inbound Routes”, and deleting the route removes this status.

Conditions: modes and schedules in one route

A rule’s Condition is either:

  • A Mode - a call-handling state (for example Day, Night, Holiday, Lunch, or any custom mode your organization defines) that an administrator or a permitted user turns on from the app.
  • A time-based schedule - a Time Range Group that matches on time of day, day of week, and specific dates.

There are no separate “time based” and “operator managed” route types - a single route can mix mode-based and schedule-based rules, and you pick each rule’s condition from one combined list.

How rules are evaluated

Rules are processed top to bottom, and the first matching rule wins. Modes take precedence: the system checks mode-based rules first, then time-based schedules. In other words, when a mode is active and a rule matches it, that rule is used; otherwise the schedule-based rules apply. This means you can set up a route for normal business hours with a schedule and still let someone flip the office into “Holiday” or “Emergency” mode to override that schedule instantly.

The All-hours (default) condition matches when nothing above it does, so keep it last as a catch-all.

Create/Edit Inbound Call Route

DID. DID selected from the list of DIDs assigned to the current tenant. (In the legacy Single Tenant edition, a number or pattern can be entered directly.)

Description. Short description of this route.

Tag. Optional tag used to group and filter routes.

Billable. Specify whether this route is billable, which will be reflected in CDR.

Prompt Language. Language used for playing voice prompts installed with Sound Packages.

Timezone. Time zone used when evaluating time-based schedule conditions for this route.

Rules

Use Add Rule to add up to 10 rules. Each rule has:

  • Condition. The mode in effect or the time-based schedule that must match for this rule to run. Modes are evaluated before schedules, and the first matching rule wins. Use All-hours (default) as the final catch-all.
  • Action. The Action Script that handles the call when the condition matches. Depending on the selected script, you can set its parameters directly below it.

Typically one or two rules are enough - for example one rule for a special condition (a mode or an off-hours schedule) and an All-hours (default) rule covering everything else.

Default Action

When the route uses the extended call routing mode, you can set a Default Action that runs when no rule condition matches. If no default action is specified, the tenant default route is used as a fallback.

  • Active Mode - define modes and set the active mode (permanent or temporary).
  • Time Range Groups - build the schedules used as conditions.
  • Routing Conditions - reusable decision points that evaluate a schedule, a mode, or both, and can be chained from IVR menus, hunt groups, and other routes.