1300 Number and 1800 Number routing options

1300 numbers and 1800 numbers are "virtual" numbers, in that they are not tied to specific phones in the same way that landline and mobile numbers are.

Instead, you route these numbers to the "answer points" at which you want them to ring, including landlines, mobile phones, VoIP lines, fax machines, and call answering services.

Many businesses route their 1300 numbers or 1800 numbers to a single answer point. But with the highly-configurable routing options available, there is so much more that you can do.

Time and day-based routing

You can use time- and day-based routing to redirect calls to different answerpoints based on when the calls are made.

For example, calls can be routed to a business number during the day, and then to a Live Answering Service outside of normal business hours. National companies can also use time and day-based routing to extend support hours for their customers, by routing early morning calls to their east coast offices, and calls received after 5:00 p.m. EST to their Perth office.

Location-based routing

Calls can be routed based on the location of the caller (determined by the number from which the call originated). This is useful for businesses with multiple offices or outlets, allowing calls to be routed to the office or outlet nearest to the caller.

• A national business with an office in each state can route calls to the local state office (e.g. route all calls from Queensland to the Brisbane office and all calls from South Australia to the Adelaide office).
• A business with multiple offices or outlets, such as a franchise or chain, can route calls to individual outlets (right down to the telephone exchange level) based on the caller's location.

Note that calls originating from mobile phones, for which the originating location cannot be established, can be routed to a special "location unknown" answer point. If required, these calls can then be redirected to the correct number either manually by an operator or via an automated IVR call forwarding system.

Condition-based routing

If the number to which a call is initially routed is busy, not answering, or experiencing congestion, this option forwards the call to an alternative number.

For example, if no-one answers the office phone after "x" seconds, the call is forwarded to a specified mobile number. And if no-one answers the mobile after "x" seconds, the call is forwarded to a Live Answering Service. Up to three consecutive forwards can be specified for each answer point.

Sharing-based routing (call splaying)

Share incoming calls between up to 20 different answer points (based on a pre-set ratio). This is a useful tool to help distribute calls, for example to share potential leads among the sales team, or to help free up customer service representatives by distributing work evenly.

Emergency-based routing

In the event of an emergency, this option allows businesses to quickly implement their disaster plan and redirect incoming calls to pre-set answer points. For example, if an office is evacuated, calls can automatically be redirected to mobile phones or a Live Answering Service.

Other options

Call screening is available for most of the above options (excluding Emergency-based routing), to allow businesses to avoid calls coming from areas they don't service or support, and to help screen out nuisance callers.

You can also mix-and-match routing options. For example, you can add Condition-based routing to your Time- or Sharing-based routing to provide alternative answer points when required. Or you can combine Location- and Emergency-based routing options, to enable emergency notifications for specified locations only.

The above is just a high-level overview of what is available. Once you look at mixing-and-matching the different routing options and settings that are available, it's possible to come up with the perfect call routing solution for all types of businesses. (Although you should be aware that extra costs may apply for more complicated routing configurations.)

Visit Alltel's web site to find out more about 1800 and 1300 number routing options, including the ways in which it can benefit your business and a description of all of the different Location-based configuration options that are available. You can also phone us on 1300 ALLTEL if you have any questions or want help configuring the routing for your number.