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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 one of:

  • 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.
  • Caller ID - a pattern matched against the calling number, so a specific caller or range of callers reaches a different destination than everyone else.

There are no separate “time based” and “operator managed” route types - a single route can mix mode-based, schedule-based, and Caller ID 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.

By default the order between rule kinds is: Caller ID rules first, then mode-based rules, then time-based schedules. A known caller therefore reaches their destination regardless of the hour or the active mode - which is what you want for a VIP customer or an on-call engineer.

If you would rather have an operator override caller-specific routing, turn on Modes Before Caller ID on the route. Modes are then checked first, so flipping the office into “Emergency” sends every caller, VIP or not, to the emergency destination.

Within the schedule-based rules, 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.

Modes Before Caller ID. Off by default, meaning Caller ID rules are matched before modes. Turn it on when an active mode should override caller-specific routing.

Rules

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

  • Condition. The mode in effect, the time-based schedule, or Caller ID. Caller ID is matched first, then modes, then schedules - unless Modes Before Caller ID is on - and the first matching rule wins. Use All-hours (default) as the final catch-all.
  • Caller ID Pattern. Shown only when the condition is Caller ID. Matched against the calling number using Asterisk pattern syntax: 15551234567 for one caller, _1555123XXXX for a range. As with permissions, the caller ID is matched after inbound E.164 normalization, so list the form your trunk actually delivers.
  • 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.

Tip: after building or reordering rules, open the Call Flow Diagram for the route to confirm the call reaches the destination you expect under each condition.