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FLOW CONTROLS


Flow controls can be toggled between "Normal" and "Override" modes, which allows administrators to control the flow of calls coming into your organization. These are manually controlled, which is different from calendar driven time controls. For example, an event on your calendar will tell a time control whether your organization is open or closed for the day. (More information about time controls can be found here.) However, a flow control is manually toggled on and off and can be used to override your time controls, allowing you to open or close your phone system outside of normally scheduled hours.

System administrators are able to manage existing flow controls, as well as create new ones, in the Account Center. Locate Flow Controls in the Phone System menu and expand the heading. Here you will see options to both Manage and Create flow controls.

CREATE FLOW CONTROLS

The Create Flow Controls page is where you can set up a new flow control on your account, allowing you to override any time control settings. Maybe you want to be able to switch your phones off during regular business hours due to a special event. Or maybe you want to switch your system on so you can take calls outside of normal business hours. A flow control would allow you to manually toggle your phones between normal and override settings.

BASIC SETTINGS

To set up a new flow control, follow these steps:

  1. Give your flow control a Name that will make it easy to identify.
  2. Select the Normal Destination for the call. This is where you want your call to go under Normal circumstances, possibly to a time control determining your open and closed hours. (Make sure whatever option you select here is set up and ready to function as part of your call flow.)
  3. Select the Override Destination for the call. This is where you want your call to go when you toggle your flow into override mode, causing it to ignore the normal settings. (Make sure whatever option you select here is set up and ready to function as part of your call flow.)
  4. Decide if you want to leave it in Normal mode, or switch it to Override mode for now.

ADVANCED SETTINGS

There are a few more optional settings for you here.

  1. A Feature Code will be assigned to this flow control once you click Save below. This code can be dialed from your Intulse enabled device to toggle your flow control between the normal and override modes.
  2. Decide if you would like to enter a Feature Code Passcode to limit access to this flow control. Only people with this passcode will be able to toggle between modes.
  3. Select System Recordings for both the normal and override modes if you want callers to hear a recording before going to the selected destinations. (These will need to be recorded in the System Recordings portion of the Account Center before they can be attached here.)
  4. When you click Save, your flow control will be added to the list of flow controls that currently exist on your account. You can select it here, or use the assigned feature code to toggle between modes.

Some changes related to your phone system's behavior, such as adding or editing flow controls, are not live immediately. Rather, the changes are "queued" and waiting to be applied. This allows you to make ALL of the necessary changes and verify that all pieces of the call flow are in place and functioning together as expected before making them live. Once you've tested your changes and are confident your system is functioning correctly, select "Apply Changes" on the left-hand menu to make your system live. A confirmation popup will open asking if you're certain you wish to apply your changes.

IMPLEMENTING FLOW CONTROLS

Flow controls are added to your call flow when selected within other system features. For example, in the call flow shown below, the first flow control is selected as an option within the inbound route, and the second is selected as an option within the first flow control.

The first flow control is added by going to Inbound Routes in the Account Center or by selecting a specific inbound route on the Visualize screen. From the settings screen, you can select the flow control you would like to attach.

This is the most common use of flow controls, but they can also be used with any other system feature.