How to customize your settings for the holidays
Create custom holiday greetings, hours, mailboxes, announcements and answering rules with Voice Manager.
When holidays arise, most businesses need to make changes to their business hours, greeting messages and more. Voice Manager allows you to make customized rules and settings so you can avoid making changes to ongoing operations.
Here are the most common settings users make for the holidays. They can be used together or separately, depending on your phone system’s configuration.
As an Administrator, you are able to set up a specific mailbox for voicemail messages. This also allows you to use a different voicemail greeting during the holidays without needing to change your standard greeting.
Navigate to Phone System > Groups > Message-only Extension
Select New Message-only Extension
Name the voicemail inbox (e.g., “Holiday Voicemail”)
Choose an extension number
Note: It will default to ext. 1 if unused
Enter the email address where you would like to receive voicemail notifications
Note: You can also add an additional email address to receive voicemail notifications under the Settings tab
Select Save
Once saved, select the voicemail extension, then select the Messages and notifications drop-down menu. You can then choose a specific User's voicemail inbox to have the messages be deposited
To record a custom greeting, select Edit under the Voicemail Greeting heading
Select a previously recorded greeting, create a new greeting using your computer microphone or simply have the system call you to record a new one
Note: Don’t forget to set custom answering rules to ensure that the caller is directed to your custom mailbox, as explained in a following section.
As an Administrator, you’re able to set up a simple holiday greeting without the ability to leave a message.
Navigate to Phone System > Groups > Announcement-only Extension
Select New Announcement-only Extension
Name the announcement-only extension (e.g., “Holiday Announcement”)
Choose an extension number
Note: It will default to ext. 1 if unused
Enter the email address where you would like to receive voicemail notifications
Select Save
Once saved, select the extension, then select Announcement
Select a previously recorded announcement, create a new announcement using your computer microphone or simply have the system call you to record a new one
Note: Don’t forget to set your custom answering rules to ensure that the caller is directed to your custom announcement, as explained in a following section.
As an Administrator, you can set up your phone system to have custom operating hours, such as shorter holiday hours or being closed for the day. This allows the standard hours of operation to continue once the holiday is over without the need to go back and reconfigure the settings.
Note: Custom hours rule should be set at the same level that the number is assigned to.
First determine if the phone number receiving calls is assigned to the Auto Receptionist level or to an extension (such as a User or a Call Queue):
For Auto Receptionist: Navigate to Phone System > Auto-Receptionist> General Settings > IVR Settings
For User or Call Queue: Navigate to Phone System > Users> Click on the User extension > Call Forwarding and Voicemail > Custom Rules tab
Under the Custom Rules heading, select the Add Rule button
Under 1. Name rule, name the rule so it’s easily identifiable (e.g., “Christmas Hours”)
Under 2. Define Conditions, choose the conditions that this rule applies to:
If it’s a specific date (e.g., Christmas), select Date and/or Time and a specific date range (e.g., December 24-26)
You can also simply choose the number being called and manually turn the rule on and off as needed
Under 3. Define Call Handling, choose the extension that the calls should go to during these hours. If you have an After-hours menu or a voicemail extension you’d like the calls to reach, you can choose that
You can also choose a User extension where the call should be handled. If so, the following section will show you how to customize the User’s answering rules
If the rule is under a User, this also allows you to select a custom call handling flow that doesn’t affect the normal call handling
You’re also able to forward calls to an external number, such as an answering service
Select Save
Once the rule is saved, it will show up under the Custom Rules tab and can be enabled or disabled by selecting the green switch
As an administrator, you can create custom answering rules for a User extension or a Call Queue so calls can be handled differently during the holidays. Before setting custom answering rules, ensure that you created a custom rule for holiday hours, as explained in a previous section.
Navigate to the extension that will be receiving the calls
Navigate to Custom Rules:
For a User extension: select the Call Forwarding and Messages drop-down menu
For a Call Queue: select the Call Handling and Members drop-down menu
Select Custom Rules
Select Add Rule
Under 1. Name rule, name the rule so it’s easily identifiable (e.g., “Christmas”)
Under 2. Define Conditions, choose the conditions that this rule applies to. You can select the number being dialed and/or a specific schedule or range of dates
Under 3. Definite Call Handling, choose how the call will be handled when this rule is in effect from the following options:
Send the call to the User’s voicemail
Play an out of office greeting and disconnect
Customize the normal call handling to be slightly different by selecting Ring my devices, then selecting which devices will receive calls and how long they should ring
Choose a different extension, such as a custom holiday voicemail inbox
Choose Forward to an external number if using a third party answering service, for example
Select Save
Once the rule is saved, it will show up under the Custom Rules tab and can be enabled or disabled by selecting the green switch