Call flow
A call flow is the sequence of steps an incoming call follows in a phone system — for example a greeting, a menu, a team and a voicemail — drawn or configured as a set of connected rules.
How a call flow works
A call flow starts with the number that was dialled and ends where the call is answered or finished. In between are decisions and actions: check the business hours, play a greeting, offer a menu (IVR), ring a team, and fall back to voicemail if nobody answers. Call routing is the general term for these rules; a call flow is the concrete map of them.
A typical call flow
- The call arrives on the main number.
- A time check sends it one way during opening hours and another way when the office is closed.
- During opening hours, a greeting plays and a menu lets the caller choose a department.
- The department's call queue or ring group rings the team.
- If nobody answers, the caller can leave a voicemail.
Call flows in phone.systems™
phone.systems™ has a visual call flow editor in the Call Flows area. You drag objects onto a canvas and join them with cables between their sockets: an object's output leads to the next object's input, and an object with nothing connected to its output ends the call. Objects include Phone Number, Time Router, Voice Menu, Queue, Ring Group, Audio Playback, Forwarding, Voicemail, Conference, Fax and AI Agent. Changes apply in real time, and several workspace tabs can be open for larger setups. See call routing in phone.systems™.