Sequential ring is used to ring multiple phones or extensions in sequence, if the call is not answered within a pre-defined number of rings. These phones can be other phones in your office, as well as cell phones and home phones. When calls first come in, the caller hears a message saying “Please wait while we try to locate the party you are trying to reach.” As the call routes from one number to the next, the caller will hear a message saying “We are still trying to locate the party.” Follow the steps below to set this up:
- Visit www.nextiva.com, and click Client Login to log in to NextOS.
- From the NextOS Home Page, select Voice.
- From the Nextiva Voice Admin Dashboard, hover your cursor over Users and select Manage Users.
Manage Users - Hover the cursor over the name of the user that needs Sequential Ring configured, and click the pencil icon to the right.
User Edit - Scroll down and click the Mobility section.
Mobility Options - Click the pencil icon next to the Sequential Ring option.
Sequential Ring Edit - Fill in the fields as indicated below:
- Ring my main phone first for _ rings: defines whether or not the main phone rings first, and for how long. To have calls skip the main phone and go to whatever phone is specified next, uncheck the checkbox to the left of the option.
- Continue ringing sequence if main number is busy: this setting controls whether or not the other phone numbers in the list will ring if the main phone is in use.
- Enable caller to skip the sequence, assuming forwarding or voicemail is enabled: allows callers to skip ringing on all the phones if they choose.
Sequential Ring Menu - Enter the phone numbers to ring in sequence in the Phone number text boxes, as well as the number of rings for each number. Internal extensions, such as 1002, or external phone numbers, such as 4805551234 are accepted.
Sequential Ring Setup - If desired, select the Answer confirmation required checkbox. This will force the end recipient to press a button on their phone to accept the call, and can also be used to prevent calls from going to their voicemail.
Answer Confirmation - Click the green Save button at the bottom of the Sequential Ring menu. This will save the changes you have made so far, but the Sequential Ring feature will not be active until you specify criteria for when to activate your sequential ring list (see below).
Adding Criteria
- Click the plus sign at the bottom of the Sequential ring menu.
Criteria - Enter the required information as indicated below:
Sequential Ring Options- Name: a description for the event. Examples include “Business Hours” and “After Hours” if setting up schedule-based sequential ringing.
- Don’t use sequential ring: this setting allows you to turn sequential ring on and off for each criteria by selecting and deselecting the check box.
- Regular schedule: allows you to apply a schedule to the sequential ring feature. If a schedule is applied, then sequential ring will only work during the specified hours.
- Holiday schedule: this setting allows you to apply a holidays schedule to the sequential ring feature. If a holiday schedule is applied, then sequential ring will only work during the specified hours.
- Any phone number: select this radio button to have calls from all numbers follow the sequential ring settings you created.
- Following phone numbers: select this radio button to specify which calls should follow the sequential ring settings you created.
- Any private number: select this check box to have all calls from private numbers follow the sequential ring settings you created.
- Any unavailable number: select this check box to have all calls from unavailable numbers follow the sequential ring settings you created.
- Specific number: enter a phone number in this box to have only calls from that number follow the sequential ring settings. If multiple numbers need to be entered, click the plus sign to the right to add another phone number box.
- Select the Active check box to turn criteria on for Sequential Ring. At least one criteria must be active to enable the feature.
Activating Sequential Ring - Click the green Save button at the bottom of the Sequential Ring menu to save the settings.
- Make sure the ON/OFF button is set to ON. If it is set to OFF, click the button to change the setting to ON.
