This article explains how to set up holiday schedules, business hour rules, personal answering rules, mobile twinning, ring delays, call forwarding, and vacation routing in your phone system portal.
These settings help control where calls go during business hours, after hours, holidays, vacations, and other custom time frames.
This article applies to users and administrators managing:
Time frames are schedules used by the phone system to decide how calls should be handled.
Common examples include:
Once a time frame is created, it can be used in answering rules to decide whether calls ring phones, forward to another number, go to voicemail, or route to an auto attendant.
Log in to the phone system portal with an administrator account. Administrators have access to company-level settings, including shared time frames and main number routing.
From the admin portal, navigate to Time Frames. Most accounts already have a default business hours time frame.
Click Add Time Frame.
Name the time frame something clear, such as:
Choose Specific Dates or Ranges. For a full-day holiday, set the time frame to cover the entire day.
Example:
This ensures the holiday rule applies for the full day.
You can add multiple dates to the same time frame. For example, if your business is closed Monday and Tuesday, add both dates. You can also remove dates by clicking the delete or X option next to the date.
Save the holiday time frame. The holiday schedule is now available for answering rules.
Creating the holiday time frame does not automatically change your call routing. You must also update the answering rules for the correct user, extension, auto attendant, or main number destination.
From the admin portal, go to Inventory. Find your main telephone number and check where it is pointing.
It may point to:
Identify the destination because that is where you need to update the answering rules.
Go to Users and select the user or extension that the main number routes to.
Click Answering Rules.
You may see rules such as:
Common options include:
Save the new holiday answering rule.
Answering rules are checked in order from top to bottom. The phone system looks at the first rule. If the time frame is active, it uses that rule. If the first rule does not apply, the system checks the next rule.
A common order is:
This means the holiday rule should usually be above the normal business hours rule. If the holiday rule is active, it will override the normal business hours rule for that day.
Users can also manage their own personal answering rules. This is useful for controlling how calls ring your desk phone, mobile app, cell phone, or voicemail.
From the portal, click your extension or profile menu. Select My Account. Non-administrator users may land here automatically when logging in.
Click Time Frames.
You may see:
Click Add Time Frame.
Examples of personal time frames include:
You can set a personal time frame to specific dates, recurring times, or always available if you want to manually turn it on later.
Mobile twinning allows your office phone and cell phone or mobile app to ring together. This is useful if you want to receive office calls on your cell phone during business hours only.
From My Account, open Answering Rules. Select the business hours rule or create a new rule for business hours.
Check Simultaneous Ring. This allows more than one phone or number to ring at the same time.
Make sure your own extension is included. This ensures your desk phone still rings.
If you use the phone system’s mobile app, enable the option to ring the user’s phones or mobile app.
Enter your cell phone number as an additional number to ring.
When forwarding or ringing an outside number, answer confirmation may be available. When enabled, the system asks you to press a key, such as Press 1 to accept, before the call connects. This helps you know the call is coming from your office line instead of a direct personal call.
A ring delay controls when your cell phone starts ringing. For example, you may want your desk phone to ring first. If you do not answer after 10 seconds, then your cell phone starts ringing.
This prevents your cell phone from ringing every time your desk phone rings.
Vacation routing is useful when you do not want calls ringing your phone while you are away.
Create a time frame called Vacation. You can set it to specific vacation dates or create it as an always-available option that you manually turn on when needed.
If the vacation time frame is set to “Always,” do not leave it above your normal business hours rule unless you want it active all the time. You can move it lower in the rule list and manually activate it from the home screen when needed.
The portal home screen may show your current active answering rule.
From there, you can quickly switch between rules such as:
To turn on vacation mode:
When you return, switch it back to Business Hours.
Some phone system mobile apps also allow users to adjust answering rules directly from the app.
If you need help setting up holiday schedules, answering rules, call forwarding, or mobile app routing, contact your phone system administrator or EasyITGuys support.
EasyITGuys can help review your phone system routing, configure business hours, set up holiday schedules, and make sure calls go to the right place at the right time.
