Answering calls
For the people who pick up
11 articles · 63 min of reading
Start with Why call transfers drop, and what fixes it
University
Learn the craft, not just the buttons.
Plain guides and free tools on running a business phone line, grouped by the job: answering calls, teams and waiting callers, and the phone menu. Each article shows how long it takes to read.
- 34 articles in 3 reading paths
- 10 free tools
- 21 diagrams
Start here
Admin and call flows: 17 articles, oldest first, with 81 minutes of reading in all.
Pick a path
Each path gathers the guides and tools on one job, oldest article first.
Teams and waiting
For whoever decides who takes which calls
6 articles · 28 min of reading · 2 tools
Start with Call queues and skills-based routing in Quebec
Topics Queues and routing
Admin and call flows
For whoever sets up the phone menu and the accounts
17 articles · 81 min of reading · 1 tool
Start with French-first IVR that still serves anglophones
Topics Call flows and IVR, Accounts and access
Tools Phone menu builder
Reading catalogue
Self-paced courses, with lessons in order Coming soon Until then, this is what exists: each path's tools and its newest articles.
- What to look for in a softphone appCodecs, audio device handling, presence, network changes and setup. Six questions to put to a softphone app, and the answers that should worry you.Article7 min readAnswering calls
- What is a softphone?A softphone is phone software running on a computer instead of a desk phone. What it needs, who it suits, who it does not, and where the audio breaks.Article7 min readAnswering calls
- Softphone vs desk phone: the real tradeAudio path, power, what happens when the laptop sleeps, and the person who will not wear a headset. A fair comparison of softphones and desk phones.Article7 min readAnswering calls
- Erlang C calculatorFree Erlang C staffing calculator with shrinkage and occupancy. Compare agents needed, service levels and waiting times, and export daily CSV results. No signup.Free toolIn your browserTeams and waiting
- Coverage plannerSee when somebody is actually there to answer, across teams in different time zones, and where the clock changes open holes nobody rostered.Free toolIn your browserTeams and waiting
- What missed calls are actually worthWhy missed call calculators inflate: rings counted as people, every caller counted as a prospect, credit for those who come back anyway, revenue read as profit.Article7 min readTeams and waiting
- How many people do you need to answer calls?Staffing a phone line is not division. What offered load, shrinkage and occupancy actually mean, worked through one busy half hour, with the arithmetic shown.Article7 min readTeams and waiting
- One number for sales, service and billingHow one published number reaches the right person for each kind of call, who decides that, and what happens when nobody on the team is free to answer.Article4 min readTeams and waiting
- Phone menu builderDraw the phone menu a caller hears, find the dead ends before they do, and act as the caller yourself. Runs in your browser, with nothing to sign up for.Free toolIn your browserAdmin and call flows
- What is an auto attendant?An auto attendant answers your main number and routes the caller by key. What it decides, what it cannot fix, and the size of business that does not need one.Article5 min readAdmin and call flows
- Auto attendant mistakes that lose callersFive failures in menus that are wired correctly: too many options, no way to a person, department names, a key that cannot help, a greeting that rambles.Article8 min readAdmin and call flows
- A phone tree template that worksA copyable menu: one greeting, three options and four exits, with the wording written out. What to change, what to leave, and where each line has to land.Article6 min readAdmin and call flows
Every article, by topic: Transfer, hold and conference, Softphones and apps, Queues and routing, Call flows and IVR, Accounts and access
Coming soon
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