Call Handling through Hunt Groups

A hunt group (or line hunting) is a telephony term for distributing phone calls from a single phone number to a select group of phone lines. A formula or algorithm is used to decide which line receives the next inbound call and how to handle that call in the event a line is busy. There are different types of hunt groups, each using a different algorithm for call handling:

Multi-line hunting – In multi-line hunting multiple inbound lines act as a single group. If a line is busy, the call goes to the next line in the group.

Linear hunting – With linear hunting, calls are delivered to the first in the group if available, then the second, third, etc. in succession. The first line in the group always gets the call if available.

Circular hunting – This hunting type provides a more even distribution of calls in a round robin fashion and is particularly useful for fax and electronic answering equipment.

Most idle hunting – Another good way to distribute calls to a group, most idle hunting delivers calls (as the name suggests) to the line which has been idle longest.

For more information about phone features such as hunt groups, call your local experts at Affordable Telephone Systems.  They will provide you with all the information you need to choose features or select the right phone system for your business.  They provide assistance with the installation and operation and provide on call service to help you after business hours.

For the best advice and support of telephone systems for small businesses, Affordable Telephone Systems, a name you can trust!

Affordable Telephone Systems                   866-666-9650

Security and Connectivity! . . . Our Commitment Guaranteed!

What is VoIP and would it work well for my business?

VoIP is a term that gets tossed around a fair amount these days, but what does is really mean and how do I know it will work well for my business?

The term VoIP business phone system means a group of phones that work together in a business environment using Internet Protocol. The voice packets are digitized and sent over the internet using Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to guarantee the delivery of the packet as well as insure the packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent. 

The handshake with the receiver of the phone call is initiated by SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and is prevalent in IP telephony. SIP controls how the call is established, how the packetized voice data is transferred during the call, and SIP tears down the connection when the call is concluded.

An office phone system based on VoIP provides your small business with the ability to communicate with each other, satellite offices, and your customers using internet connections instead of the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The exciting part about VoIP phones is the additional telephony capabilities that are possible, applications such as voicemail, virtual receptionist, dialing menus, routing, hunt groups, etc. Some of the more capable models include advanced features such as ACD queuing, conferencing, and even faxing without the need for specialized equipment.

The biggest concern people have when considering business VoIP is the speed and reliability of their LAN and their internet speed. If you have any doubts about your IP backbone’s ability to support a good VoIP phone system for your small business, contact the local experts at Affordable Telephone Systems. They will complete an in-depth analysis of your communications needs and help you decide the best path forward.

Call a name you can trust for your VoIP phone systems for small business.

Affordable Telephone Systems                866-666-9650

Security and Connectivity! . . . Our Commitment Guaranteed!