Features / Ring groups and simultaneous ring
Ring the right people, in the right order
Every Onyx Phone line rings everyone on it at once. On Business and up, you can also make ring groups, like Office or Crew, and set a ring order that tries the office first and the crew next, so calls reach someone without waking the whole team.
Simultaneous ring, on every plan
Tick where a line rings: the browser, the iPhone and Android apps, desk phones, or all three. Every ticked device rings for every person on the line at the same moment. The first to answer takes the call and the rest stop ringing. If someone declines on their phone, only their devices stop; the call keeps ringing for everyone else.
Alert hours decide whose devices ring when. Someone off the clock simply isn't rung, and if nobody on the line is available the caller goes to voicemail.
Ring groups
A ring group is a named set of teammates: Office, Crew, Sales, Service. Make as many as you need, and put a person in more than one. Groups are used in three places: a phone menu option can ring one, a transfer can go to one, and a line's ring order can ring them in turn.
A group only ever rings the members who are assigned to the line the call came in on, so a group shared across lines never sends a paving call to the lawn crew.
Ring order
Ring order rings one group, then the next. A common setup: the office rings first, and if nobody there picks up, the call moves on to the owner and the crew. Callers hear ringing, or your ringing music, the whole time, and if nobody answers anywhere, they reach voicemail.
- Ring the office first during the day, then the people on the road.
- Send sales calls to one group and service calls to another through a phone menu.
- Keep a group just for transfers, like Estimators or Dispatch.
Getting started
- Create a login and pick a plan. Checkout saves a card for the 7-day free trial, and nothing is charged until it ends.
- Confirm your business and its 911 address, and get a local number on the spot. Bringing your own number? You answer on a temporary one while it moves over, for free.
- Choose where calls ring, write what callers hear, invite your team, and register for texting. Then answer in the browser, the iPhone and Android apps, or a desk phone. How it works has the details.
Included on Business and Scale
Starter is $17, Business is $29, Scale is $42 per user a month, or less billed yearly. The plan includes a business number for each user and unlimited calling and texting in the US and Canada. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and moving your current number over is free.
Questions
What is simultaneous ring?
Every device for every person on the line rings at the same time, and the first to answer takes the call. It's on every Onyx Phone plan.
Which plan has ring groups?
Ring groups and ring order come with Business and Scale. Starter rings everyone on a line at once.
Can one person be in more than one ring group?
Yes. Groups are just lists of teammates, so someone can be in Office and Estimators at the same time.
Related
Phone menu (IVR)
Press 1 for sales, 2 for service: a phone menu sends each caller to the right person, ring group, or voicemail. On every plan, Starter included.
Call transfer
Transfer a call to a teammate or a ring group from the browser or the phone app. Hang up and hand it off, or stay on to introduce the caller. On Business.
Shared business number
One business number that rings everyone who answers it, in the browser, the phone apps, and desk phones. Calls, texts, and voicemail in one shared history.