Your business does not keep the same hours all day, every day, so your phones should not either. Time based call routing lets the phone system answer differently at 10 am on a Tuesday, at lunch, on Saturday afternoon and at midnight, without anyone touching a phone. This guide covers how time based routing works on an IP PBX, the schedules most Indian offices need, how to handle holidays and unplanned closures, and the mistakes that leave callers stranded.
What is time based call routing?
Time based call routing sends incoming calls to different destinations depending on the date and time. During office hours a call might go to reception or a sales team; after hours the same number plays a closed message and offers voicemail. The caller dials the same number either way. The phone system checks the clock and decides.
On an IP PBX it is built from two pieces:
- A time group: a named set of time periods, such as “Office hours”.
- A time condition: a check against that group, with one destination when the time matches and another when it does not.
Building time groups in Voxdial IP PBX
In Voxdial IP PBX, each time group holds one or more time entries. Every entry can set:
- A start and finish time of day
- A range of weekdays
- A range of days of the month
- A range of months
Any field left blank means “any”, so an entry with only 9:00 to 18:00 applies every day. A group can hold several entries, which is how you describe real working hours. Quick scenario presets fill in common patterns, and a Used By column shows which time conditions depend on each group, so nobody deletes one that is still in use.
Common schedules
| Business | Time group entries |
|---|---|
| Office, Monday to Friday | 09:30 to 18:00, Monday to Friday |
| Office with Saturday half day | 09:30 to 18:00 Monday to Friday, plus 09:30 to 13:30 Saturday |
| Shop or showroom | 10:00 to 21:00, every day |
| Clinic with a lunch break | 09:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday |
The lunch break example is two entries in one group. During the gap, calls follow the “closed” path, which might be a short message and a ring group of staff who cover lunch.
Setting up the time condition
A Voxdial time condition has:
- A time group to check against.
- A time zone, so the check uses the right local time. This matters for a branch in another country on the same system.
- A destination when the time matches, for example the main IVR menu.
- A destination when it does not, for example an after-hours announcement followed by voicemail.
You then point an incoming route, or an option in an IVR menu, at the time condition. That is the step people forget: a time condition does nothing until calls pass through it. If you are new to how routes, menus and announcements fit together, start with our guide to IVR call flow design.
Different hours for different teams
You do not need one schedule for the whole company. Give each department its own time group and time condition: the service desk might run 08:00 to 20:00, while accounts keeps office hours. Route each department’s direct number, or each IVR option, through its own condition.
Holidays and unplanned closures
Every time condition can have an override code PIN, which lets staff manually force the condition on or off. Use it for:
- A public holiday or festival closure
- Closing early for an event or a power shutdown
- Staying open late for a product launch or a deadline
An optional busy lamp key on a phone can show the condition’s current state, so reception can see at a glance whether the lines are in normal or override mode. Make it someone’s job to set the override the evening before a holiday, and to switch it back before the next working day.
Time rules for outgoing calls
Time groups are not only for incoming calls. In Voxdial, an outbound route can be limited to a time group. A common use is to allow international or long-distance dialling only during office hours, which closes an easy door to misuse at night. See our guide to PBX security and toll fraud for more ways to protect your lines.
What should callers get after hours?
A closed message alone is a dead end. Better after-hours options are:
- Voicemail to email: messages land in the team inbox for the morning.
- An on-call person: route urgent calls to a duty extension, with follow me to that person’s mobile.
- An AI voice agent: answers common questions in Indian languages and takes details for a callback the next morning. See AI Agents.
- Your website and WhatsApp: tell callers where they can get help right now.
Keep the after-hours message short: your opening hours, the option that helps, and nothing else.
Mistakes to avoid
- Wrong time zone. Calls switch to night mode at the wrong hour. Set the time zone on every condition.
- Forgetting Saturdays. A group with only Monday to Friday sends Saturday morning callers to the closed message.
- Overrides left on. A holiday override that nobody clears keeps the office “closed” on a working day. Check it each morning after a holiday.
- Deleting a time group in use. Check the Used By column first.
BitVoice builds time groups, time conditions and after-hours routing as part of every Voxdial IP PBX installation. Talk to our team about your schedule.
FAQs
What is time based call routing?
It sends incoming calls to different destinations based on the date and time, for example to reception during office hours and to voicemail after hours.
What is the difference between a time group and a time condition?
A time group is a set of time periods, such as office hours. A time condition checks the current time against that group and routes the call one way if it matches and another way if it does not.
How do I route calls differently on a holiday?
On Voxdial IP PBX, staff use the time condition’s override code PIN to force it to the closed destination for the day, then switch it back before the next working day.
Can different departments have different hours?
Yes. Give each department its own time group and time condition, and route its direct number or IVR option through that condition.
