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Creating a geographic routing plan

Use geographic routing (sometimes referred to as geo routing) to automatically redirect inbound calls based on where the caller is calling from. For example, you might use this feature if you have sales offices all over the country and want to direct customers to offices that are located physically closest to them.

To route call traffic based on location:

  1. Click Inventory, then click Inventory.

    Control Center displays a list of all services assigned to the accounts under your enterprise ID. If you have more than 10 services, you can view the rest of your services by clicking one of the blue linked Show numbers at the top of the list or you can click the blue down arrow at the bottom of the list to add 10 services at a time to the view.
Inventory
  1. Search for the service in one of these ways:

    • Sort your services using the Sort by… list (e.g., Service Type). You can toggle between descending and ascending order using the arrow to the right of the Sort by… list.

    • Filter your services by selecting an option from the View All (Default) list.

    • Search for a specific service (by service type, account, etc.) using the Search by… field and search box. (To search using multiple search criteria, click Advanced Search, then fill in your search criteria and click Apply Search Filters. When you're done, click Close Advanced Search.)
  1. When you find the service you want to work with, click the blue arrow on the right of the line for the service.

    Control Center displays details for the toll-free service you selected.
Inventory (showing toll-free service detail and global default)
  1. From the Call Plan More Actions list, select Edit Call Plan.
product service id details toll free edit call plan
  1. On the right of the global default (dark gray) bar, click the down arrow, then click Add New Feature.
product service id details toll free add new feature
  1. In the pop-up window, from the Select Feature list, select Geographic Routing, then click Submit.
  1. If the Confirm Feature ADD/Delete window appears, click Accept.
product service id details toll free geographic routing feature details
  1. In the Default Routing Type section, select the radio button for the routing type you want to use for the feature.
  1. From the Time Zone list, select a time zone for the routing plan.
  1. Click Add Rule.

    From here, you're creating a rule to tell the system what to do when someone calls a certain phone number. For example, when customers call your toll-free number, they get routed to area codes in Colorado.
product service id details toll free geographic routing rule details
  1. Depending on what kind of number you want to route, in the Terminating Route Type section, do one of the following:

    • To add a dedicated trunk:

      1. Select the DED radio button.

      2. From the Primary Trunk list, select the trunk.
         
    • To add a switched ANI:

      1. Select the  SWI radio button.

      2. From the ANI list, select the terminating route.

        If you don't see the trunk/ANI you need, click the ADD ANI TO THE LIST button, fill in the fields, click Add, then select the number from the list.

Note: If you give the ANI a description, describe it so you and your colleagues will remember it. If you leave the description blank, the phone number will show in the list.

  1. In the Default Routing Type section, do one of the following:

    • Select the Terminating Addresses radio button if you want to change where your toll-free calls are routed to.

    • Select the Linked To feature radio button if you want to link the terminating routing type to an existing feature.
  1. In the Terminating Routing Type section, do one of the following:

    • Select the DED radio button for a dedicated route if you want to select a dedicated route.

    • Select the SWI radio button for a switched route if you want to select a switched route.
  1. Then do one of the following:

    • Select the OverFlow radio button if you want to send any overflow calls to another route for when the trunk group is busy or down.

    • Select the Add BRNA radio button for busy ring no answer if you want to set up another route when the condition of busy ring no answer exists. You can transfer calls when the trunk group is down, busy, or there is no answer after a given time (you select the time in seconds).

    • Select the None radio button if you do not want overflow or BRNA.
  1. Scroll down, in the Routing Criteria section, do one of the following:

    • To create a route on the area code, area code and prefix (first 6 digits), or 10-digit number. select the NPANXX radio button, then type the corresponding area codes.

    • To add all the area codes by state or province. select the State radio button, then select the state or province from the list you want the number to terminate to, then click Retrieve NPA. Afterword, you can add additional area codes or remove any of them.

    • To route by LATA (a geographical area used by telecom companies), select the LATA radio button, then select the LATA from the list.
  1. Click Update.
product service id details toll free percentage allocation with rules
  1. Click Save Changes (at the bottom of the Details section).

    Control Center prompts you to schedule when you want the new routing to activate.
product service id details toll free day of week feature details with rules schedule call plan
  1. Enter a Date and Time, select a Time Zone, then click Submit.

Important: We recommend you schedule your call plan an hour before the activation time. After it has been scheduled, you are unable to edit the plan. If you want to make changes after the plan has been scheduled, you need to wait until the changes go into effect and then you can change it.