How To Handle Multiple Callers
Without Busy Signals

You may have come to this page because you are wondering how businesses can receive more than one caller on a phone line without getting a busy signal. Maybe you are here because you want to do it yourself. Well, you came to the right place.

The confusion is due to thinking that if you have one number then you have one line. There is not magic involved in avoiding busy signals. While it is true that all your callers will have just a single number to dial, you will need multiple phone lines if you want more than one call to get through.

How many lines do you need? Simple answer, one line for each caller you need to handle simultaneously. Say you want to accept four callers before anyone gets a busy signal. Then you need four individual phone lines coming to your premises.

The method to accept multiple callers who dial the same number is to let the incoming calls hunt for an available line. This is known as a hunt group. The method is referred to a rollover because the first caller rings through on the first physical line and the next caller "rolls over" to the next physical line that is available. If all the lines are in use, then the next caller will get a busy signal.

So if you want to support a high call volume for your business, you need to get additional lines from your phone company and request these lines to be configured with rollover in a hunt group. You may be given actual phone numbers for each line, but only the number of the first line in the group is the number you give out for people to call you. So make sure your main business number is the one coming in on the first line. That is, the start of the hunt group.

The rollover service in most parts of the country is usually provided at no additional charge. After all, the phone company is charging you for the additional lines anyway.

Have you a well thought-out plan?

Do you know how you will handle all your callers simultaneously? Do you have enough personnel to answer all the calls? If not, then why not just have one line and let the overflow go to voice mail provided by your phone company.

If your business requires all the calls to come into your premises, have you decided on how you'll route all the calls? Of course you can simply have a telephone connected to each line. But then you have no way of transferring the calls from one to another. You also don't have a smooth transition to route callers to personnel or departments.

To route your callers you need to consider acquiring a PBX. That's a phone system that allows a live receptionist to answer all the incoming calls and transfer them to the proper locations.

If you don't have a full-time receptionist to answer all the calls, then you also need an automated attendant controlling the PBX. This lets you provide a welcome greeting to all your callers along with a menu of options they can select to route themselves to the desired personnel or departments.

A complete phone system should include voice mail for each extension to play a personal greeting specific to that extension and take messages for unanswered calls.

There are many phone systems with these features supporting both proprietary and standard phones. One such system is the low-cost VoicePro, which supports regular standard phone sets. It has all the features mentioned above in a self-contained unit to support up to four phone lines and up to 12 extensions.

How does it work?

All your incoming lines that are organized in a rollover hunt group are connected to the back of the VoicePro and all your in-house phones are connected to the extension jacks. After some easy-to-do programming to specify how your extensions are organized, the VoicePro does all the work for you.

All your callers dial a single number that you use as your business number. The first caller will ring through to the VoicePro, which will help the caller get to their desired destination. While that caller is being handled, the second, third and fourth callers all roll over to the additional lines and the VoicePro answers those too. Also being properly routed.

If two people want to talk with the same department or person, the VoicePro puts the second one into the voice mail of the busy extension.

When deciding on the equipment to complete your phone system, make sure you have the components you need to take care of all these features. When you have everything in place and working smoothly, you'll be able to handle all your callers in a proficient manner and show a professional image in the process.