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Public holidays and closures

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Play a closed message on public holidays and planned closures, automatically by date or with a manual switch.

Callers hear a holiday or closed message on the days you choose, and your normal call flow runs on every other day. There are two ways to do it, and you can use both together:

  • By date with Time conditions: set the holiday dates in advance and the PBX switches for you.
  • By hand with Call flow control: dial a code or tap a button in the Webphone to close and reopen, for example when you close early or unexpectedly.
Inbound number → Call flow control
                   ├─ Passive → Announcement (closed)
                   └─ Active  → Time conditions (holidays)
                                  ├─ Matches        → Voicemail (holiday greeting)
                                  └─ Doesn't match  → your normal call flow

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”
  • A working call flow that starts with an Inbound number, such as the one in Business hours and after-hours calls.
  • The dates you’ll be closed.
  • A holiday greeting, and for the manual switch a short “We’re closed” message. You can record them while you set up, or upload audio files.

Public holidays differ between states and territories. Use the dates for the state your office is in.

Close by date with Time conditions

Section titled “Close by date with Time conditions”

1. Add a holiday Time conditions object

Section titled “1. Add a holiday Time conditions object”
  1. Drag Time conditions from the Conditions group onto the canvas and click the gear icon.
  2. Enter a Name, such as “Public holidays”, and check the Time zone.
  3. Click Add a time conditions group for the first holiday.
  4. Click Add a time condition, choose Days of the month and enter the date, for example 25 to 26.
  5. Click Add a time condition again, choose Months and select the month, for example December.
  6. For a holiday whose date changes every year, such as Easter, also add Years with the current year.
  7. Add a group for each other holiday, then click Save.

A closure that crosses the end of a month needs two groups, for example 24 to 31 December, and 1 to 2 January. All conditions in a group must match; a call matches if it matches any group.

2. Put it in front of your normal call flow

Section titled “2. Put it in front of your normal call flow”
  1. Remove the connection from the Inbound number to the first object of your normal call flow (for example your business-hours Time conditions): hover over the connecting line and click the round × button that appears on it.
  2. Connect the Inbound number to the new “Public holidays” Time conditions.
  3. Connect its Doesn’t match path to the first object of your normal call flow.

3. Add the holiday message

Section titled “3. Add the holiday message”
  1. Drag Voicemail onto the canvas and click the gear icon.
  2. Enter a Name, set Greeting to Custom, and record or upload your holiday message. Say when you’ll reopen.
  3. Turn on Voicemail to email, Local storage, or both, and click Save.
  4. Connect the Matches path of “Public holidays” to this Voicemail.

If you don’t want messages, use an Announcement instead. The call ends when the message finishes.

Close by hand with Call flow control

Section titled “Close by hand with Call flow control”

In this recipe, Active means open and Passive means closed.

  1. Drag Call flow control from the Conditions group onto the canvas and click the gear icon.
  2. Enter a Name, such as “Office open”, and note the Internal number. Dial it from any phone on your PBX to switch the state.
  3. Choose who can switch it from the Webphone: leave All Webphone users have access to this object on, or turn it off and choose Users.
  4. Choose Active. To get an email whenever someone switches it, turn on Enable email notification.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Connect the Inbound number to Call flow control, and its Active path to the first object of your normal call flow (or the “Public holidays” Time conditions).
  7. Drag an Announcement onto the canvas, record or upload your “We’re closed” message, and connect the Passive path to it.

To switch with one press on a desk phone, program the object’s BLF code on a phone key. The key also shows the current state.

Apply configuration

Section titled “Apply configuration”

Click Apply configuration in the top-right corner. Nothing changes for real calls until you do.

Check it works

Section titled “Check it works”
  • By date: to test without waiting for the holiday, add a temporary group for today’s date, apply, and call your number from a mobile. You should hear the holiday message. Then delete the group and apply again.
  • By hand: dial the call flow control’s internal number to switch it to Passive, then call your number from a mobile. You should hear the closed message. Switch it back to Active and call again to check normal calls are back.

Variations

Section titled “Variations”
  • Several offices or numbers: give each office its own Call flow control with the same Internal number. Dialling it switches them all together.
  • Forward to a mobile on holidays: connect Matches to a Call diversion instead of voicemail, so someone on call can answer. See Forward calls to a mobile.
  • Next year’s dates: at the start of each year, update the dates in “Public holidays”, especially groups that use Years.
Section titled “Related”