What overflow means
Overflow is the call your team could not take: everyone was already on the phone, the office was closed, or the one person who answers was out. Today those calls hit voicemail, and most callers hang up rather than leave a message. Overflow call handling sends them to the AI receptionist instead, so they get an answer, a transfer, or a message taken, and your team gets a written summary.
The receptionist does not have to take every call. It can take only the ones you miss.
Three ways to set it up
1. Ring the team first, then the receptionist
Your phones or ring group ring as they do now. If nobody answers within a time you choose, 20 seconds for example, the call goes to the AI receptionist instead of voicemail. Your team sees nothing different on a normal day.
2. Queue overflow
When your queue is full or the wait is too long, callers are handed to the receptionist. It can answer common questions, take the caller's details and reason, and offer a callback, so the queue stays short and nobody gets a busy signal.
3. After hours and holidays
Outside your opening hours, every call goes to the receptionist. Callers get a proper answer at 9pm and on a public holiday, and the morning starts with a list of what came in rather than a full voicemail box.
You can combine them. Clinics often run 1 during the day and 3 at night. Trades run 1 all day because the phone is in a pocket on a roof.
What happens on an overflow call
- The receptionist answers in an Australian voice, on your number.
- It asks what the caller needs, the way a person on the desk would.
- If someone is free, it puts the caller through. It can try a second place if the first does not answer, a mobile after the office phone for instance, and it screens the transfer so a mobile's voicemail never swallows your caller.
- If nobody is free, it takes the caller's details and the reason, and answers what it can from what you have told it.
- Every call is written up and sent where your team will see it.
Keep your phone system
Overflow works with the BE Voice phone system, where you add the receptionist as a step in your call routing. It also works with a phone system you already run, such as 3CX or Yeastar, by forwarding unanswered calls to the receptionist's number. Either way, your number, your phones and your provider can stay as they are.
What it costs
Overflow is the AI receptionist, used only for the calls you miss, so you pay for fewer minutes. Plans start at $149 a month with 200 minutes included. The AI receptionist cost guide works through what to expect at your call volume, and the pricing page has the detail.
Where to go next
- The AI receptionist: what it does on a full call.
- Transfers and "if no answer, then": the routing detail in the help centre.
- Call centres and clinics: how overflow is used there.