Before you start
At least one phone number must be provisioned (Phone Numbers > Add Number)
If you plan to use AI routing, your AI agent must be created (AI Agents > Create Agent)
If you plan to use IVR (Interactive Voice Response — a phone menu system), have your audio prompts ready in the audio library
Overview
Every Consio phone number has its own routing configuration. When a call comes in, you choose how it's handled. There are five routing modes, each suited to different situations.
Go to Phone Numbers > click on any number > scroll to When a call comes in.
Mode 1: Ring agents
The call rings your team members. This is the most common mode for during-hours routing.
Configuration options:
Agents to ring — select specific agents, or select a team. You can choose "All agents" or pick individuals
Call distribution:
- All at once — every selected agent's phone rings simultaneously. First to pick up gets the call. Recommended for fast pickup
- One by one — rings agents in sequence. If the first doesn't answer, it moves to the next
Max wait time — how long to ring before triggering the fallback (e.g., 45 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes)
Waiting audio — what the caller hears while waiting. Default ringtone or a custom audio file from your library
"If unanswered" fallback: After the max wait time, the call routes to one of:
Route to AI Agent (recommended)
Forward to number
Send to voicemail
Best for: Teams that want to answer calls personally with an AI safety net.
Mode 2: Route to AI Agent
The call goes directly to your AI voice agent. No human rings first.
When to use:
After-hours coverage (pair with business hours routing)
High-volume inbound where your team can't keep up
FAQ-heavy calls, where across Consio brands the AI resolves 70 to 80% of inbound calls without a human
Configuration: Select which AI agent handles the call (if you have multiple agents configured).
Best for: 24/7 coverage, after-hours, high-volume support.
Mode 3: Forward to number
The call is forwarded to an external phone number — a mobile phone, landline, call center, or another phone system.
When to use:
Transitioning from another phone provider (forward to your old system while testing)
Routing to an external call center
Sending calls to a specific person's mobile
Configuration: Enter the destination phone number.
Best for: Transition periods, external routing, mobile forwarding.
Mode 4: Send to voicemail
The call plays a voicemail greeting and records the caller's message.
Configuration:
Voicemail greeting — select a recording from your audio library, or use the default message
Ring time before voicemail — how long the phone rings before voicemail picks up (default 60 seconds; consider tuning to ~30 seconds)
Best for: After-hours when you don't have an AI agent set up yet, or as a fallback for unanswered transfers.
Mode 5: Open phone menu (IVR)
Present callers with a menu of options. Each keypress routes to a different destination.
Example IVR setup:
"Thank you for calling [Brand]. Press 1 for sales, press 2 for support, press 3 for order status."
Each menu option can route to:
A team (Ring agents)
An AI agent
A forwarding number
Voicemail
When to use:
Multiple teams with different responsibilities
Country-based routing (e.g., "Press 1 for US support, press 2 for Canada")
Intent-based routing (sales vs. support vs. billing)
Best for: Multi-team organizations, brands with distinct departments.
Combining modes with business hours
The most powerful setup combines routing modes with business hours:
Time | Routing |
During business hours | Ring agents → if unanswered, Route to AI Agent |
After hours | Route to AI Agent directly |
This ensures every call gets answered by the right resource at the right time.
To enable this, turn on Business Hours in Settings > General, then configure your number with the "Route based on business hours" option.
Quick reference
Mode | Human answers? | AI answers? | Best for |
Ring agents | Yes (with fallback) | Only if unanswered | During-hours, team-first |
Route to AI | No | Yes | After-hours, high volume |
Forward | Depends on destination | No | External routing, transitions |
Voicemail | No | No | Simple after-hours |
IVR | Depends on menu options | Depends on menu options | Multi-team, multi-department |
How to configure a routing mode
Go to Phone Numbers in the left sidebar
Click on the number you want to configure
Under When a call comes in, select your preferred mode from the dropdown
Configure the mode-specific options (agents, teams, forwarding number, IVR menu, etc.)
If using Ring agents, configure the If unanswered fallback
Save
How to verify it worked
After configuring, place a test call to the number:
Ring agents: Your team's phones should ring. If unanswered past the max wait, the fallback should activate.
Route to AI: The AI agent should answer and greet you.
Forward: The call should ring at the destination number.
Voicemail: You should hear the greeting and be able to leave a message.
IVR: You should hear the menu prompt and each keypress should route correctly.
Related articles
Configuring business hours & inbound routing — combining routing modes with business hours
Setting up AI-to-human call transfers — the dedicated transfer number setup
Calling hours vs. business hours — understanding the difference