Users with an admin role can define specific calendar dates (“special dates”) - including holiday hours - in the admin dashboard, allowing them to then configure specific call flows for these dates in the Smartflows call flow editor.
This feature can be used, for example, to direct inbound callers to one of your company’s overseas offices on public holidays or holiday hours, or to have seasonal messages play to incoming callers during a festive period.
Note: This feature can be used to set call flows for specific calendar days, such as holiday periods or temporary closures. Should you wish to set specific call flows for certain hours of the day and days of the week on a regular and ongoing basis, please use the Time Rule widget.
How does it work?
Create your special date
First, navigate to the Call Settings > Special dates section of the dashboard. In this section, you will find the complete list of special dates (consisting of their name and the exact calendar dates they include) that can be referenced when building a call flow.
Select Create special date, enter the name and the specific calendar dates you wish to include, then click Create.
Good to know
- By default, special dates will include the full day. However, a more specific period of time can be selected by unchecking the “All day” checkbox.
- Both single dates and longer periods of time (with a start date and end date) may be selected as a special date.
Once created, your new special date will be listed and can be edited from Call Settings > Special dates.
Link your special date to a number
Now you’ve created your special date, it’s time to link it to a number so you can apply specific call flows for this date. To perform this step, you must add a Date rule widget to your Smartflows number as per the following steps:
- Navigate to the Numbers section of the dashboard, select your number, then click on the Call distribution tab.
- Click Edit to enter the call flow editor.
- Add a new Date rule widget and, in the widget settings, select:
- The title for your date rule and the timezone (by default, this will be based on the number prefix).
- The special date you created in the previous step.
Now that your Date rule widget has been configured with your special date, all steps added to your call flow after this step will apply to that special date (for example, you may wish to send callers to voicemail during Christmas holidays).
Once you’ve saved your call flow, if you return the Call Settings > Special dates tab and click on your special date, this number will appear under the section Numbers using the special date.
Once a special date widget is set up, the expected behavior will be the following one: by default, calls will go through the “Business As Usual” exit of the widget. Once reaching a defined special date, calls will then go through the special day exit of the widget.
Good to know
- The same special dates object can be used in multiple numbers and/or widgets. In that case, editing the special dates object configuration will have an impact on all the scenarios that are using it.
- This is for example useful to define holidays dates once in a special dates object, and then use those holidays dates in multiple numbers (for example to configure a specific call flow during those).