Number Groups
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Numbers can be grouped together to allow their associated call plans to be switched over simultaneously from one plan to another in a single operation. For example, a group of numbers which have Plan ID 0 as their default routing plan can be switched to Plan ID 1 in the event of an emergency, or if regular updates to multiple Service Numbers are required on an ad hoc basis.
You will need to be familiar with Service Manager in order to better understand the concept of Plan IDs.
A Service Number can have any number of Plans assigned to it (but obviously only one is active at a time). This allows Plans to be developed and then assigned to a Service Number in order that they can be manually activated as and when the Plan is required; it also allows assigned Plans to be activated en masse to multiple numbers using Number Groups. By default, the first service created for a Service Number is Plan 0. Subsequent services created against a Service Number will be Plan 1, Plan 2, etc. Plan ID numbers can be amended using Service Manager in order that the Plan IDs for your Number Group 'line up' in order to facilitate Plan switching.
A small company has five Service Numbers: Reception, Sales, Accounts, Marketing and IT. Each of these Service Numbers has its own default Plan which delivers calls to the relevant departments. Each of these active Plans has a Plan ID of 0. Four of the five Service Numbers also have Plans assigned (but not active) in case of emergency - if the office is not accessible due to the weather for example. These secondary Plans deliver to the mobile numbers of the heads of each department, and they each have a Plan ID of 1.
The Marketing department is outsourced and so is not based in the same office as the other departments, and is therefore not included in the Number Group, so when the Plans are switched, the Marketing Service Number remains unchanged.
then click on "Create New Group":
Enter a new Group ID and Description. You can choose any Group ID, but it must be a value between 1 and 999:
Then click Save (or Save & Close) when complete.
The new Group can now be assigned Service Numbers. Click on the Menu button on the r-hand side to reveal the drop-down options:
Using the Number Selector page, find the Service Numbers that need to be associated with this Group. If your account has many Service Numbers, use the Number and/or Description fields as wildcards to search on the first few digits of the number, or partial text in the Service Description.
Click in the left-hand box to tick each number that is required to belong to the Number Group:
then click "Select":
Then click "Add Selected Numbers to Group", confirm and close:
Your selected numbers now below to Group ID 1 (in this example), with Plan ID 0 as the Active Plan.
To change the plan on the four numbers in Group ID 1 from Plan ID 0 to Plan ID 1, select "Number Groups", as described in the section "Selecting Number Groups" above, then click the menu icon on the r-hand side of the page and select "Activate Plan" from the drop-down list:
You will be presented with the following page; using the Plan ID drop-down menu select Plan ID 1, then select "Active Selected Plan". You will be asked to confirm the change.
The new active Plan ID number will also be displayed against each of the relevant Service Numbers in Service Manager. Note that the Plan IDs presented in the drop-down list may include Plan IDs that might not exist against all the Service Numbers in the Number Group. For example, if three of the Service Numbers in our example Number Group above each have only Plan IDs 0 and 1 assigned, but the fourth number has three Plan IDs of 0, 1 and 2, then you will see Plan IDs 0, 1 and 2 in the drop-down list. If you then selected Plan ID 2, only the Service Number that has Plan ID 2 assigned will be activated - the active Plans assigned to the Service Numbers in the Number Group that don't have a Plan ID 2 will remain unchanged. You can also switch the active plans via an . The service is protected with a 6 digit User ID and PIN which is assigned to your account by default when your account is created. Your User ID and PIN can be found by selecting Number Groups as described in the section "Selecting Number Groups", above.
