Aircall
Aircall has no direct connection to Reception.ai, so you connect it with call forwarding. Your receptionist answers on its own Reception.ai number, and your Aircall number’s Smartflow redirects calls to it. Callers keep dialing your Aircall number.
First, go to Receptionists, select the Phone tile, and get a number. See Phone numbers.
Don’t use a user’s Forward call to an external number setting for the receptionist. Aircall asks whoever answers a forwarded call to press 1 within 10 seconds, and only Aircall Support can turn this off. Your receptionist can’t press keys, so those calls fail. Use a Smartflow Redirect to widget instead, as below.
Then pick one of the setups below. Each uses a Redirect to widget in your Aircall number’s Smartflow.
Forward all calls
Add a Redirect to widget
Open your Aircall number’s Smartflow in the Flow editor. Select the + icon at the start of the flow and choose Redirect to.
Ring your team first
Add a Ring to widget for the users or team who answer first. After it, add a Redirect to widget set to External number with your receptionist’s number, then select Publish. Without a widget after Ring to, unanswered calls ring once and drop.
Forward after hours
Add a Time Rule widget and set your opening hours as a branch, with the right time zone. On the opening-hours branch, add Ring to for your team. On the At any other time branch, add Redirect to → External number with your receptionist’s number. Select Publish. Use a Date Rule widget for holidays.
What to know
- The flow ends at Redirect to: Once Aircall redirects a call to an outside number, no later widget runs. Your receptionist handles the call from there.
- Reporting and costs: Aircall places an outbound call to the receptionist, so redirected calls show up as outbound calls in Aircall analytics. Check your Aircall plan for how outbound minutes are billed.
- Caller ID: Aircall shows anonymous callers as
+266696687. Aircall doesn’t document which number identified callers show on redirected calls, so check it in your test call. If the receptionist sees your Aircall number instead of the caller’s, every call looks like it comes from the same number, and your receptionist can’t recognize returning callers by their number.
Test it
Call your Aircall number from another phone at a time when the routing you set applies. Check that your receptionist answers, then open Inbox and confirm which caller number the conversation shows. See Testing.