What Is Akia’s Dialer Feature?
Instead of using a 3rd party platform to manage calls from guests, use Akia! When guests call in, your team sees a notification in the inbox and can pick up or transfer the call to the appropriate user or department.
Different departments/users handle calls at different times of day/day of week? Create different phone tree rules so staff aren’t notified on their time off.
If you’re interested in our Dialer feature, please reach out to us in the Support Chat or at help@akia.com
How Do I Set Up My Phone Tree(s)?
Go to the Dialer page: https://sys.akia.ai/settings/dialer and you’ll see you have the option to create a new phone tree or edit the default one
- There is always a default phone tree. This means the default phone tree would only be reached if none of the other phone trees above it qualify (similar to variants in automations).
Akia Tip: We strongly recommend setting up your default phone tree before you create others.
Set Up Default Phone Tree
- Click on the three dot icon on the far right of the Default phone tree row (to the right of View) and select Configure.
- In the configuration page, specify which user/department is the operator (if the guest presses 0, who should receive the call), and what happens if the call is unanswered for a specified amount of time.
- In this example, we’re prompting all guests whose calls are not answered after 20 seconds to leave a voicemail. We have typed what Akia should say in this case, but you are able to upload an audio file.
- After you have set the configuration, click View to begin editing your default phone tree
- Your phone tree can be as easy or as complicated as you might want it to be. Our example below shows how you can make nested phone trees with automated responses that do not ring a user/department or external phone number.
Akia Tip: If you want to create a hidden phone tree option (like Management in the video above), still select the option in the configuration but don’t have text to speech mention it. That way, you can let guests know to select extension 5, but not make it easily accessible for all.
Set Up Other Phone Trees
- Click + Create to create a new phone tree and specify when the phone tree should be active on which days of the week
- Similar to the default phone tree, you can configure the phone tree by clicking View
- If you’re doing a before/after hours phone tree, we would recommend keeping the configuration simple with no action. That way, the guest can leave a voicemail (if that’s your chosen option)
- There is no limit to how many phone trees you can create, we would recommend setting up phone trees to account for after-hours calls and if your team’s availability changes based on the day of the week or time of day.
How Do I Make an Outbound Call? (Call a Guest Back)
Switch the platform to Phone and hit the Call button (which replaces Open Chat).
If you want to call a phone number not currently in the system, click the + next to inbox and type the guest’s phone number. A phone icon will show up on the side for quick calling.
FAQs
- Can users have their own direct phone numbers guests can call?
- Yes, however it requires further configuration on Akia’s end and may be an additional cost. Reach out to us in the Support Chat or at help@akia.com for assistance.
- Can two users be on different calls at the same time?
- Yes! Akia is able to handle team members on separate calls at the same time.
- If a user is currently on a call and another guest calls in, would the user see the new call?
- If a user is currently on a call, they will not see any new calls coming in.
- Can we use our existing phone numbers with Akia’s dialer?
- Akia may be able to port your phone number from your current carrier for Akia’s use. Reach out to us in the Support Chat or at help@akia.com for assistance.
- Are all Akia users able to pick up and make outbound calls?
- You can decide if a user should have access to the calling feature by enabling it on the permission set level.
Use Cases
- 💻 Centralized Guest Communications: Instead of using a 3rd party to answer calls from guests, use Akia to route your calls to your staff members.
- 📞 Single Phone Number: By using Akia for outbound calls, guests will feel more comfortable receiving a call from your staff.