Call routing
Every call routed by line, time, caller and reason.
A phone tree asks the caller to do the routing. Zenith does it for them. It reads which number was dialed and when, matches the caller against your records, asks what they need if it is not already obvious, and sends the call where your rules say it goes.
The order
Four questions, always in the same order.
The first three are answered by code before anyone speaks. Only the fourth needs the conversation, and often the line already answers it.
- 01
The line
Which number was dialed: a location, a purpose such as catering, or a source such as your website.
- 02
The time
Open, closed, a holiday, or a window you define, such as Friday dinner or Monday mornings.
- 03
The caller
A known customer, someone with a booking today, an open order or balance, a lead already in your pipeline, or a new person.
- 04
The reason
Book, change, order status, a quote, a complaint or a person. The caller says it, and Front desk recognizes it.
Rules
Rules you can read, first match wins.
Routing is a list of rules in plain terms, evaluated top to bottom. These are the kind a restaurant group might write; yours are written for your business.
| When | Who and why | Goes to |
|---|---|---|
| Any time, any line | The caller asks for a person or a manager | The location's manager, with a callback booked if nobody answers |
| The catering line | Anyone | The catering agent, which qualifies the event and books a tasting |
| Friday and Saturday dinner | A takeout order on a busy line | The host stand, or a text with the online order link |
| Any time | A customer with a reservation today | The reservations agent, to change or note it |
| Closed | Anyone | Customer care, voicemail to the thread and a morning callback |
Destinations
Where a call can go.
An agent
One contextual agent joins the call for the job at hand. If the caller changes topic, Front desk swaps it for the right one, with a summary.
A person
A transfer to a person, a department or a location, with the caller's name, history and reason on screen as the call connects.
Voicemail
Recorded to the caller's thread with a summary, so the person who calls back knows what it was about.
A text or a callback
A text with what the caller needs, or a callback task with a time, when that serves the caller better than holding.
Testing
Test a call before it reaches a customer.
Rules are easy to write and easy to get slightly wrong. Zenith shows you what a call would do before you save.
Test a call
Pick a line, a time and a kind of caller, and see which rule matches and where the call would land.
See why
Every call record shows the rule that matched and each step that led to it, so a misroute can be traced in a minute.
Change with care
A change to the rules takes effect on the next call, never one already in progress.
On its own, and where it stops
Zenith handles the routine. Your people handle the rest.
Routing runs on its own: the line, time and caller are decided by your rules in code, and Front desk only names the reason. Requests for a manager, complaints and anything your rules mark as sensitive go straight to a person.
Zenith answers, routes, books and handles routine questions on its own. Refunds, discounts, complaints, low reviews and campaigns wait for a person, and anyone on your team can take over a conversation at any time.
Your dataThe voice model carries the spoken conversation and nothing else. Your customer records stay in your own database, read only by your own agents.
Start here, keep the foundation
Start with call routing. Add the rest without starting over.
Start with one line and a handful of rules: hours, a person on request, and the one reason that fills most of your calls. The caller matching that routing needs is the same matching the receptionist, caller context and shared inbox use, so each one you add works from day one.
FAQ
Questions, answered plainly.
What is call routing?
Call routing decides where an incoming call goes: which person, department, location or automated agent takes it. Zenith routes on four things in a fixed order: the number dialed, the time, who is calling and why they are calling.
Is this an IVR or phone tree?
No. Callers are not asked to press numbers. Zenith already knows the line and the time, matches the caller by phone number, and asks what they need in plain conversation only when the line does not already make it clear.
Who writes the routing rules?
Ferrata sets them up with you when your instance is configured, from how calls reach you today. After that your team edits them on the Lines and routing screen, picking options rather than writing code.
Can the agent override our rules?
No. Rules are evaluated in code and the first match wins. Front desk's judgment is used only to recognize the caller's reason, and if two rules both allow an agent, to choose between them. It can never send a call somewhere no rule allows.
Do transfers go to our existing phones?
Yes. Transfers go out to your own numbers: a location, a department line or a person's phone. The person answering sees the caller's context in Zenith as the call connects.
Can we route by location?
Yes. Each location can have its own line, hours and rules, and a known customer can be routed to the location they usually visit.
What happens when the person we transfer to does not answer?
The rule's fallback runs: voicemail to the thread, a text to the caller, or a callback task assigned to a named person. A call never just rings out.
Related in Zenith
- AI receptionistEvery call answered by a voice that knows the caller, books the visit and hands off with context.View
- Caller contextThe caller's orders, bookings, balance and last conversation on screen before hello.View
- Missed-call text-backA caller who hangs up gets a text that can book, answer or arrange a callback.View
- AI agentsFront desk plus one agent per job, brought on by your rules, one at a time.View
From Ferrata Labs
- The platformThe Brain: retrieval, models and audit inside your own environment.
- The agent lifecycleScope, build, evaluate, gate, deploy, observe, improve.
- How it worksAssess, Anchor, a first agent live in under 90 days, then your team.
- Book a discovery callThirty minutes on one workflow, and an honest answer on where to start.
Start with call routing, or talk it through first.
Thirty minutes with Ferrata Labs on how calls and messages reach you today. You leave with a view of where Zenith fits, and an honest answer if something else should come first.
Your menu, your policies, your routing and the way you talk to customers are yours. Zenith is configured to them. You are not fitting your front desk into a template.