Set up an inbound phone number, step by step

What you need before you start

To get an inbound line working you need three things: a number, at least one destination to ring and a clear idea of what should happen when nobody answers. You can prepare the first two in the portal in a few minutes; the third is the one people usually overlook, and it is the one that makes the difference for callers.

The most common destination is a SIP account: a user account on which you register a desk phone, a softphone on your computer, the browser webphone or the Vohippo app for iPhone and Android. If you do not have a phone ready yet, follow the guide to configure a VoIP phone with a SIP account or the one on how to use a softphone on your computer. Each account can have up to 5 registered devices, so the same person can keep a desk phone and the app on their mobile.

Before you begin, jot down your answers to these questions:

• Who should answer, and in what order?
• After how many seconds of ringing is it reasonable to stop waiting?
• Should people calling out of hours be able to leave a message?
• Do you need to know straight away that you missed a call, for example by SMS?

With these answers the flow almost builds itself.

Choosing and activating the number

Which number to choose

In the search you will find virtual numbers in 232 Italian cities and in more than 90 countries: geographic numbers, that is with a city's area code, and, where the local provider offers them, national, mobile and toll-free numbers. For a local business the geographic number of its own city is almost always the right choice, because callers recognise it. If you want to understand the differences better, the guide on what a virtual number is and how it works explains them one by one.

An Italian geographic number currently costs €23.48 a month or €109.83 a year, with inbound calls included in the fee. You can see the prices for other cities and countries directly in the search, before you buy.

Documents and verification

In many countries, Italy included, the regulator requires the provider to know who the number belongs to. You upload the documents from the portal after purchase. For an Italian number:

• Individual: an identity document and proof of address in the number's district.
• Company: an identity document of the legal representative, a registered office in the district and the company register extract (the Italian «visura camerale»).

Verification costs €5.00 one-off and the outcome usually arrives within 1-3 working days. So it is worth activating the number a few days before you print it on business cards or publish it on your website.

Duration, renewal and credit

When you buy, you choose a duration of 30 or 365 days. Renewal is automatic and paid from your account's prepaid credit. You receive a reminder 7 days and 1 day before expiry.

If the credit is not enough at expiry, the number is suspended and, after 7 days without a top-up, released. A released number can be assigned to someone else: for a line your customers know, always keep some spare credit or choose the annual duration.

Building the call flow

The flow is the sequence of steps a call goes through when it reaches the number. A number without a flow shows the status «Calls rejected»: callers cannot get through, so the first thing to do after activation is to build it.

There are only a few rules, and they are worth remembering:

1. Steps start in order, each one when the previous one ends.
2. If someone answers, the flow stops there.
3. If the end is reached and nobody has answered, the call is closed.
4. A flow can have at most 20 steps.

You have nine modules available: «Ring SIP accounts», «Forward to a number», «AI secretary», «Send to a SIP address», «Voicemail», «Notify a webhook», «Play a message», «Send an SMS» and «Hang up». They are described one by one, with their fields and limits, in the guide to the call routing modules.

The portal shows the flow in two views: «List», handy for adding and reordering steps, and «Diagram», which draws the path and helps you see at a glance where an unanswered call ends up.

A minimal flow that works

For most small businesses two steps are enough: «Ring SIP accounts» with the people who answer, followed by «Voicemail». Callers hear ringing for the chosen «Ring time» (30 seconds if you leave the default) and can then leave a message, which reaches you by email. How to choose between simultaneous and sequential ringing is explained in the guide on simultaneous or sequential ringing of SIP accounts; how to set up the message properly, in the one on VoIP voicemail.

Recording inbound calls

On the number you will find the option «Record incoming calls». When it is on, every answered call is recorded in WAV format and you can listen to it or download it from the call report. It costs €0.02 per call, and only if the call was answered.

The platform does not warn callers by itself that the conversation is being recorded: providing that notice is up to you. The simplest way is to put a «Play a message» step at the start of the flow, before the ringing, with a sentence like this one:

Welcome to Rossi & Partners. This call may be recorded for service
purposes. Information on how we process your data is available on
our website.

The rules on when and how you may record, and what to write in the privacy notice, are in the guide on call recording and the rules. For your specific case, always refer to your data protection adviser.

Testing the line before giving it to customers

A flow that looks right on paper can hide a ring time that is too short or an account that is not registered. Before you publish the number, run this complete test:

1. Check that every SIP account in the flow is registered on at least one device, or that the person has the app installed and signed in.
2. Call the number from a mobile, not from an extension, so you test exactly the path your customers take.
3. Answer on the first phone and check that the audio comes through well in both directions.
4. Call again and this time do not answer: count how many seconds pass before the next step.
5. Leave a voicemail message and check that the email arrives with the audio file, if you chose to attach it.
6. If you turned on recording, open the call report and listen to the file.
7. If you use «Send an SMS» or «Notify a webhook», check that the message or the request really arrives.

If you hear audio in one direction only, the problem is usually the device's network: the guide on NAT, firewalls and ports for VoIP explains the most common causes, starting with the router's SIP ALG, which you should turn off.

Three complete flows for three typical businesses

An accountancy firm with 4 people

The firm has a Rome 06 number and four people: two accountants and two assistants at the front desk. The assistants answer almost every call; the accountants only when the assistants are busy.

«Record incoming calls» is turned on for the number. Note one detail: because step 1 already answers the call to read the message, callers hear hold music instead of the ringing tone during the following ring steps. For more ideas tailored to this sector there is the guide on VoIP for accountants.

A car repair shop with a reception desk

The garage has a single phone at the reception desk and the owner is often under a car. Missed calls are customers who go elsewhere, so it needs a plan B on the mobile.

The forward shows the owner the customer's number, because «Show the original caller number» is on by default. The leg to the mobile is charged as an outbound call, according to the price list. More examples for this sector in the guide on VoIP for car repair shops.

An online shop with customer support

A small e-commerce business has three agents who work from home with the app, and a back-office system that logs every contact.

The webhook does not stop the call: it notifies the back-office system and the flow carries on. If no agent answers, the AI secretary takes the details and sends the card: if an agent accepts it, the flow moves on to the new ring step. How it works is explained in the guide on the AI phone secretary.

External numbers and number blocks (GNR)

If you already have a number with another provider and do not want to change it, you can use «External numbers»: the number stays with its provider and the platform keeps it registered with the SIP credentials that provider gave you. It costs €1.00 a month and its calls go into the same kind of flow as your other numbers. Be aware: this is not number porting, and your contract with the other provider stays active.

The number block (GNR) is for anyone with many consecutive numbers, typically a company with a PBX and direct numbers for its departments. The whole block follows the same routing and the variable {DNID} stands for the number that was dialled. In «Forward to a number» you can choose the dialled number itself as the destination, which is useful when each number in the block must reach its own extension on the PBX. If the PBX is your own, connect it with a SIP trunk.

What the flow does not include: IVR, queues and time conditions

People coming from a traditional PBX often look for three features that Vohippo does not have: the keypad menu («press 1 for accounts»), call queues with callers waiting on the line, and time conditions that change the path in the evening or on public holidays.

The practical alternatives are these:

• Out of hours: with «Ring SIP accounts» followed by «Voicemail», people calling in the evening still reach voicemail. For a long closure, such as the holidays, you can edit the flow in the portal and use «Play a message» followed by «Voicemail».
• Routing callers to the right person: use different numbers for different services, each with its own flow, or the AI secretary to screen calls.
• Real menus, queues and opening hours: you get these with a PBX, either your own connected with a SIP trunk or a cloud PBX such as the one from our partner robottino.ai. In that case Vohippo remains the provider that supplies numbers and lines.

Frequently asked questions