Glossary
Call overflow
Call overflow is sending calls to a second answerer when the first is busy or doesn't pick up.
Call overflow explained
Overflow versus outsourcing
With full outsourcing, every call goes to someone else. With overflow, your own phone rings first and only the calls you can't take spill over. You keep the customers you can serve personally and lose fewer of the rest.
How it is done
Usually through conditional call forwarding on your line: forward on busy, and forward on no answer. Larger offices use a hunt group, where a call tries several numbers in turn before moving to a last-resort answerer.
The moments overflow catches
- You're already on another call.
- You're with a customer or up a ladder.
- It's lunch, or the office is between shifts.
- A storm or a heat wave sends ten calls in an hour.
Keep reading
Related terms
- Conditional call forwardingConditional call forwarding redirects a call only when a condition is met: your line is busy, you don't answer, or your phone is off or out of coverage.
- Call forwardingCall forwarding is a phone feature that redirects incoming calls from one number to another.
- After-hours answeringAfter-hours answering is handling calls outside your business hours so callers reach an answer instead of voicemail.
Where it matters
Hear it answer. Then start free.
On business plans: If we don't catch at least 10 leads you'd have missed in your first 30 days, you don't pay.