Route calls between related phone systems
Send a call to another of your shops — its extension, call group, call menu, or Call Assistant — and understand what the receiving system takes over.
A business with more than one shop can have its phone systems linked so calls move between them: overflow from a busy shop to a quieter one, a shared after-hours desk, or one published number that fans out to whichever site is open. Once Steer Phones links your systems, every routing picker gains a Send to Remote Phone System action, and you choose a destination on the other system rather than an outside number.
The hand-off is complete: from the moment the call arrives at the other system, that system’s settings run the call. This page covers what you can configure and what changes hands.
Before you start
Linking phone systems is done by Steer Phones, not from the dashboard. If a routing picker does not offer Send to Remote Phone System, the phone system you are editing is not linked to another one — ask Steer Phones whether your shops should be connected.
Two things that look similar are not the same:
- Groups in the All Shops view organize shops for reporting and comparison. Grouping shops there never changes how a call routes.
- Linked phone systems are what make cross-system routing possible, and they are configured separately.
Two shops can therefore sit in the same reporting group and still be unable to send calls to each other.
Where you can send a call to another system
Each of these routing surfaces offers a remote destination:
- A phone number’s Incoming Call Routing, per time period.
- An extension’s or call group’s If Unanswered, per time period.
- A call menu digit button, as its final action.
- A call menu’s No-Input Action.
- A routing rule’s action, and a rule set’s default action.
Wherever it appears, the destination is chosen with the same three-step picker:
- Phone System — one of the systems yours is linked to.
- Type — Extension, Call Group, Call Menu, or Call Assistant.
- The destination itself, listed from that system.
The picker only lists systems yours is linked to, and only destinations that exist on the system you picked. A phone system can never target itself.
What the receiving system takes over
Once the call arrives, the receiving system owns it:
| What | Which system decides |
|---|---|
| Caller’s number | Carried over — the receiving phones see the original caller |
| Ring time | The receiving extension’s or call group’s own no-answer timeout |
| Unanswered handling | The receiving extension’s or call group’s own If Unanswered route |
| Call menu behavior | The receiving system’s menu, greeting, digits, and repeat limit |
| Call Assistant | The receiving system’s assistant configuration and disclosures |
| Recording notice | The receiving system’s recording disclosure, when its compliance settings ask for one |
| Recording | Each system records only its own part of the call |
| Reporting | Both systems log the call — the sender shows it as transferred |
This is the point that most often surprises people: after the hand-off, your own schedule and your own unanswered routing stop applying. If overflow should come back to you when the other shop does not answer, that has to be configured on their side — and a routing rule matching Originating System is the tool for it.
A caller your screening flagged stays flagged across the hand-off, so the receiving desk phones still see Potential Spam.
Keep chains short
Each hand-off between systems counts against a hop limit that Steer Phones sets for your phone system — five by default. The limit covers the whole chain, including unanswered routes that hand the call on again, so a call that bounces between two shops runs out rather than looping forever. When the limit is reached the caller hears that the routing hop limit was reached and the call ends.
Design the chain so it terminates somewhere that always answers — a mailbox or a menu — rather than relying on the limit to stop it.
Point at something that can answer
A cross-system route reaches its target directly, so the target has to be able to take the call:
- An extension on the other system with no phones assigned cannot take a cross-system call. The caller is told the extension is not available and the call ends — the extension’s own unanswered rule does not run. Send the call to a call group, a call menu, or an extension with phones instead.
- A call group with no phones behind it behaves the same way.
- A Call Assistant must be active on the receiving system.
- A destination that was deleted on the other system ends the call with an explanatory message.
On a phone number’s incoming route, a failed hand-off falls back to the emergency backup number from System Details when one is configured. On an unanswered route there is no such fallback, so keep that setting current.
Expected result
A saved cross-system route sends the call to the destination you picked on the other phone system. The caller’s number arrives with the call, the receiving system’s ring time and unanswered routing apply, and the call appears in both systems’ call logs — as transferred on the sending side and as a received call on the other.
Troubleshooting
- Send to Remote Phone System is not offered: The phone system is not linked to another one. Contact Steer Phones.
- A system you expect is missing from the picker: It is not linked to this one. Being in the same reporting group in All Shops is not the same thing.
- The caller hears “This call cannot be routed.”: The two systems are no longer linked. Repoint the route, or ask Steer Phones to restore the link.
- The caller hears “Routing hop limit reached.”: The chain of hand-offs is too long. Shorten it, and check whether two shops are handing the same call back and forth.
- The caller hears that the extension or call group is not available: The destination on the other system has no phones assigned. Choose a different destination or have that shop assign phones.
- Calls arrive but never come back when the other site misses them: Unanswered handling belongs to the receiving system. Ask that shop to add an If Unanswered route, matching Originating System if it should return only your overflow.
- A recording covers only part of the call: Each system records its own portion. Look for the remainder in the other system’s records.