An auto attendant is an automated system that allows you to offer 24/7 call handling. The system answers the incoming calls and routes the callers to an answering service, a live person, or voicemail without the intervention of an operator or receptionist. With this feature, you can ensure efficient call handling and callers' needs are met.

Here are some of the key features of an auto attendant:

Create business hours schedules during which your auto attendant operates.
Create after hours, holiday, or any special closure schedules during which your holiday auto attendant operates.
Provide dialing menu options to direct your customers where they need to go when they enter a specific number.
Customize greetings to address your caller’s needs.

Create a new auto attendant

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Add New .
4	On the Basics page, enter the following information, and then click Next. Location—Select a location from the drop-down menu. Once the auto attendant is created, you can't change the location later. A location is a container with a location-specific calling configuration. See Configure Cisco Webex Calling for Your Organization for more information. Auto Attendant Name—Enter a name for the auto attendant. Phone Number and Extension—Assign a primary phone number and an extension to the auto attendant. If you leave the extension field blank, the system automatically assigns the last four digits of the phone number as an extension for this auto attendant. To modify it, see Edit auto attendant phone numbers section. Language—Select a language from the drop-down menu. The selected language is used for default voice greetings and other voice prompts based on menu settings. Caller ID First Name and Last Name—Enter the Caller ID first name and last name. The Caller ID is used for calls that are forwarded outside of this auto attendant. For customers in the Asia-Pacific region, the Caller ID Name field is auto-populated with the username. You can't modify the Caller ID Name field. When configuring an auto attendant, you can provision the number of auto attendants for each location or organization.
5	On the Business Hours Schedule page, set the hours during which your business hours auto attendant operates. You can choose an existing schedule from the drop-down, or create a new schedule. Click Next. The existing schedule drop-down displays all the business hours schedules that you created for the location. To create a new schedule for location, see Create a schedule.
6	On the Holiday Schedule page, set the days during which your holiday auto attendant operates. You can choose an existing schedule from the drop-down, or create a new schedule. Click Next. The existing schedule drop-down displays all the holiday schedules that you created for the location. To create a new schedule for location, see Create a schedule.
7	On the Menu page, set the dialing menu options to direct your customers where they need to go when they enter a specific number on their phone. Under both the Business Hours and After Hours tabs, use the drop-down to assign a function to each keypad number. Click Next. To allow callers to dial an extension without a menu prompt, select Enable extension dialing without requiring a menu item. The following functions are available to assign to a keypad number: Not Used—This is the default option used when you don't select an option. Play announcement—This action plays an announcement that you selected, uploaded, or recorded to the callers. Transfer call with prompt—This action routes callers to a phone number or extension that you entered. With this option, callers won't hear a prompt telling them that they're being transferred. Transfer call without prompt—This action routes callers to a phone number or extension that you entered. With this option, callers hear a prompt telling them that they're being transferred. Transfer call to operator—This action redirects callers to the configured number when the key assigned is pressed or if no keys aren't pressed after 10 seconds. If you choose to enable this action, enter the phone number to which to route callers. If you don’t set up this option, and the caller doesn’t press any keys after 10 seconds, then they hear “Your call can’t be transferred, please try again later" message and the call gets disconnected. Transfer to voicemail—This action places the callers directly into the voicemail box of the phone number or extension entered. Dial by name—This action permits callers to dial by recipient name. Dial by extension—This action permits callers to dial by recipient extension. Repeat menu—This action repeats the menu options. Exit menu—This action allows callers to exist the menu system and terminates the call.
8	On the Greeting page, set the greetings or announcement that's played for both business hours and after hours. Under both the Business Hours and After Hours tabs, you can choose to play the default greeting or you can choose a custom greeting to upload an audio recording, or record your own greeting. Click Next. You can find more information for recording from your phone and sample greeting scripts by clicking Instructions for recording on a phone and Show me a sample script. To record by phone, first you need to set up your voice portal number and passcode for the location this auto attendant is associated with. For details, see Configure voice portals for Webex Calling.
9	On the Review page, under each tab, review your new auto attendant settings to make sure everything is correct. Click Create to save.

Want to see how it's done? Watch this video demonstration on how to create a new auto attendant in Control Hub.

Disable an auto attendant

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	Select an auto attendant that you want to disable.
5	In the side panel, toggle off Enable Auto Attendant.
6	Click Save.

Edit auto attendant general settings

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	Select an auto attendant.
5	In the side panel, click General Settings.
6	View or edit the Language from the Language drop-down.
7	View or edit the Time Zone from the Time Zone drop-down.
8	View or edit the Caller ID which is used when calls are transferred out of this auto attendant.
9	Click Save.

Edit auto attendant phone numbers

You can change your auto attendant phone numbers and add up to 10 alternate numbers.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	Select an auto attendant.
5	In the side panel, click Phone Numbers.
6	Edit the Primary Phone Number and Extension. If you've left the extension field blank when creating the auto attendant, the system automatically assigns the last four digits of the phone number as an extension for this auto attendant.
7	Search and add Alternate Numbers.
8	Click Save.

Configure auto attendant call forwarding

You can forward all incoming calls based on a set of criteria that you define.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	Select an auto attendant.
5	In the side panel, click Call Forwarding.
6	Toggle on Call Forwarding.
7	Choose one of the following options: Always Forward Calls—Always forward calls to a designated number. Selectively Forward Calls—Forward calls to a designated number depending on criteria. If you choose Selectively Forward Calls, you need to have at least one rule for call forwarding to be active.
8	If you choose Always Forward Calls, choose a number click Save. When choosing Always Forward or Selectively Forward, select Send to Voicemail to forward all calls to an internal voicemail. The Send to Voicemail option is disabled when you enter an external number. A virtual line number can also be added as a number to forward the calls to.
9	If you choose Selectively Forward, create a rule by clicking Add When to Forward or Add When Not to Forward. On provisioning the Selectively Forward Calls option, the Add When Not to Forward rule takes precedence over the Add When to Forward rule.
10	Enter a Rule Name.
11	For When to Forward or When Not to Forward, select a Business Hours Schedule and Holiday Schedule from the drop-down.
12	For Forward To, choose a Default Phone Number or Different Phone Number to forward the calls to.
13	For Calls From, choose to forward calls from Any Number or Selected Numbers. If you choose Selected Numbers, select the following options: Any Private Numbers—Forwards calls from private numbers. Any Unavailable Numbers—Forwards calls from unavailable numbers. Add Specific Numbers—Forwards calls from up to 12 numbers that you define.
14	For Calls To, select a number or alternate number from the drop-down to forward a call when received on this number in your organization.
15	Click Save.

The rules created for the selectively forward calls are processed based on the following criteria:

The rules are sorted in the table by rule name character. Example: 00_rule, 01_rule, and so on.
The "Not to Forward" rule always takes precedence over the "Forward" rule.
The rules are processed based on the order they are listed in the table.
You can create multiple rules. However, if a rule is satisfied, the system no longer checks the next rule. If you want the specific rule to check first, we suggest that you update the rule name with numbers. For example: If you want the holiday rule to check before the business closed hours rule, then name the rule as 01-Holiday and 02-Closed.

To know more about the basic functionality and examples of the selectively forward call, see Configure Call Forwarding Selective for Webex Calling.

What to do next

Once a rule is created, you can enable or disable a rule using the toggle beside the rule in the table. You can also change or delete a rule at any time by clicking Edit or

Enable and Disable rule

Edit auto attendant dialing options

Set the dialing options to be specific to a customer or a location/site.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	Select an auto attendant.
5	In the side panel, click Dialing Options.
6	Choose one of the following options: Organization Location
7	Click Save.

Edit business hours auto attendant

Edit business hours schedules

You can assign a business hours schedule created previously, or create your own business hours schedule for the auto attendant.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, select the auto attendant to edit from the list.
5	In the side panel, under Business Hours Auto Attendant, click Schedule.
6	Choose one of the following options: Assign an existing schedule—Select a previously created schedule from the drop-down menu. To edit an existing schedule, see Edit or delete a schedule. Create a new schedule—Create a new name for the schedule and select the business hours.
7	Click Save.

Edit business hours menu options

Assign different functions to each keypad number. These settings direct your customers where they need to go when they enter a specific number on their phone.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, select the auto attendant to edit from the list.
5	In the side panel, under Business Hours Auto Attendant, click Menu.
6	Select Enable extension dialing without requiring a menu item to allow callers to directly dial an extension at any time. The Extension Dialing option for Auto Attendant applies only to Webex Calling subscribers.
7	Select the function that you want to assign to each number or function key on the dialpad. For each assigned function, enter additional information or search and add user or workspace or virtual line number and extensions to transfer calls. Select the Play announcement function from the drop-down. Use this functionality to select/upload/record an announcement at the location or at the organization level and play the same. Click Select file, to select an existing recording. The Select a file displays a list of recordings that’s available for the location. Choose from the list of recordings. Click Select file. You can upload or record an announcement. See Manage Announcement Repository for details.
8	Click Save.

Edit business hours greeting

This is the message that your customers hear when they call during business hours. Greetings often have a short welcome message and list the menu options.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, select the auto attendant to edit from the list.
5	In the side panel, under Business Hours Auto Attendant, click Greeting.
6	Choose one of the following options: Default Greeting—Plays a default greeting for incoming calls. Custom Greeting—Upload an audio file, or record a greeting using the recording function. The audio (WAV) file must meet the following requirements: 8 or 16 kHz 8 or 16 bit mono u-law, A-law, or PCM Maximum file size of 2MB (or approximately 4 minutes of playback) You can find more information for recording from your phone and sample greeting scripts by clicking Instructions for recording on a phone and Show me a sample script. To record by phone, first you need to set up your voice portal number and passcode for the location this auto attendant is associated with. For details, see Configure voice portals for Webex Calling.
7	Click Save.

Edit after hours auto attendant

Edit after hours menu options

Assign different functions to each keypad number to direct your customers where they need to go when they enter a specific number on their phone. The menu that you set for after hours also applies to the holiday schedule.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, select the auto attendant to edit from the list.
5	In the side panel, under After Hours Auto Attendant, click Menu.
6	Select Enable extension dialing without requiring a menu item to allow callers to directly dial an extension at any time.
7	Select the function that you want to assign to each number or function key on the dialpad. For each assigned function, enter additional information or search and add user or workspace or virtual line number and extensions to transfer calls. Select the Play announcement function from the drop-down. This functionality allows you to select/upload/record an announcement at the location or at the organization level and play the same. Click Select file, to select an existing recording. The Select a file displays a list of recordings that’s available for the location. Choose from the list of recordings. Click Select file. You can upload or record an announcement. See Manage Announcement Repository for details.
8	Click Save.

Edit after hours greeting

This is the message that your customers hear when they call after business hours. Greetings often have a short welcome message and list the menu options. The menu that you set for after hours also applies to the holiday schedule.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, select the auto attendant to edit from the list.
5	In the side panel, under After Hours Auto Attendant, click Greeting.
6	Choose one of the following options: Default Greeting—Plays a default greeting for incoming calls. Custom Greeting—Upload an audio file, or record a greeting using the recording function. The audio (WAV) file must meet the following requirements: 8 or 16 kHz 8 or 16 bit mono u-law, A-law, or PCM Maximum file size of 2MB (or approximately 4 minutes of playback) You can find more information for recording from your phone and sample greeting scripts by clicking Instructions for recording on a phone and Show me a sample script. To record by phone, first you need to set up your voice portal number and passcode for the location this auto attendant is associated with. For details, see Configure voice portals for Webex Calling.
7	Click Save.

Edit auto attendant holiday schedules

Set the days during which your holiday auto attendant operates. You can assign a holiday schedule created previously, or create your own holiday schedule for the auto attendant.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, select the auto attendant to edit from the list.
5	In the side panel, under Holiday Auto Attendant, click Schedule.
6	Choose one of the following options: Assign an existing schedule—Select a previously created schedule from the drop-down. To edit an existing schedule, see Edit or delete a schedule. Create a new schedule—Create a new name for the schedule and select holidays for your organization.
7	Click Save.

Bulk manage auto attendant

You can bulk manage auto attendants with bulk inserts/updates for auto attendants. Administrators can import/export auto attendants with a CSV file.

Exporting CSV file into ZIP file format: When exporting data to a CSV file, the number of records may exceed 1000. In such cases, the ZIP file is downloaded, where the ZIP file contains the full set of record(s) in a single CSV file. A separate folder containing all the data is broken down into multiple CSV files with less than 1000 records. These files are generated for the administrators to quickly import any updates and upload.

If you have many auto attendants to add, the bulk manage auto attendant option is convenient and the CSV support reduces effort for deployment and migration.

Every auto attendant created in the Control Hub requires populating a wizard with many parameters and the CSV support streamlines the process.

The following functionalities are coming soon:

Delete of entire Auto Attendant Instances
Create/Modify/Delete Call Forwarding Rule
Exposing Bulk CSV operations as external APIs on Hydra Portal
Creating new schedules

Prepare your CSV

Column	(Mandatory or Optional) Add an auto attendant	(Mandatory or Optional) Edit an auto attendant	Description	Supported Values
Name	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the name of the auto attendant.	1-30 characters
Phone Number	Mandatory if the extension is left blank	Mandatory if the extension is left blank	Enter the phone number. You must have either a phone number or an extension.	Only E.164 numbers are allowed for CSV import. Example: +12815550100 The phone number must be on the Numbers tab in the Control Hub.
Extension	Mandatory if the phone number is left blank	Mandatory if the phone number is left blank	Enter the extension. You must have either a phone number or an extension.	Two to ten digit extension. Example: 00-999999. Extensions that match emergency numbers in the location country aren’t allowed (for example, you can't use 911 as an extension in U.S.)
Location	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the location to add auto attendants.	Example: San Jose. The location must be on the Locations tab in the Control Hub.
Time Zone	Optional	Optional	Enter the auto attendant time zone key. This time zone applies to the schedules applied to the auto attendants.	Example: America/Chicago. Character length: 1-127
Language Code	Optional	Optional	Enter the announcement language for the auto attendants.	Example: en_us
Caller ID First Name	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the first name to display for the auto attendant. The caller ID is used when call forward is enabled and calls are forwarded out.	Example: San. Character length: 1-30 Only UTF-8 characters are supported.
Caller ID Last Name	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the last name to display for the auto attendant. The caller ID is used when call forward is enabled and calls are forwarded out.	Example: Jose. Character length: 1-30 Only UTF-8 characters are supported.
Business Schedule	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the business schedule name.	Example: 00_Closed
Holiday Schedule	Mandatory	Mandatory	Enter the holiday schedule name.	Example: 01_Holiday
Dialing Type	Optional	Optional	Enter the dialing type.	ENTERPRISE, GROUP
Business Hours Menu Extension Enabled	Optional	Optional	Enter TRUE to enable the business hours menu extension. Enter FALSE to disable the business hours menu extension.	TRUE, FALSE
After Hours Menu Extension Enabled	Optional	Optional	Enter TRUE to enable the after hours menu extension. Enter FALSE to disable the after hours menu extension.	TRUE, FALSE
Auto Attendant Enable	Optional	Optional	Enter ENABLED to enable the option. Enter DISABLED to disable the option.	ENABLED, DISABLED
Alternate Numbers Action	Optional	Optional	Enter ADD to add the alternate numbers you list in this row. Enter REMOVE to remove the alternate numbers you list in the row. Enter REPLACE if you want to remove all previously entered alternate numbers and replace it with the alternate numbers you’re adding in this row only.	ADD, REMOVE, REPLACE
Business Hours Greeting Type	Optional	Optional	Enter the business hours greeting type as Default or Custom. If you enter Custom, then enter the business hours announcement name, media type, and level details.	DEFAULT, CUSTOM
Business Hours Announcement Name	Optional	Optional	Enter the business hours announcement name.	Example: Service-outage_loc.wav
Business Hours Announcement Media Type	Optional	Optional	Enter the business hours announcement media type.	WAV
Business Hours Announcement Level	Optional	Optional	Enter the level (organization, location, or auto attendant/entity) at which the custom announcement is defined.	LOCATION,ORGANIZATION,ENTITY
After Hours Greeting Type	Optional	Optional	Enter the after hours greeting type as Default or Custom. If you enter Custom, then enter the after hours announcement name, media type, and level details.	DEFAULT, CUSTOM
After Hours Announcement Name	Optional	Optional	Enter the after hours announcement name.	Example: Holiday-announcement-org.wav
After Hours Announcement Media Type	Optional	Optional	Enter the after hours announcement media type.	WAV
After Hours Announcement Level	Optional	Optional	Enter the level (organization, location, or auto attendant/entity) at which the custom announcement is defined.	LOCATION,ORGANIZATION,ENTITY
Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Description	Mandatory if Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Description is left blank	Mandatory if Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Description is left blank	Select the business hours type.	Example: Description Character Length: 1-20
Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Action	Mandatory if Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Action is left blank	Mandatory if Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Action is left blank	Select the business hours type.	PLAY_ANNOUNCEMENT TRANSFER CALL_WITH_PROMPT TRANSFER CALL_WITHOUT_PROMPT TRANSFER CALL_TO_OPERATOR TRANSFER_TO_VOICEMAIL DIAL_BY_NAME DIAL_BY_EXTENSION REPEAT_MENU EXIT_MENU
Business Hours Press 0–9, * and # Value	Mandatory for few Actions such as PLAY_ANNOUNCEMENT, TRANSFER_WITH_PROMPT, TRANSFER_WITHOUT_PROMPT, TRANSFER_TO_OPERATOR, TRANSFER_TO_VOICEMAIL	Mandatory for few Actions such as PLAY_ANNOUNCEMENT, TRANSFER_WITH_PROMPT, TRANSFER_WITHOUT_PROMPT, TRANSFER_TO_OPERATOR, TRANSFER_TO_VOICEMAIL	Additional value is needed to perform certain actions.	The format for the Play announcement file is Announcement Name \| Announcement Type \| Announcement Level Ex: CycloneAlert.wav \| WAV \| LOCATION Enter Type in ALL CAPS Other supported actions require a valid phone number or extension.
After Hours Press 0–9, * and # Description	Mandatory if After Hours Press 0–9, * and # Description is left blank	Mandatory if After Hours Press 0–9, * and # Description is left blank	Select the after hours type.	Example: Description Character Length: 1-20
After Hours Press 0-9, * and # Action	Mandatory if After Hours Press 0–9, * and # Action is left blank	Mandatory if After Hours Press 0–9, * and # Action is left blank	Select the after hours type.	PLAY_ANNOUNCEMENT TRANSFER_WITH_PROMPT TRANSFER_WITHOUT_PROMPT TRANSFER_TO_OPERATOR TRANSFER_TO_VOICEMAIL DIAL_BY_NAME DIAL_BY_EXTENSION REPEAT_MENU EXIT_MENU
After Hours Press 0-9, * and # Value	Mandatory for few Actions such as PLAY_ANNOUNCEMENT, TRANSFER_WITH_PROMPT, TRANSFER_WITHOUT_PROMPT, TRANSFER_TO_OPERATOR, TRANSFER_TO_VOICEMAIL	Mandatory for few Actions such as PLAY_ANNOUNCEMENT, TRANSFER_WITH_PROMPT, TRANSFER_WITHOUT_PROMPT, TRANSFER_TO_OPERATOR, TRANSFER_TO_VOICEMAIL	Additional value is needed to perform certain actions	The format for the Play announcement file is Announcement Name \| Announcement Type \| Announcement Level Ex: CycloneAlert.wav \| WAV \| LOCATION Enter Type in ALL CAPS Other supported actions require a valid phone number or extension.
Alternate Number 1, Alternate Number 2… Alternate Number 10	Optional	Optional	Enter the alternate number(s) to assign to the auto attendants.	Example: 1112223333. Character length: 1-23 Phone number must be on the Numbers tab in the Control Hub.
Alternate Number 1 Ring Pattern, Alternate Number 2 Ring Pattern... Alternate Number 10 Ring Pattern	Optional	Optional	If distinctive ringing is enabled for alternate numbers, enter the distinctive ringing ring pattern.	NORMAL, LONG_LONG, SHORT_SHORT_LONG, SHORT_LONG_SHORT

Bulk manage auto attendants

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	Click Manage and select Bulk Manage.
5	Select a location from the drop-down list to download data for auto attendants on that location, or select all locations to download data for all auto attendants.
6	Click Download Data or Download .csv template to verify that your CSV file is properly formatted, making sure to fill in the required information.
7	Add or edit the first and last name, phone number, and so on, and upload the updated CSV file.
8	Click View Import history/Tasks to view the status of your CSV import and see whether you've encountered any errors.

View auto attendant analytics

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Services > Calling > Features.
3	Go to the Auto Attendant card and click Manage.
4	On the Auto Attendant page, click Manage > View Analytics. The Analytics page appears.
5	Click the Auto-Attendant tab to find the auto attendant call details. For more information, see Analytics for Your Cloud Collaboration Portfolio.

Generate auto attendant reports

You can generate a report that lists all inbound calls that reached the auto attendant service.

1	Sign in to Control Hub.
2	Go to Monitoring > Reports.
3	Under Templates, click Calling and click the following reports: Auto-attendant stats summary Auto-attendant business hours key details Auto-attendant after hours key details For more information, see Reports for Your Cloud Collaboration Portfolio.

Access the auto attendant launch kit

Download the Launch Kit to see what an auto attendant can do. Access the greeting samples and email templates to get you started.

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Manage auto attendants