Understanding Routes — How Inbound Calls Find Their Destination
A route is the program an inbound call runs: an ordered list of steps, evaluated top to bottom, organized inside time conditions. When a phone number points at a route, every call to that number walks the route's logic — which schedule applies, which steps fire, and where the call ultimately lands.
The three-layer model
- Time conditions partition the route by schedule — business hours, after hours, holidays. The first matching condition wins; an "all times" condition catches everything unmatched.
- Steps inside each condition run in order — ring a call group for 20 seconds, then try an overflow target.
- A terminal step ends the journey: an auto attendant, voicemail, a queue, another route, a forward, or hangup. Every condition must end in one — a route that runs out of steps strands the caller.
Terminal destinations
Terminal | Sends the call to |
|---|---|
Auto attendant | A menu |
Voicemail | A specific box |
Queue | Hold-in-line distribution |
Call flow | A reusable action sequence |
Route | Another route (chaining) |
Call forwarding | An external number |
Conference / Directory / Fax / Hangup | Special handling |
Design principles that keep routes maintainable
- One route per public identity (main number, department line) — shared routes create action-at-a-distance when one department changes hours.
- Name routes for intent ("MainLine-Day-Menu"), not numbers.
- Chain, don't clone: common after-hours behavior belongs in one route that others chain to; ten copies of holiday logic will drift.
- Test by calling the number after every change — routing edits take effect on the next call, and the audit history records who changed what.
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Last reviewed August 6, 2026. Still stuck? Contact Signal Support from your portal — include what you expected, what happened instead, and one example phone number or extension.