Phone calls
Call a customer from their lead, contact, case or opportunity with one click, and take calls on your business number. Every call is logged on the record, with its length, your notes and, if you choose, a recording. Calls go through your organization’s own Twilio or Exotel account.
How it works
- In CRMSix, or on your phone.With the softphone, you talk through your computer’s microphone and speakers (or a headset), and calls ring in CRMSix. Or CRMSix rings your own mobile or desk phone first, and connects you when you answer. Each person chooses.
- The phone panel.The phone icon at the top of every page opens a dialer with a keypad, shows who a number belongs to as you type, and lists your recent calls.
- Your business number.The customer sees your organization’s Twilio number, not your personal one. When they call that number back, it rings in CRMSix.
- Logged on the record.Each call appears on the record’s Activity timeline with who made or took it, how long it lasted, your notes and any recording.
- Your Twilio account.Twilio bills call minutes, numbers and recordings to your organization’s own Twilio account.
Phone calls are part of the Professional and Enterprise plans.
Twilio or Exotel?
| Twilio | Exotel | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Customers in many countries | Customers in India, with a local Indian number (ExoPhone) as caller ID |
| Calling out | In CRMSix (softphone) or on your phone | On your phone: Exotel rings you, then the customer |
| Incoming calls | Set up for you when you turn them on | Through a call flow you build in Exotel with CRMSix’s two addresses |
| Recording, ring group, Do Not Call, the dialer, call notes | Yes | Yes |
Choose one in Settings → Phone Calls → Calling provider. Switching clears the business number and turns incoming calls off until you set them up again.
Set it up (admins)
Connect one provider in Settings → Phone Calls. Each has its own guide:
- Twilio: the account, your business number, incoming calls and the softphone.
- Exotel: the account, your ExoPhone and the call flow for incoming calls.
How you make and take calls (everyone)
In My Settings → Phone for calls, choose:
- In CRMSix (softphone): calls use your computer’s microphone and speakers, or a headset. The first time, your browser asks to use the microphone: choose Allow. Incoming calls ring in CRMSix while it’s open in a tab, with the caller’s name when CRMSix knows them.
- On my phone: enter your mobile or desk phone with its country code. CRMSix rings it for every call you make, and for incoming calls to you.
Without the softphone turned on, everyone uses their phone.
The phone panel and dialer
- Dial any number: type it or use the keypad, then press the green button. When the number belongs to a contact or lead, its name shows as you type, and the call is logged on that record.
- During a softphone call: Mute, Keypad (to press numbers in a phone menu) and Hang up.
- Incoming calls: the panel opens with who’s calling. Choose Answer or Decline.
- After the call: add notes and choose Done. They’re saved on the call.
- Recent calls: your last calls, with missed ones in red, and Call to call back.
A small dot on the phone icon shows the softphone’s state: green when it’s ready for calls, red when it isn’t connected.
Make a call
- On a lead, contact, case or opportunity, choose Call in the Activity card.
- Choose the number: the person’s phone, their account’s, the one given on a case, or another number.
- Choose Call. The phone panel takes over. With the softphone, the call starts in your browser. Otherwise your phone rings: answer it, and you hear “Connecting your CRMSix call” while the customer’s phone rings.
- The panel shows the call as it happens: ringing, connected with a timer, then completed with its length. Write call notes, then choose Done.
If you don’t answer your own phone, the customer is never called and the call shows You didn’t answer. If the customer doesn’t answer, it shows No answer or Busy.
Incoming calls
Turn on Take calls to the business number in CRMSix in Settings → Phone Calls. CRMSix points your Twilio number at itself. Then, when someone calls:
| Caller | Who it rings |
|---|---|
| A contact CRMSix knows (by phone number) | The owner of the contact’s account: in CRMSix if they use the softphone, else on their phone |
| An open lead CRMSix knows | The lead’s owner |
| Anyone else, or an owner with no phone set | Everyone you choose under Ring these people, all at once |
- The call is logged on the matching contact or lead, and on the person who answered.
- An optional greeting is read out first.
- If no one answers, the caller can leave a voicemail, which you can play on the call. The owner, or the first person in the ring group, gets a High-priority task to call back.
Recording
With Record calls on, both sides of each connected call are recorded, and the customer hears your notice (“This call may be recorded”, unless you change it) when they answer or call you. Recordings stay in your Twilio account. Choose Play recording on the call to listen in CRMSix.
Recording laws differ by country and state: some need everyone on the call to agree. Check the rules where you and your customers are before turning recording on.
Do Not Call
A lead or contact marked Do Not Call shows its number in the Call window, but it can’t be chosen, and CRMSix refuses a call to that number from the record.
Questions
- Do I need an app or a headset?
- No app. With the softphone, your computer’s microphone and speakers work, though a headset sounds better and avoids echo. Without it, any mobile or desk phone works.
- The softphone says it isn’t connected.
- Check the microphone is allowed for CRMSix in your browser, and that you’re online. If it says Twilio didn’t accept the key, an admin can turn the softphone off and on again in Settings → Phone Calls.
- Do incoming calls ring if CRMSix is closed?
- Not with the softphone: CRMSix has to be open in a tab. If you need calls when you’re away from your computer, choose On my phone, or turn on voicemail so missed callers can leave a message.
- Who can change a call’s notes?
- The person who made or took the call, and admins.
- Are calls copied to a sandbox?
- No. The Twilio settings and the call log stay in production, so a sandbox can’t make real calls.
- What does it cost?
- CRMSix doesn’t charge per call. Twilio charges your account for the number, the minutes (for a call from CRMSix, both your leg and the customer’s) and recordings. See Twilio’s pricing for your country.