Support Guide

Inbound Call Flows in Shape Software

Shape Software
July 13, 2026

Learn how to configure inbound call routing in Shape Software, including call flows, routing rules, greetings, voicemail, IVR, lead assignment, AI answering, and best practices.

Designing Inbound Call Flows in Shape Software

Inbound Call Routing controls what happens from the moment someone calls one of your Shape phone numbers.

Whether you're routing callers directly to a loan officer, insurance agent, customer service representative, AI agent, voicemail, or an entire sales team, Inbound Call Routing gives you complete control over how every incoming call is handled.

Rather than simply forwarding calls to a single phone number, Shape allows you to design intelligent call flows that can:

Ring individual users or entire teams
Route calls to the assigned record owner
Round Robin calls across departments
Forward calls to external phone numbers
Play greetings or compliance recordings
Route calls to AI agents
Create or update customer records automatically
Assign or reassign record ownership
Respect user availability and state licensing
Transfer callers to voicemail when no one answers

The result is a more consistent customer experience while ensuring opportunities are routed to the right people at the right time.

What Is an Inbound Call Route?

An Inbound Call Route is a configurable workflow that determines how Shape handles incoming calls for one or more phone numbers.

Every Shape phone number is associated with an inbound call route. When a customer dials that number, Shape follows the call flow you've designed until the call is answered or reaches its final destination.

Think of an inbound call route as a decision tree for every incoming phone call.

For example:

None

Customer Calls ↓ Greeting ↓ Assigned Loan Officer ↓ Assigned Loan Officer's Cell Phone ↓ Voicemail

Or for an insurance agency:

None

Customer Calls ↓ Assigned Agent ↓ Customer Service Team ↓ AI Agent Answering Service

Instead of manually forwarding calls or relying on a receptionist, Shape automatically follows your configured workflow every time someone calls.

How Inbound Call Routing Works

Every inbound call follows the same basic process.

None

Customer Calls ↓ Shape Phone Number ↓ Inbound Call Route ↓ Call Flow Rules ↓ Call Answered

Each inbound route contains one or more Call Flow Rules.

These rules are evaluated from top to bottom.

If the first rule doesn't answer the call, Shape automatically continues to the next rule until the call is answered or the workflow ends.

For example:

None

Greeting ↓ Assigned User ↓ Assigned User's Mobile Phone ↓ Blast Overflow Team ↓ Voicemail

This sequential approach allows you to build sophisticated routing workflows without requiring complex programming.

Why Inbound Call Routing Matters

Your inbound call strategy has a direct impact on customer experience.

A well-designed call flow helps your organization:

Answer calls faster.
Route customers to the correct person.
Reduce missed opportunities.
Automatically assign ownership.
Improve reporting accuracy.
Maintain compliance.
Support multiple departments and teams.
Scale as your organization grows.

Rather than forcing every caller through the same path, Shape allows you to customize routing for each phone number based on your business needs.

One Route, Multiple Numbers

An inbound call route can be assigned to multiple Shape phone numbers.

This is useful when several phone numbers should all follow the same routing workflow.

For example:

All three numbers can point to the same inbound call route.

This makes administration much easier because updating the route automatically updates every phone number assigned to it.

One Number, One Active Route

While multiple phone numbers can share a single route, each Shape phone number can only have one active inbound route at a time.

The two primary exceptions are:

Registering your business tells carriers:

Run schedules allow different routes to become active at different times.

For example:

None

Business Hours ↓ Sales Team --- After Hours ↓ AI Agent

IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

IVR allows callers to choose different paths by pressing keys on their phone.

Example:

None

Thank you for calling.

Press 1 for Sales.

Press 2 for Customer Service.

Press 3 for Billing.

Each selection can direct callers into a completely different call flow.

Common Uses for Inbound Call Routing

Every organization is different, but some of the most common routing strategies include:

Dedicated User Routing

Each user receives their own Shape phone number with a dedicated routing rule.

This is the most common configuration and provides the greatest flexibility.

Department Routing

Calls ring every available member of a department until someone answers.

Common examples include:

Team Routing

Instead of routing to an entire department, calls ring members of a specific team.

This works well for specialized sales groups or regional offices.

Round Robin Distribution

Calls rotate evenly between users to distribute opportunities fairly across a team.

This is commonly used by inside sales teams and call centers.

External Phone Forwarding

Calls can also be forwarded to external phone numbers such as:

AI Call Answering

Organizations using Shape AI can have an AI agent answer calls:

AI can answer questions, schedule callbacks, and transfer callers to the appropriate team when needed.

Before You Begin

Inbound Call Routing is configured from:

Settings → Phone Settings → Inbound Call Routing

Before creating your first call route, we recommend:

Purchasing your Shape phone numbers.
Assigning dedicated phone numbers to users whenever possible.
Configuring your user profiles.
Creating your departments and teams.
Setting up your voicemail greetings.
Determining how you'd like new callers to be assigned.

Taking a few minutes to plan your routing strategy before building your workflows can make future administration significantly easier.

Best Practice: We recommend assigning each user their own dedicated Shape phone number and corresponding inbound call route whenever possible. Dedicated routing provides cleaner reporting, more predictable call handling, and greater flexibility when routing calls to individual users or departments.

Typical Call Flow Strategy

Although every organization is different, most successful call flows follow a similar pattern.

None

Customer Calls ↓ Greeting ↓ Assigned User ↓ Assigned User's Mobile Phone ↓ AI Agent Answering Service

This approach gives the intended owner the first opportunity to answer while ensuring customers aren't left without assistance if they're unavailable.

As we'll cover throughout this guide, Shape supports many different routing strategies, but building in one or more fallback options is one of the most important best practices for creating a great caller experience.

Creating an Inbound Call Route

Once you've planned how you want your inbound calls to flow, you're ready to build your first route.

Inbound Call Routes are configured from:

Settings → Phone Settings → Inbound Call Routing

Each route represents a complete workflow for one or more Shape phone numbers, allowing you to control how callers are greeted, who is called, how new records are created, and what happens if nobody answers.

Step 1: Create a New Route

From the Inbound Call Routing page, click Add New Route.

Every route should have a descriptive name that clearly identifies its purpose.

Some common naming conventions include:

John Smith
Main Office
Customer Service
Claims Department
Sales Team
Branch Reception
After Hours
AI Receptionist

Choosing clear names makes it much easier to manage larger phone systems as your organization grows.

Step 2: Assign Phone Numbers

Next, choose which Shape phone numbers should use this routing workflow.

A single route can support multiple phone numbers if those numbers should all follow the same call flow.

For example:

could all point to the same inbound route.

If different phone numbers should follow different workflows, simply create additional routes.

Best Practice: Most organizations assign each user their own dedicated Shape phone number and corresponding inbound call route. This provides cleaner reporting, simpler troubleshooting, and much greater flexibility when routing inbound calls.

Step 3: Configure Lead Ownership

One of Shape's most powerful capabilities is automatically assigning ownership when inbound calls arrive.

You'll notice two assignment options.

Assign New Leads to the User That Answers

When enabled, if an inbound caller does not already exist in your CRM, Shape creates a new record and automatically assigns ownership to the person who answered the call.

This is especially useful for:

Instead of assigning new callers before someone answers, ownership is determined by the person who actually speaks with the customer.

Reassign Existing Records to the User That Answers

You can also choose to automatically reassign existing records whenever another user answers the inbound call. This is common for warm transfer setups.

This is useful when ownership should transfer naturally as conversations move between departments or team members.

For example:

None

Customer Calls ↓ Assigned User Doesn't Answer ↓ Overflow Sales Team User Does Answer ↓ Record Automatically Reassigned

This helps keep record ownership aligned with the person actively working the customer.

Best Practice: Most organizations enable Assign New Leads to the User That Answers. Whether you enable Reassign Existing Records depends on your team's workflow and ownership strategy.

Step 4: Assign a Marketing Source

Every inbound route can automatically assign a marketing source to new records created through that phone number.

This helps preserve reporting accuracy and makes it easy to understand where new opportunities originated.

Some common examples include:

If the caller's phone number already matches an existing record in Shape, the inbound call is logged to that record instead of creating a duplicate.

Marketing Sources can be managed from:

Settings → Marketing Sources

Best Practice: Creating dedicated phone numbers for different marketing campaigns allows you to automatically track campaign performance without requiring users to manually update the source.

How Shape Handles Existing Customers

When someone calls one of your Shape phone numbers, Shape first checks whether that phone number already exists in your CRM.

If a matching record is found:

If no matching phone number is found:

This process happens automatically during every inbound call.

Duplicate Record Handling

If multiple records contain the same phone number, Shape automatically associates the inbound call with the newest matching record.

This helps ensure activity is logged against the most current version of the customer record.

Note: Maintaining good duplicate management practices helps ensure inbound calls are consistently associated with the correct customer.

Mortgage Support: Borrower & Co-Borrower Matching

Mortgage organizations often collect multiple phone numbers for both borrowers and co-borrowers.

Shape supports inbound matching against:

If any of these phone numbers call into Shape, the call is associated with the corresponding primary borrower record and the activity is logged appropriately.

This allows loan officers to immediately access the correct customer record regardless of which borrower is calling.

Automatically Opening the Customer Record

To help users answer calls more efficiently, Shape can automatically open the associated customer record whenever an inbound call is answered.

When enabled, users immediately see:

Customer information
Previous conversations
Notes
Tasks
Timeline activity
Loan or policy information
Contact details

This is particularly valuable when handling live transfers or repeat customers, since agents have immediate context before beginning the conversation.

This setting is configured individually within each user's Profile Settings.

Note: We recommend enabling Automatically Open Record on Incoming Calls for any user who regularly answers inbound calls or receives warm transfers.

Building Your Call Flow

The Call Flow is the heart of every inbound call route.

Once a customer calls one of your Shape phone numbers, Shape begins working through each Call Flow Rule in the order you've configured them until the call is answered or reaches its final destination.

Think of it like a checklist.

None

Customer Calls ↓ Play Greeting ↓ Assigned User ↓ Assigned User Mobile Phone ↓ Sales Team ↓ Voicemail

If the Assigned User answers, the remaining rules are skipped.

If they don't answer, Shape automatically proceeds to the next rule.

Because rules execute sequentially, you can build extremely simple or highly sophisticated routing workflows.

Reordering Call Flow Rules

Call Flow Rules can be reordered at any time using drag-and-drop.

The order matters.

Rules at the top are evaluated first.

Rules lower in the list act as fallbacks if earlier rules don't answer the call.

For example:

None

Greeting ↓ Assigned Loan Officer ↓ Processing Team ↓ Voicemail

behaves very differently than

None

Greeting ↓ Processing Team ↓ Assigned Loan Officer ↓ Voicemail

Take a few minutes to think about who should receive the first opportunity to answer each type of call.

Understanding Each Call Flow Rule

User

The User rule calls one specific Shape user.

This is the most common routing option for organizations where each employee has their own direct phone number.

Common examples include:

If the selected user answers, the call ends successfully and no additional routing rules are processed.

If they don't answer, Shape moves to the next rule.

Best For

Assigned User

Rather than selecting a specific person, Assigned User dynamically routes the call to whoever currently owns the record.

This is one of Shape's most powerful routing options because ownership changes automatically over time.

No matter who owns the customer, Shape always routes the call to the current owner.

If ownership changes tomorrow, the routing updates automatically without changing the call flow.

Best For

All Assigned Users

The Assigned User Blast option rings all users currently assigned to the record.

Instead of routing the call to only one assigned user, Shape attempts to reach every assigned user on that record at the same time. The first assigned user to answer is connected to the caller.

This option is useful when multiple users share ownership of a record and any assigned user can assist.

Teams

The Team option rings or round robins all users assigned to a selected team, depending on the call flow option you choose.

This is ideal for organizations that organize users into regional offices, specialized sales teams, service groups, or internal pods where any team member can assist the caller.

When using simultaneous ringing, Shape supports up to 10 concurrent ringing users. If your team contains more than 10 users or you need to notify a larger group simultaneously, we recommend using QuickFire Connect, which is specifically designed to notify large groups without the standard concurrent ringing limitation.

Best For

Department

The Department option rings or round robins users assigned to a selected department, depending on the call flow option you choose.

This is ideal when any member of a department can assist the caller, making it a popular choice for shared support lines and departmental phone numbers.

Best For

Shared sales departments
Customer service teams
Claims departments
Loan processing teams
Reception or front desk coverage
General support lines

Best Practice: If your goal is to ring more than 10 users at the same time, configure a QuickFire Connect rule instead of a standard department call flow.

All Available Users

The All Available Users option simultaneously rings every user in your organization who is currently available to receive calls.

To receive the call, users must have:

The first user to answer is connected to the caller, and the call stops ringing for everyone else.

Because this option rings multiple users at the same time, it's a popular choice for:

Best Practice: If you need to ring more than 10 users simultaneously, configure a QuickFire Connect rule instead of using All Available Users.

Round Robin

Round Robin distributes inbound calls evenly across a Department or Team.

Instead of ringing everyone at once, Shape rotates through users sequentially.

For example:

None

Call #1 → Sarah

Call #2 → John

Call #3 → Mike

Call #4 → Emily

Call #5 → Sarah

This helps balance inbound opportunities fairly across your staff.

You can configure:

Call Direct Number

The Call Direct Number rule forwards inbound calls to an external phone number.

Examples include:

Calls routed through Shape continue to support native features such as call recording (when enabled), even if the user answers on their cell phone.

This is particularly useful for employees who spend most of their day away from their desks.

Play Recording

This rule plays a prerecorded audio message before continuing through the rest of the call flow.

Organizations commonly use recordings for:

After the recording finishes, Shape proceeds to the next rule unless the workflow ends there.

AI Answering

Organizations using Shape AI can route callers directly to an AI Voice Agent.

The AI can:

Answer common questions
Collect customer information
Collect customer information
Transfer callers to users
Route callers to departments
Provide after-hours assistance

AI can be placed anywhere in the call flow.

Examples:

None

Assigned User ↓ AI

None

After Hours ↓ AI

This allows organizations to provide 24/7 coverage while reducing missed opportunities.

Advanced Routing Features

Inbound Call Routing is more than simply deciding which phone rings first. Shape includes several advanced routing capabilities that allow you to create sophisticated workflows based on your business processes, operating hours, licensing requirements, and customer ownership.

Business Hours & After-Hours Routing

Many organizations want inbound calls handled differently outside of normal business hours.

Using Run Schedules, you can automatically activate different inbound call routes based on the time of day.

For example:

None

Business Hours ↓ Assigned User ↓ Department ↓ Voicemail

After hours, a completely different route can take over.

None

After Hours ↓ Greeting ↓ AI Voice Agent ↓  Voicemail

This allows your organization to provide a professional experience regardless of when customers call.

Common after-hours workflows include:

Best Practice: Rather than forwarding every after-hours call directly to voicemail, consider using Shape AI to answer common questions, collect customer information, schedule callbacks, or transfer callers when appropriate.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

If your organization receives calls for multiple departments or services, you can enable IVR (Interactive Voice Response) to allow callers to choose where they'd like to be routed.

For example:

None

Thank you for calling ABC Company.

Press 1 for Sales.

Press 2 for Customer Service.

Press 3 for Billing.

Each menu option can direct callers into a completely different inbound call route.

Shape currently supports IVR selections using:

Tip: Keep IVR menus simple. The fewer options callers need to navigate, the faster they reach the right person.

This allows your organization to provide a professional experience regardless of when customers call.

Common after-hours workflows include:

Greetings & Compliance Recordings

Inbound Call Routing also allows you to play prerecorded audio messages before continuing through your call flow.

Organizations commonly use greetings to:

Greetings are uploaded as MP3 recordings and can be placed anywhere within your call flow.

Multiple greetings can also be chained together using IVR or multiple routing paths when needed.

Tip: If your organization records calls, consider including your recording disclosure as part of your greeting to help satisfy applicable legal requirements.

Smart Lead Assignment

Inbound Call Routing doesn't just determine who answers the phone. It also can control how customer ownership is managed inside Shape.

Depending on your configuration, Shape can:

Create new records automatically.
Assign new records to the user who answers.
Reassign existing records to the user who answers.
Update existing customer records.
Apply inbound activity to existing records instead of creating duplicates.

This creates a seamless experience where the person helping the customer also becomes the record owner, eliminating manual reassignment.

State Licensing Support

Organizations operating in regulated industries, such as mortgage lending and insurance, often need to ensure inbound calls are only routed to appropriately licensed users.

Shape supports State Eligibility Routing within Inbound Call Routing.

When enabled, Shape compares:

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Incoming Phone Number ↓ Area Code ↓ Associated State ↓ User State Eligibility ↓ Eligible Users Only

Users who are not licensed or eligible for the caller's state are automatically skipped during routing.

This helps organizations maintain licensing compliance while ensuring customers reach qualified representatives.

Example: A caller with an Arizona area code calls your office. If a user is not licensed to conduct business in Arizona, Shape automatically excludes that user from the routing process when State Eligibility is enabled.

AI Voice Agent Routing

Shape AI can be incorporated into nearly any stage of an inbound call flow.

Some common configurations include:

AI First

None

Customer Calls ↓ AI Voice Agent ↓ Sales Representative

The AI gathers information before transferring the caller.

AI After No Answer

None

Assigned User ↓ Department ↓ AI Voice Agent

If nobody answers, the AI continues assisting the customer rather than sending them directly to voicemail.

AI After Hours

None

Business Closed ↓ AI Voice Agent ↓ Schedule Callback

This provides 24/7 availability while allowing your team to follow up the next business day.

AI can answer questions, collect information, transfer callers, and schedule callbacks based on your configured AI workflows.

Notification Preferences

Inbound Call Routing also determines who should be notified when communication events occur.

You can configure notifications for:

Notifications can be sent to:

Specific User

Notify one designated user regardless of who owns the record.

Assigned User(s)

Notify all users currently assigned to the customer record.

This is the default configuration for many organizations.

Assigned Department User

Notify only the assigned user within a specific department.

For example:

This helps reduce unnecessary notifications while ensuring the appropriate team member stays informed.

Best Practice: Department-specific notifications are particularly useful when multiple departments share ownership of the same customer but only one department is responsible for responding to inbound communications.

Voicemail Management

If nobody answers the call, Shape can automatically route callers to voicemail.

Organizations can configure different voicemail boxes for different routes, departments, or users.

Voicemails are accessible from:

Organizations using AI Call Insights can also generate voicemail transcriptions for easier review and searching.

Tip: Create different voicemail greetings for sales, support, and after-hours routes to provide a more personalized caller experience.

Designing Reliable Call Flows

As your routing becomes more sophisticated, it's important to think about the caller's experience rather than just your internal workflow.

A strong inbound call route should:

Route callers quickly.
Always include a fallback.
Avoid dead ends.
Minimize unnecessary transfers.
Respect user availability.
Route customers to the person most likely to help them.
Continue working even when users are unavailable.

Instead of asking, "Who should answer this call?", ask:

"If my first choice doesn't answer, what's the best experience for the customer?"

That simple mindset often results in dramatically better inbound call flows.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoiding a few common mistakes can significantly improve your inbound call experience.

Routing Too Many Users Simultaneously

Carrier limitations allow up to 10 concurrent ringing users.

If your organization needs to notify larger groups, use QuickFire Connect instead.

Forgetting to Update Routes

When users leave your organization or phone numbers are reassigned, review your inbound routes to ensure calls continue reaching the correct destination.

Ignoring State Eligibility

Mortgage and insurance organizations should enable State Eligibility routing whenever licensing requirements apply.

Skipping Testing

Always place live test calls after making routing changes.

Small configuration changes can produce very different results than expected.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens when someone calls a Shape phone number?

Shape checks whether the caller already exists in your CRM.
If a matching record is found, the existing record is updated with the new call activity.
If no matching record exists, Shape automatically creates a new record using the settings configured within the inbound route.

Can multiple phone numbers use the same inbound call route?

Yes.

One inbound call route can be assigned to multiple Shape phone numbers.

Can one phone number belong to multiple routes?

Generally, no.

Each phone number can only have one active inbound route at a time.

The primary exceptions are Run Schedules, which activate different routes based on time, and IVR, which routes callers to different paths after making a menu selection.

Can I automatically assign the record to whoever answers?

Yes.

You can configure your route to:

What happens if the caller already exists in Shape?

The existing record is updated with the new inbound call activity rather than creating a duplicate record.

What happens if duplicate records exist?

Shape associates the inbound call with the newest matching record.

Can Shape identify co-borrowers?

Yes.

For mortgage organizations, inbound calls from primary borrower or co-borrower mobile, home, and work phone numbers are associated with the corresponding primary borrower record.

Can I route calls based on licensing?

Yes.

State Eligibility routing can automatically exclude users who are not licensed for the caller's state.

Can I forward calls to my cell phone?

Yes.

The Call Direct Number rule supports forwarding calls to external numbers such as mobile phones or desk phones.

Will forwarded calls still be recorded?

Yes.

When call recording is enabled, calls routed through Shape continue to support recording even if answered on an external phone.

Can I play a greeting before routing?

Yes.

Greeting recordings can be used for welcome messages, business hours, recording disclosures, and other announcements before continuing through the call flow.

Can I use AI to answer inbound calls?

Yes.

AI Voice Agents can answer first, answer after business hours, answer after no response, or be placed anywhere within your routing workflow.

Can I use QuickFire together with traditional call flow rules?

No.

QuickFire Connect is an alternative routing strategy designed for notifying larger groups of users. It is configured separately from standard call flow rules.

How many users can ring at the same time?

Up to 10 users can ring concurrently.

If you need to notify more than 10 users simultaneously, use QuickFire Connect, which is specifically designed for larger groups.

Who can receive missed call and voicemail notifications?

Notifications can be configured for:

This allows organizations to tailor notifications to match their ownership and department structure.

Can I build different call flows for business hours and after hours?

Yes.

Run Schedules allow different inbound routes to become active based on the time of day.

Where should I start when designing a new inbound call route?

Start simple.

Build your primary routing path first, then add fallback options, voicemail, AI, business hours, and advanced routing as needed.

You can always expand your routing strategy over time as your organization's needs evolve.

Keywords: inbound call routing, call flow rules, manage inbound call routing, round robin, leads, users, voicemail, voicemail greeting

Still need help? Contact Shape Expert!

Get in Touch

Our team of experts are here to help! Call our sales line at (888) 762-7211

Table of Contents

Support Guide

Inbound Call Flows in Shape Software

Designing Inbound Call Flows in Shape Software

What Is an Inbound Call Route?

How Inbound Call Routing Works

Why Inbound Call Routing Matters

One Route, Multiple Numbers

One Number, One Active Route

Common Uses for Inbound Call Routing

Before You Begin

Typical Call Flow Strategy

Creating an Inbound Call Route

Step 1: Create a New Route

Step 2: Assign Phone Numbers

Step 3: Configure Lead Ownership

Step 4: Assign a Marketing Source

How Shape Handles Existing Customers

Duplicate Record Handling

Mortgage Support: Borrower & Co-Borrower Matching

Automatically Opening the Customer Record

Building Your Call Flow

Reordering Call Flow Rules

Understanding Each Call Flow Rule

User

Assigned User

All Assigned Users

Teams

Department

All Available Users

Round Robin

Call Direct Number

Play Recording

AI Answering

Advanced Routing Features

Business Hours & After-Hours Routing

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Greetings & Compliance Recordings

Smart Lead Assignment

State Licensing Support

AI Voice Agent Routing

AI First

AI After No Answer

AI After Hours

Notification Preferences

Voicemail Management

Designing Reliable Call Flows

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Frequently Asked Questions

Still need help? Contact Shape Expert!

Get in Touch

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