Keep your 3CX office number and let your SkipCalls receptionist answer when the office is closed. 3CX sends calls to SkipCalls outside your office hours and on holidays, and rings your team as usual during the day. It takes about 10 minutes for whoever manages your 3CX system.
These steps are for 3CX Version 20, the current version. Menus may look slightly different on your update, but the names are the same.
1. Find or get your SkipCalls number
This is the number 3CX will forward calls to.
Web dashboard: open Phone Numbers (under Tools & Setup). Your numbers are listed under Numbers your receptionist answers.
Mobile app: go to Settings → Receptionist Settings. Your number is shown under SkipCalls Number.
No number yet? Open Phone Numbers on the web dashboard and click Get Number. See Phone Numbers.
2. Set your office hours in 3CX
Sign in to the 3CX Admin Console and open Office Hours.
If you have several departments, pick the one your office number belongs to.
Click each day and enter your opening hours, for example 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Leave a day empty if the office is closed all day.
Check that the time zone is your office's time zone.
Optional: on the Office Holidays tab, add the days the office is closed.
3. Open what your office number rings
Go to Call Handling.
Open the digital receptionist (IVR), ring group or queue that has your office number under Assigned DID number(s).
Check its Department. It uses that department's office hours from step 2.
If your office number rings a single user directly, the simplest fix is a ring group: create one with that user, move the office number to the ring group under Assigned DID number(s), and continue below.
4. Send closed-hours calls to SkipCalls
In the same screen, scroll to Destinations:
When office is open route to: leave it as it is, so your team answers during the day.
When office is closed route to: choose Forward to Outside Number and enter your SkipCalls number.
When on holiday route to: the same, Forward to Outside Number and your SkipCalls number.
Optional: do the same for When on break route to if you want SkipCalls to cover lunch.
Click Save.
Enter the number the way your 3CX outbound rules dial US numbers, usually 1 and the 10 digits, for example 15165550123.
Want SkipCalls to answer during the day instead? Put Forward to Outside Number under When office is open route to and keep your current setting for closed hours.
5. Test it
Outside your office hours, call your office number from a cell phone.
Your SkipCalls receptionist should pick up, and the call should appear in your call history.
During office hours, the same call should ring your team as before.
To test before the office closes, a user with the Receptionist or Manager role can click their avatar in the 3CX Web Client, choose Override office hours, and set the office to closed for 15 minutes.
If something doesn't work
No "Forward to Outside Number" option: in the Admin Console go to System → Options → General and turn on Allow forwarding to external numbers in ring group and queues, then save. Hosted multi-company 3CX plans may not allow forwarding to outside numbers; ask your 3CX provider.
The call fails or you hear a busy tone: 3CX places the forwarded call through your phone line provider, so you need an Outbound Rule that can dial US numbers, and a free line on your trunk.
SkipCalls shows your office number instead of the caller's: some phone line providers replace the caller's number on forwarded calls. Ask your 3CX admin or provider to send the original caller ID on forwarded calls. Until then, your receptionist can still ask callers for their number.
Still not working: call your SkipCalls number directly. If the receptionist answers, the problem is in the 3CX settings above.
3CX's own guide: Configure Your Office Hours. Screenshots: 3CX documentation.