With Run a Call 1.4 or newer for iPhone and Android, calls to your business line can ring in the app on your phone, from the lock screen, with the customer's name on the call screen. You answer it like any other call. Calls you place from the app also stay connected when the screen locks, you switch to another app, or a regular call rings.
Nobody's phone rings until an owner or admin adds them to a call flow, so office computers keep working exactly as before.
What you need
- Your company has the Voice add-on. See Run a Call Phone overview.
- The Run a Call app, version 1.4 or newer, from the App Store or Google Play. See Installing the Run a Call app on iPhone & iPad and Installing the Run a Call app on Android.
- You've opened the updated app and signed in once. Until you do, the office sees Needs the Run a Call app 1.4 or newer, signed in next to your name and can't add you, and Phone apps (whoever is signed in) doesn't include you yet.
- An owner or admin has added you by name under Phone app in a call flow or ring group, or added Phone apps (whoever is signed in), which rings everyone on the app (next section).
- Available for calls is on in Settings → Profile. The same switch that controls the computer popup controls your phone.
Getting added to a call flow
An owner or admin does this once, in the web app:
- Go to Settings → Phone → Flows and click Open on the flow.
- Click the Ring people step, then Add who rings.
- Under Phone app (rings their Run a Call app), tick the person (or several people) and click Add N people at the bottom. The row then reads Name (phone app). Or add everyone at once with Phone apps (whoever is signed in), near the top of the list: it rings every teammate signed in to the app 1.4 or newer with Available for calls on, including people who sign in later.
- Click Publish.
The Office (rings their computer) section rings the web app on a computer only. A name under Office never rings a phone; tick the person under Phone app as well if they should get both. Field techs can be ticked under Phone app too, so a tech takes office calls in the app rather than on their personal cell. A row that reads Needs the Run a Call app 1.4 or newer, signed in can't be ticked until that person has updated and signed in.
Ring groups (Settings → Phone → Flows → Ring groups) have an Add people button with the same Phone app section and the same Phone apps (whoever is signed in) entry. Everything about building flows is in Call flows: decide who answers, and when.
What the call looks like
- iPhone: the call shows on the iPhone's own call screen, the same one a regular call uses, with the customer's name and your company's line. Slide or tap to answer.
- Android: a full-screen incoming call screen appears, with the customer's name and Answer and Decline buttons.
Once you answer, the call runs in the app with Mute, Speaker and End. You can lock the screen or open another app; the call carries on. When a regular call comes in on your phone during a Run a Call call, the Run a Call call stays connected while your phone asks what to do.
The call appears in Conversations → Calls with you as the person who answered, and it's recorded the same way as a call taken at a desk. See Recording calls.
Permissions the app asks for
The first time a call rings, your phone asks for two permissions. Allow both, or calls can't reach you:
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Notifications | This is how the call wakes your phone and shows the call screen, including from the lock screen. |
| Microphone | So the caller can hear you. |
If you tapped Don't allow by mistake, open your phone's Settings, find Run a Call, and switch on Notifications and Microphone. On iPhone you can also check that Allow Notifications is on under the app's notification settings.
Good to know
- One call at a time. While you're on a call in the app, a second business-line call doesn't ring your phone. The flow moves on to the others in the step, then to the next step.
- Works anywhere with data. Wi-Fi or cellular data is enough; you don't need to be in the US or Canada. Outside numbers added to a flow still need to be US or Canadian numbers.
- iPad. On an iPad the app keeps the computer-style call card inside the app. The lock-screen call screen is for iPhone and Android.
- Declining stops the ringing for you only. The call keeps ringing for everyone else in the step.
- Stop calls for a while. Switch off Available for calls in Settings → Profile. Any call you're already on keeps going.
Not ringing on your phone?
Work through these in order:
| Check | Fix |
|---|---|
| App version | Open the App Store or Google Play and update Run a Call to 1.4 or newer. Older versions can't receive calls. |
| Signed in on the new version | Open the updated app and sign in. The office list changes from Needs the Run a Call app 1.4 or newer, signed in to your name once you have. |
| Available for calls | In the app or the web app, go to Settings → Profile and make sure Available for calls is on. |
| Notification permission | In your phone's Settings → Run a Call, switch on Notifications. Without it the call can't wake your phone. |
| Microphone permission | Same place: switch on Microphone. |
| The flow lists your phone | Ask an owner or admin to open the flow in Settings → Phone → Flows, click the ring step, and check that either your name is there with (phone app) after it or the step includes Phone apps (whoever is signed in). A name under Office only rings a computer. If the builder shows Step N rings a phone app that is not signed in yet, so it will be skipped until it is, or Nobody has signed in to the Run a Call app 1.4 yet, so this step will be skipped until someone does, sign in on the updated app. |
| Already on a call | A second business-line call doesn't ring a phone that's on a call. Finish the current call. |
| No data | The call needs Wi-Fi or cellular data. If you're offline, the flow treats your phone as unavailable and moves on. |
Still stuck? Send us a request from Settings → Support with your phone model, the app version (shown at the bottom of Settings in the app), and the time of a call that didn't ring.