Find Me Follow Me: Benefits, Best Practices, and Use Cases

Sometimes referred to as call hunting or call routing, find me/follow me is a basic VoIP feature that allows businesses to stay connected with customers and never miss a call.

Read on to find out what find me/follow me is, how it works, what the benefits are, and what providers offer it.

• Overview
• How it Works
• Benefits
• Use Cases
• Best Practices
• Top Providers

What is Find Me Follow Me?

Find Me/Follow Me is a powerful feature that allows users to route their phone calls through a set of numbers, one after the other, until the call is finally answered or reaches voicemail. Some VoIP providers might even allow the option to ring all numbers on a list simultaneously.

Incoming calls will ring on one device (such as an IP phone), then if there is no answer the call will be forwarded to the next preset choice, such as a mobile number. More numbers and extensions can be added to the call flow or calls can be forwarded to voicemail. Some solutions include options to direct calls back to an operator, a different department, or even to a text message service.

Find me/follow differs from features like call routing, IVR systems, and automatic call distribution (ACD) because automated attendants are not a necessary component of find me/follow me.

How Does Find Me Follow Me Forwarding Work?

The basic concept of find me/follow me is fairly simple to understand.

1. Set up the find me/follow me call forwarding feature using the online portal or app of a business phone system.
2. Set up the call handling rules to best fit the needs of the business by inputting the business phone numbers and setting a priority list (ring steps) for which numbers to call in what order.
3. Further customize the call hunting system by selecting the number that will be shown on caller ID, the number of seconds in between each ring step, and call screening options, if available.
4. Test the system by placing a call to the main business phone number.

Benefits of Using Find Me Follow Me

There are numerous benefits to the find me/follow me feature including:

• Cost savings: Find me/follow me reduces costs by enabling companies to implement BYOD policies and allow agents to work from home.
• Maximizes agent availability: The feature allows reps to stay connected no matter where they are, and miss less calls, while also reducing wait times for callers.
• Enables business to use only one number: Using find me/follow me eliminates the need to provide customers with multiple numbers as their calls can be forwarded to different departments.
• Keep numbers private: With find me/follow me managers can keep their cell phone number private, and still receive calls on it when they’re out of the office.
• Increase mobility: Companies can transition to remote or hybrid offices by setting up call forwarding to agents’ mobile devices.

Use Cases for Find Me Follow Me

The find me/follow me feature has benefits in several use cases

• Customer service reps: Customer service departments can reduce wait times by using find me/follow me to ring all service agents at the same time for every customer call that comes in.
• Sales reps: Sales teams can increase conversion rates by using the find me/follow me feature to forward calls to their most senior agents first.
• Remote workers: Remote teams can use find me/follow me to forward incoming business calls to their mobile devices so they can work from anywhere.
• Call centers: Call centers can use find me/follow me to eliminate the need for a front desk or receptionist.

Best Practices for Setting Up Find Me Follow Me

Below are some best practices for setting up find me/follow me:

• Utilize business hours: Many providers allow admins to change the priorities based on whether the call is coming in during business hours, after hours, or during a vacation. Doing so means that departments which are closed after hours or on weekends won’t receive calls needlessly.
• Utilize simultaneous ring when it makes sense: While it would be chaotic to have every phone ring in a physical office at the same time, simultaneous ring makes sense for remote teams where the agent to answer the call will stop the ringing for everyone.
• Define what happens if the call is never answered: No matter how many ring steps are created, there is always the possibility the call will go unanswered. Make sure to define where it will be transferred in this scenario (voicemail box, external number, hang up, etc.)
• Define what happens if the call fails: In the case of a failed call due to a power outage, find me/follow me can be used as a failover to send incoming calls to a different external number.

VoIP Providers With the Find Me Follow Me Feature

Embracing Mobility With Find Me Follow Me

Find me/follow me not only keeps business owners and teams connected with customers no matter where they are, but it reduces costs, improves customer service and affords employees more freedom.

The added benefits of utilizing just one number, and keeping numbers private — while allowing agents to use personal devices that they’re comfortable with, makes this one of the best hosted PBX features, and one that everyone should take full advantage of.