Do we have to change operator or phone system?

No. With forwarding, your phone system and operator carry on as before, and the agent only takes the calls you send it. If you want to stop, you switch the forwarding off.

Can the agent put calls through to a colleague?

Yes, if the colleague has a number reachable from outside. The agent transfers with a summary of the matter. If nobody answers there, the agent should know what to do next: take a message, arrange a call back or try the next person.

Does it work with Teams or a cloud PBX?

What matters is whether your system can forward to an external number when busy, when unanswered and outside opening hours. Most cloud PBXs can. Threll has no ready-made Microsoft Teams integration, but if your Teams telephony can forward to an external number it works the same way – check what your setup supports before you start.

How long does setup take?

The agent itself – number, opening hours and what it should answer – takes about ten minutes. Forwarding in the phone system usually takes a few more minutes for whoever has admin access. A direct SIP connection takes longer and is done together with us.

AI switchboard: keep your phone system, let AI answer

“Switchboard” means two different things, and it is worth keeping them apart.

One is the technology: the phone system, these days usually a cloud PBX from your operator, which decides where calls go, which queues exist and who has which extension. The other is the service: someone who answers the switchboard and puts calls through, either your own receptionist or an external answering service.

An AI switchboard belongs to the second kind. It doesn't replace your phone system. It answers inside it.

Why that matters

People looking for an AI switchboard sometimes assume it means changing operator, porting numbers and setting everything up again. It rarely does. The cloud PBX keeps doing what it does: queues, opening hours, extensions, statistics. What changes is who takes the call when nobody is free.

That is also why you can start small and back out if it doesn't work.

Three ways to connect an AI switchboard

1. Forwarding when busy, unanswered or closed

The simplest and most common. In the phone system you set calls that aren't answered within a certain number of rings, or that arrive when everyone is busy or the office is closed, to forward to the agent's number.

Your phone rings first, just as today. Only what happens when nobody answers changes: instead of a queue or voicemail, the agent takes the call, solves what it can and leaves a summary.

2. AI as the first answer on your main number

Here the agent answers every call to the main number and acts as a receptionist: finds out what the call is about, answers simple questions itself and puts the rest through to the right person or team.

It replaces the phone menu. Instead of “press one for accounts”, the caller says it is about an invoice, and the agent puts them through to accounts – with a summary, so they don't have to repeat themselves. It requires the agent to know who handles what, and what to do when that person doesn't pick up.

3. Direct connection over a SIP trunk

Larger organisations with their own number ranges can connect the agent directly to their telephony over SIP instead of through forwarding. Threll delivers telephony over a SIP trunk with Telenor. It gives more control over numbers and call routing, but takes more setup than the first two options.

Most start with option 1, see how it works for a few weeks and move on if they need to.

What to check in your phone system first

Before you connect anything, answer a few questions about your current system. The answers are usually in its admin interface or with your operator's support.

Can it forward when busy, when unanswered and outside opening hours – separately? You want to control each on its own.

After how many rings does a call count as unanswered? Too many, and the caller hangs up. Too few, and the agent takes calls you would have answered yourselves.

Which number does the agent see? The agent needs the caller's number, not the switchboard's, to look the caller up and call back.

Where can the agent put calls through to? If the agent is to transfer calls to a colleague, it needs direct numbers or extensions reachable from outside.

What happens in your queue today? If you have a queue with hold music, decide whether the agent takes calls before the queue, after a certain wait, or instead of it.

When an external answering service is still right

A staffed answering service has advantages an AI switchboard doesn't. A person can take calls that need judgement, read an upset caller and make decisions outside the script. If you have few, long and sensitive calls, that may be the right choice.

The AI switchboard is strongest where volume is high and calls resemble each other: bookings, opening hours, “can I speak to”, matters to take down and pass on. It can also answer in over 70 languages, which an answering service rarely can. We have compared the cost with your own staff in AI receptionist or a hire.

Get started

Start with forwarding outside opening hours. It affects none of the calls you already take, and after a week you know how many calls came in when nobody was there. What the agent does with them is described in our AI receptionist guide, and more about the product is on the AI receptionist and switchboard page.