Phone System: All-In-One Guide

What this guide covers:

1. Phone Number Setup

2. Phone System Setup Options (Forwarding, VOIP via Desktop or Mobile App, SIP Desk Phone)

3. Inbound & Outbound Calling FAQs

4. Advanced Phone Settings

5. External Phone Integration via Webhooks

6. Number Pools for Call Tracking

7. FAQs & Troubleshooting

1. Phone Number Setup

Below, we will cover the process for purchasing and setting up phone numbers in Aesthetix CRM. We help you set this up initially in the onboarding process, but you will need to know how to add more phone numbers or number pools in the future.

When you add new phone numbers or number pools outside of the onboarding process, contact support to add your phone numbers to your A2P Campaign for SMS messaging and CNAM, Shaken/Stir for Voice Calling.

We recommend purchasing toll-free phone numbers if you plan to do Mass SMS messaging from the system. We will have to go through toll-free verification for each individual phone number before you can send messages. Please reach out to support if you purchase a toll-free phone number that needs to be configured.

2. Phone Setup Options (Forwarding, VOIP via App, SIP Desk Phone)

1. Phone Forwarding Option (Default - Recommended)

Pros & Cons of Phone Forwarding Phone System Setup

Pros:

• Easiest configuration + recommended method

• Enables you to receive inbound calls to your existing phone service, so existing phone operations are not changed.

• All inbound calls, call recordings, and voicemails are tracked in the Contact records in the CRM.

Cons:

• Outbound Calls have to be made from inside Aesthetix CRM to log those calls, call recordings, and voicemails in the system. Outbound calls can be made via Web App and Mobile App. You cannot log outbound calls from your existing phone provider unless they support a webhooks integration.

• Requires subscription to the existing phone provider to facilitate the call. Some see this as a con as they are trying to consolidate expenses.

More Help Resources For Phone Forwarding Phone System Setup

Twilio Inbound Call Flow (Why We Set Up Mock Users to Assign Phone Numbers)

Connecting External Phone Providers With Webhooks Setup Process

2. VOIP via Desktop/Web App or Mobile App

Pros & Cons of VOIP via Desktop/Web App or Mobile App Phone System Setup

Pros:

• Easy configuration

• Enables you to receive inbound calls and answer them via mobile app or web app

• All inbound calls, call recordings, and voicemails are tracked in the Contact records in the CRM.

• All outbound calls, call recordings, and voicemails are tracked in the Contact records in the CRM.

Cons:

• Limited options in customization, including no IVR / Phone Tree Menus, no advanced routing options, and no multiple voicemail options (in office vs out of office options)

• Potential reliability options compared to traditional VOIP or large phone providers like Comcast, Verizon, or Spectrum.

• Not able to use current desk phone or hard phones in the practice.

• Requires you to port in your existing phone number if you want those calls to be tracked into the system.

3. Twilio SIP Desk Phone

This is our newest phone system setup option, but it is not something we can cover in onboarding. It will require your IT or phone team to assist in setup, because you will have to make adjustments to your physical phones. Utilizing this solution can work well, but it can increase the chances of downtime and requires a lot more technical setup. Below is the help article that walks through the process for setting up the SIP Desk Phone option.

Pros & Cons of SIP Desk Phone System Setup

Pros:

• Enables you to receive inbound calls and answer them via an existing desk phone in your practice.

• Enables you to make outbound calls via the desk phone and register those calls in the CRM.

• All inbound calls, call recordings, and voicemails are tracked in the Contact records in the CRM.

• All outbound calls, call recordings, and voicemails are tracked in the Contact records in the CRM.

Cons:

• Hardest configuration - Aesthetix CRM does NOT manage this setup.

• Limited options in customization, including no IVR / Phone Tree Menus, no advanced routing options, and no multiple voicemail options (in office vs out of office options)

• Potential reliability options compared to traditional VOIP or large phone providers like Comcast, Verizon, or Spectrum.

• Requires you to port in your existing phone number if you want those calls to be tracked into the system.

Both VOIP and SIP Desk Phone options require you to Port in your existing phone number if you want those phone calls to register in the CRM. Porting a phone number is a serious endeavor and should be thought through to minimize downtime or issues. This is one of the primary reasons we recommend using the forwarding option first always. Below we will discuss phone number porting in more detail.

3. Inbound / Outbound Calling FAQs

Below are walk-throughs of the features and options of inbound calling and outbound calling on the Web App if you are using the VOIP phone system setup outlined above.

Inbound Calling Features

Outbound Calling Features

Inbound and Outbound Calling Frequently Asked Questions

We will add walk-throughs of the inbound and outbound calling options in the mobile app in the future. However, the mobile app experience is very intuitive and has all the same features as the Web App.

4. Advanced Phone Settings

Below is a walk-through of all the advanced phone settings available to you as well as what they mean. In onboarding, we will set these up based on the phone system setup you select above.

5. External Phone Provider Integration with Webhooks

Below is a link to how to set up external phone providers to log inbound and outbound calls in Aesthetix CRM. This requires your external phone provider to support webhooks integrations. Also note that the cost to log each call is $0.013 per webhook call. Clients have used this integration to log calls from providers like CallRail. Aesthetix CRM does not set up custom external phone provider integration as part of onboarding.

6. Number Pools Setup for Call Tracking

Number Pools are the true dynamic call tracking solution in Aesthetix CRM. They are similar to systems like CallRail because these phone number setups dynamically change the phone numbers for every visitor on a website or landing page. This enables you to track call attribution to know whether the calls came from Paid Search, Organic Search, Organic Social, etc.

Number Pools require you to purchase a minimum of 4 additional phone numbers per number pool. The costs of these numbers will be pulled from your messaging and technology credits balance.

Below is a help article on how to set up number pools, including embedding the tracking script, which enables dynamic rotation.

7. FAQs & Troubleshooting

Below is a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions on the phone system.