Overflow during busy hours
How to send the calls your desk misses to 2care during busy hours, what callers get, and how to choose the right forwarding settings.
3 min read
How overflow works
Overflow keeps your front desk as the first answer during the day. When the desk is with a patient or every line is in use, the call moves to 2care instead of ringing out or reaching voicemail.
2care answers on the first ring, in under 2 seconds, with an inbound answer rate of 99%. It handles 1,000+ concurrent calls and scales elastically, so the morning peak is answered at the same speed as a quiet afternoon.
Terms
- Overflow. Calls your desk misses move to 2care automatically.
- No-answer forwarding. A call that rings for a set time without being picked up moves to 2care.
- Busy forwarding. A call that arrives while every line is in use moves to 2care straight away.
Choosing your settings
| Setting | Best for | What to decide |
|---|---|---|
| No-answer forwarding | A desk that is often with patients in the room | How many rings before the call moves on |
| Busy forwarding | Morning and Monday peaks | Which lines count as busy |
| Both together | Most practices | Both of the above |
Your onboarding specialist helps you pick settings that match how your desk works. The steps to set them are in forwarding your number.
What overflow callers get
An overflow caller gets the full service, with no message to call back:
- Booking. New appointments, reschedules and cancellations, made during the call against your live schedule.
- Answers. Hours, insurance accepted, what to bring, parking and directions.
- Intake. New patient details captured and confirmed aloud.
- Refill and result requests. Taken down and routed to the queue your team works.
- Escalation. Urgent and clinical calls routed to your team, as described in how urgent calls reach a person.
The average handle time is 2 to 3 minutes, and 60% or more of calls are resolved without a human handoff.
Working alongside your desk
Bookings made by 2care appear in the same schedule your team is working. Each slot is read live at the moment of the call, so the agent offers only times that are still open, even while your desk is booking at the same time.
When a call needs a person, it reaches your team as a warm transfer carrying the full transcript and a structured summary. Your staff pick up already knowing who is calling and why. See warm transfer to staff.
Questions
Will our desk still answer most calls?
That depends on your settings. With no-answer and busy forwarding, your desk answers every call it can, and 2care takes the rest.
What if the desk and the agent try to book the same slot?
The slot is read again at the moment of booking. If it has just been taken, the agent offers the next open time instead.
Can overflow run all day and full cover run after hours?
Yes. Most phone systems let you combine conditional forwarding during open hours with full forwarding after hours. See after-hours and lunch cover.
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