# How Inbound Calls Route (/docs/guides/phone-numbers/how-inbound-calls-route)
When someone calls a careCycle number, the dialed number first identifies its
owning campaign. careCycle then uses the caller record, campaign kind, number
service, business hours, and attached destination to decide whether AI, a human
agent, or terminal handling takes the call.
Main Number Routing [#main-number-routing]
Your main number belongs to your agency (your Receptionist answers it by
default), but a known caller can be answered in a more specific context. For
example, a member who just had an AI appointment call can be routed back into
that appointment, and a member your team called by hand from inside a campaign
can land back in that campaign.
**An unknown caller** reaches the Receptionist as a new customer. careCycle
creates the customer record so the call and any later follow-up stay connected.
**A caller with a recent unresolved inquiry callback** reaches the
Receptionist's inquiry-callback AI flow before any other active campaign.
**A caller in one active routing-eligible campaign** reaches that campaign's
context. Eligibility requires a nonterminal enrollment in an active campaign
configured to use the organization main number. With multiple eligible campaigns,
careCycle uses the latest confirmed customer dial from that number after the
customer's enrollment. If no campaign can be selected unambiguously, the
Receptionist answers. Campaigns using dedicated number pools do not take over
the main line.
**Any other known caller** reaches the Receptionist as an existing customer.
If careCycle selects an active campaign that has no suitable AI assistant, it
retries the Receptionist campaign rather than leaving the call unanswered.
The caller record and current campaign provide this continuity. See [How
careCycle Fits Together](/docs/guides/concepts/how-carecycle-fits-together)
for the relationship between customers, campaigns, and automations.
Campaign Number Routing [#campaign-number-routing]
A non-main number keeps the call in the campaign it's **currently** attached
to, as long as that campaign is active or paused (otherwise your Receptionist
answers):
* A known customer reaches the number's campaign.
* For a Voice AI campaign, a new caller reaches that campaign when it has a
new-customer assistant. Otherwise the Receptionist is the fallback.
* For an Agent Queue campaign, careCycle creates a record for a new caller and
routes the call through the attached agent pool during business hours.
* A number assigned directly to a specific AI assistant stays with that
number's campaign and assistant.
Any campaign can call from its own numbers instead of your main number (and
Agent Queue campaigns do by default). A returned call to one of those numbers
enters the campaign that number is attached to. If you move a number to a
different campaign, its callbacks move with it. Texts sent to a campaign
number aren't received; members should text your main number. See [Which
Number Your Calls Come From](/docs/guides/phone-numbers/which-number-your-calls-come-from).
Campaign Kind and Number Service [#campaign-kind-and-number-service]
Campaign kind and number service have different jobs:
* **Voice AI campaign on an AI-serviced number**: the campaign's AI answers.
* **Voice AI campaign on a softphone-serviced number**: human agents ring. If
after-hours routing to AI is enabled, the campaign's AI answers outside
business hours instead.
* **Agent Queue campaign**: its attached softphone destination rings during
business hours. Outside business hours, careCycle speaks an after-hours TTS
greeting and hangs up.
An Agent Queue campaign is created as either an **Outbound dialer** or an
**Inbound desk**, and that direction cannot be changed later. Direction
controls the campaign's primary workflow, not whether its numbers can receive
calls. Both directions need an attached softphone destination before
activation, and both route inbound calls through it. An outbound dialer also
requires Pulse before activation; Pulse is optional for an inbound desk.
A **hybrid receptionist** is a Voice AI campaign whose softphone number routes
directly to humans during business hours and to AI after hours. Hybrid describes
the answering path; it is not a separate campaign kind. Its direct inbound
calls use the destination's **Human-agent call fallback > Incoming calls**
settings, including **Offer a callback first**. An AI-controlled transfer uses
the separate Voice AI transfer fallback.
Agent Queue Inbound Sequence [#agent-queue-inbound-sequence]
During business hours, an inbound Agent Queue call uses the exact enabled
softphone destination attached to the campaign. That destination owns the
agents, ordering, timing, screen behavior, callback policy, and unavailable messages.
Only eligible Available agents enter the sequence. Priority rules can put the
customer's assigned agent or most recent softphone agent first. The destination
then orders the remaining pool with Linear, Balanced, Weighted, or Grouped
routing. Regardless of strategy, agents ring one at a time. Each agent can ring
for 5 through 30 seconds, and the whole sequence can wait 10 through 120
seconds. The overall limit can end routing before every agent is tried.
Auto Answer immediately joins a routed call for an Available agent when the
agent enabled it or the organization enforces it. It bypasses the normal need
to click **Answer** or **Claim**, so the ring timers do not delay that call.
If nobody is eligible, fallback begins immediately. If agents are eligible but
nobody accepts, fallback begins when the pool or overall wait limit is
exhausted.
Voice AI and Agent Queue Fallbacks [#voice-ai-and-agent-queue-fallbacks]
Softphone destinations distinguish a Voice AI transfer attempt from inbound
and outbound Agent Queue calls. Select the settings for the actual call path:
| Call path | Applicable fallback |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Voice AI campaign transfers to the destination** | **Voice AI transfer fallback** supplies appointment booking, an alternate phone number, or no additional action when the transfer cannot reach an agent. This is not the number's initial-answer configuration. |
| **Customer calls an Agent Queue number or a hybrid receptionist's direct-softphone inbound line** | **Incoming calls** offers an eligible callback or plays the destination's business-hours unavailable message. If no callback is scheduled, the message plays and the call ends. |
| **Agent Queue dialer reaches a person but cannot connect an agent** | **Outgoing calls** can offer a callback on the no-agent abandonment path. Otherwise careCycle's system-managed no-agent message plays. This is not the campaign-configured answering-machine message. |
An inbound call to an outbound campaign's number is still an inbound call and
uses the inbound settings. An outbound Pulse follow-up from an inbound desk
uses the outbound settings. These Agent Queue paths do not use the Voice AI
transfer fallback.
Outside business hours, an Agent Queue campaign skips agents and the callback
offer. It uses the destination's after-hours unavailable message. Blank
destination fields inherit the matching message under **Settings > Organization >
Softphone Settings > Unavailable messages**, then the system default for that
time window.
For Agent Queue inbound fallback, careCycle speaks the selected text-to-speech
message and hangs up. It does not record or store a caller message.
Callback Offers [#callback-offers]
An Agent Queue or hybrid direct-softphone inbound caller can be offered a callback only when all
eligibility checks pass: the campaign is active, the exact destination and
routing configuration are still enabled, callback offers are enabled on that
destination, the call is inside business hours and outside the closing buffer,
the callback number and customer are valid, the customer is not on Do Not Call,
and no callback is already pending for that campaign and number.
No input or a different digit can replay the prompt up to five times, with a
7-second digit wait per play. Without acceptance, the inbound call proceeds to
the unavailable message and hangup. After acceptance, careCycle
rings an agent first and dials the customer only after the agent accepts. This
accept-first callback exception does not use AMD. Normal outbound Agent Queue
Pulse calls remain dial-first and always use AMD before any agent rings.
The routing limit is a maximum for trying agents, not a hold queue. When no
agent is eligible, careCycle proceeds directly to the callback offer or
unavailable message. A caller's callback request is separate from a successful
conversation with a representative.
For call investigations, use recorded disconnect attribution and fallback
reason. A completed provider leg or an answered greeting does not establish a
human connection. Historical calls without disconnect evidence remain unknown;
neither a disposition label nor the call duration proves who hung up.
See [Requested Callbacks: Accept-First](/docs/guides/run-your-team/agent-queue-campaigns#requested-callbacks-accept-first)
for eligibility, timing bounds, and retry behavior.
Receptionist Modes [#receptionist-modes]
For the main number, the **Receptionist** page provides two common topologies:
* **AI Receptionist** uses an AI-serviced number, so Cora answers.
* **Direct Routing** uses a softphone-serviced number, so your configured
human pool rings. When after-hours routing to AI is enabled, Cora answers
outside business hours.
See [Configure Your
Receptionist](/docs/guides/getting-set-up/configure-your-receptionist) and
[Business Hours and
Holidays](/docs/guides/answer-every-call/business-hours-and-holidays) for those
settings.
Where to Go Next [#where-to-go-next]
Choose the main-number topology and after-hours behavior.
Manage the numbers owned by your organization and campaigns.
Learn the dial-first outbound flow and accept-first callback exception.
Configure the pool, sequence, handoff, screens, and fallback policy.