Most accounts have access to a local inbound hotline number, which can be loaded with a message that residents can hear when they call the number. The most widely used application of this feature is to use the hotline number as the caller ID for voice alerts and load the hotline number with the outgoing message. That way, people can call the number that was used to call them, to hear the message again. This can be useful in case the recipient did not hear or understand the entire message the first time.
This guide is designed to walk you through the methods of updating the message attached to your local inbound hotline.
First Method: Manually loading
This method allows you to load the hotline without sending a message. Even if you intend to send a message and load a hotline at the same time (Second Method) we recommend looking at this method so you know how to change the hotline message later if need be.
Step 1: Create a voice message that you would like people to hear when they call the hotline number.
Step 2: Once created, hover over "Alerting," then click on “Manage Inbound Hotline(s).”
Step 3: Click “Configure” next to your Local Inbound Hotline (you may have other hotlines as well in your account, but we find people prefer to call back a number if it is a local number as opposed to a toll-free, 800 number).
Step 4: Check the Active button if not already checked, select the message you wish to load in the “Open Message” field.
Step 5: Click "Save Changes"
By default, a hotline is always “open.” However, it is possible to assign “Business Hours” to a hotline, so when someone tries to call the hotline number while the “Business” is closed, the hotline will play the “Closed Message” instead of the “Open Message.” This feature is entirely optional.
Step 6: Call the hotline number yourself to confirm that the message was changed to your liking.
Note: The message(s) do not expire in the hotline. It will play the same message until the message is changed, removed, or the hotline is deactivated.
Second Method: Automatic loading upon alerting
It is possible to have Swift911 update your hotline message as you are launching an alert.
It is highly recommended that you make the Caller-ID for the voice message the same as the hotline number when using this method. This way, when people call the hotline number back, they will hear the same message they just received.
Step 1: Hover over Alerting, and then click “Create Alert Wizard.”
Step 2: Follow the procedure for the Create Alert Wizard until you reach its second step.
Step 3: Select (at minimum) the voice message you wish to send and attach to your hotline, and click “View Syndication Options.”
Step 4: Select your Local Inbound Hotline from the hotline drop-down menu, and select “Use Voice Message.”
Step 5: Follow the rest of the Create Alert Wizard steps as desired to launch or schedule the alert! Upon launch, the voice message used will overwrite the current Local Inbound Hotline’s “open” message.
Note: If you wish to change the hotline message without launching an alert, you’ll need to use the first method in this guide. Also, the message does not expire in the hotline; it will play the same message until the message is changed, removed, or the hotline is deactivated.