Preparing Your Service Number for the Holidays: How Do You Do It?

Every year has its peak moments, periods in which the hustle and bustle for companies increases significantly. Take December, for example, a month full of Christmas dinners, festive gatherings and the relaxed holiday atmosphere. But behind the scenes, for many organizations it is precisely a period of hectic, with a peak in appointments and orders.
In these busy times, a well-functioning service number can make all the difference. In this article, we show how the free functions of Belfabriek can relieve your telephone department and prepare it for the holidays, so you can focus on what is really important!
Set the Holiday Calendar
When you register your service number, we ask you to provide your opening hours. The Weekly Plan that results from this ensures that calls outside office hours are also handled perfectly. We have already shown how this works.
In addition to this plan for a regular working week, you can set what your opening hours are during special weeks such as those in December. You do this with the Holiday Calendar, which you can find in My Belfabriek under Number settings. For new customers of Belfabriek, one of our employees will always contact you after activation to go over the ‘special days’ with you.
Once you have set up your organization’s Holiday Calendar with us, you can use the following free features to determine what callers will hear or be able to do on those days.
Play an absence message
Tell callers that your telephone department is closed and, importantly, when you will be available again with the “Closed” text. Under Number settings on My Belfabriek you activate this function and you can upload your sound recording (WAV or MP3).
You can also record your message via our special telephone number 0900-6353835. Contact us to request your personal code for this.
Let callers leave a message
To avoid missing important conversations and unique opportunities, make your Closed text a little more interactive. With the voicemail, you give callers the opportunity to leave a message. You will receive the recording immediately afterwards at the desired email address, so you can take immediate action if necessary. Set this function up in time via My Belfabriek.
Other possibilities
Besides setting up the Opening Hours Schedule and the Holiday Calendar, there are other functions with which you can handle callers during the holidays. These functions are also free and you can activate them immediately.
Connect callers to another number
Do you want to continue receiving calls to your service number or have you hired a call center that can handle them for you? On My Belfabriek you can easily change the number to which callers are forwarded. Under Number settings in the top right of your screen, click on the link Destinations.
Receive SMS updates
Does an external call center answer your phone calls during the holidays? If calls are not answered despite this, our billed per year in advance (€150) is a handy function. This way you can intervene immediately when necessary.
Receive updates by email
Similar to the SMS updates above, but by email, which allows us to send you more detailed information. At the desired email address, you will receive info about unanswered or non-forwarded calls.
You can have both the SMS alert and the E-mail alert activated by our customer service. The telephone number can be found below.
We are happy to advise you
Do you have any questions about the above or would you like to receive advice about your personal situation? Have you requested a telephone number from us and do you want to know more? We are happy to think along with you. Call us for this on 0800-BELFABRIEK (0800 - 23 53 227).
Frequently asked questions
A quick way to explore how everything works and what to expect.
The Holiday Calendar is used to set specific opening hours that differ from the regular work week, for example during the holidays in December.
Playing an absence message is intended to inform callers that the telephone department is closed and when they will be available again.
If you activate the voicemail, callers will receive a message that they can leave a message, which will then be sent to the desired email address.
The option to forward callers to another number is in ‘My Belfabriek’ under ‘Number settings’, at the link ‘Destinations’.
On our rates page you can find everything about our different packages. Our cheapest package is on an annual basis, which is billed per year in advance (€150). The other two packages are billed per month.
Sound recordings can be uploaded as WAV or MP3 files in ‘My Belfabriek’, or recorded via the special telephone number 0900-6353835.
You can ask questions about how to best set up the holiday calendar for your specific situation and how to make optimal use of the various functions.
By changing the number to which callers are forwarded in ‘My Belfabriek’, you can forward the calls to an external call center.
You can receive notifications from your service number remotely by having the SMS alert or the E-mail alert activated by the Belfabriek customer service.
For more information about the functions of the service number, you can look in ‘My Belfabriek’ or contact the Belfabriek customer service. Also if you want to know more about the type of telephone number that best suits your company, let us know!