Deployment blueprint
One plant running two shifts, an attached office, a purchasing team on the phone with suppliers all day and a PBX that cannot be switched off overnight. This blueprint shows how 3CTel designs shift-based routing, floor reach and a staged transition for a manufacturer.
For a manufacturing plant with an office, 3CTel configures routing that changes with the shift schedule, gives supervisors and maintenance staff rugged cordless handsets and the mobile app so they can be reached on the floor, sets up direct lines for purchasing and shipping, and connects the existing PBX by SIP trunking so extensions move to the cloud in stages. A safety line reaches the shift supervisor first and escalates if unanswered.
Deployment blueprint: a representative, anonymized scenario compiled from how 3CTel implements this kind of organization. No client is named and no result figures are stated; every parameter is a configuration choice we design with you.
A plant runs a day shift and an afternoon shift with a maintenance crew on weekends. The front office keeps normal hours. Suppliers call purchasing about deliveries and invoices; customers call shipping about orders; carriers call the dock. The people who most need to be reached, the shift supervisor and the maintenance lead, are rarely at a desk and cannot hear an overhead page over the line.
The existing PBX has been in place for years. It cannot be removed in a weekend, and the plant cannot go without phones while extensions are moved. Fax is still used for some supplier paperwork.
Shop-floor paging, cordless handsets and order lines for plants and distributors.
Learn more: Manufacturing & DistributionReliable calling with routing your team will actually use.
Learn more: Business PhoneCarrier-grade SIP trunks for the PBX you already run — channels, DIDs and failover sized to your traffic.
Learn more: SIP TrunkingRouting is built around the shift calendar rather than office hours. Each shift has a named supervisor ring group, and the schedule switches which group answers the plant line. The office line follows its own hours.
Conceptual illustration of the 3CTel interface — not a screenshot
| When | Then |
|---|---|
| A call arrives on the main number during office hours | Main menu offers sales, purchasing, shipping and reception; reception answers callers who wait |
| A call arrives on the plant line during day shift | The day supervisor group rings on cordless handsets and the mobile app; unanswered calls go to the maintenance lead |
| The afternoon shift begins | The schedule switches the plant line to the afternoon supervisor group without anyone changing settings |
| A supplier calls purchasing after office hours | The AI agent takes the PO number, delivery detail and callback number, and emails the transcript to purchasing |
| A carrier calls the dock | The dock cordless handset rings; if unanswered, shipping's desk phone rings, then voicemail with transcript |
| The safety line is dialled | The on-shift supervisor rings first; after 20 seconds the plant manager and maintenance lead ring together; the call is logged |
Decide who answers, in what order, and what happens when they cannot.
Learn more: Call routingOne incoming call rings several phones at once or in sequence; the first to pick up takes it.
Learn more: Ring groupA plan for every call that arrives after closing, on a weekend or on a holiday.
Learn more: After-hours callsDECT or Wi-Fi cordless handsets carried by supervisors and maintenance, with base stations placed for coverage across the floor and the warehouse. Handsets are assigned to the role, not the person, and handed over at shift change.
Supervisors who prefer their own phone install the mobile app; the plant line rings the handset and the app together, and outbound calls show the plant number.
A call to 'maintenance' rings every maintenance handset at once. The person who is free answers. Nobody has to walk to a wall phone.
A short text to the shift group from the office ('line 3 down, call back') reaches everyone carrying the app without interrupting a call.
Phones and headsets that arrive ready to plug in.
Learn more: DevicesWho needs a handset, who needs an app, and how to give each person the right one.
Learn more: Desk phone vs softphoneText from the number customers already call — as a team, not from a personal phone.
Learn more: Business SMSThe AI agent is scoped narrowly. It answers the purchasing and customer-service lines when nobody is available, takes structured messages and, where the automation platform is connected, looks up a purchase-order status to read back. It does not commit to delivery dates, prices or changes to an order.
The existing PBX is connected to 3CTel by SIP trunking on day one. Inbound calls arrive on the trunk and can be routed either to a PBX extension or to a cloud user. This lets the office move first, then the plant, then the warehouse, with the PBX shrinking each time until it is turned off.
Numbers stay on the PBX at first; the SIP trunk replaces the existing lines and gives the cloud platform control over inbound routing.
Office users get desk phones or the desktop app and are moved off the PBX. Calls between cloud users and PBX extensions still connect over the trunk.
Cordless handsets and the mobile app replace wall phones. The shift schedule routing goes live.
When the last extension moves, the trunk is removed and the PBX is decommissioned. Fax lines are already on online fax.
Carrier-grade SIP trunks for the PBX you already run — channels, DIDs and failover sized to your traffic.
Learn more: SIP TrunkingCanadian numbers and call paths for the PBX you already run.
Learn more: SIP trunkingAn internet connection between your own PBX and the public phone network, replacing physical lines.
Learn more: SIP trunkOwn the switch or rent it: ownership, maintenance, remote users and the path between them.
Learn more: Cloud PBX vs traditional PBXWhy the registered address matters, how it is confirmed at setup, and how to keep it current.
Learn more: 9-1-1 on VoIPWhat happens to calls during an internet or power outage, and how failover is planned with you.
Learn more: Service continuityWhen recording helps, how callers and staff are informed, and how access and retention are set.
Learn more: Call recordingCalls to the plant line by shift and outcome; time to answer on the safety line; supplier calls captured by the AI agent and returned by purchasing; dock calls answered versus sent to voicemail; office main-menu choices; PBX extensions remaining versus moved during the transition.
Ring groups replace paging. A call to the shift supervisor rings a rugged cordless handset and the mobile app at once, and whoever is free answers. Handsets are assigned to the role and handed over at shift change, so the number for 'day supervisor' always reaches the person on duty. Coverage is planned with base stations across the floor and warehouse.
Yes. 3CTel connects the existing PBX by SIP trunking first, which puts inbound routing in the cloud while extensions stay on the PBX. Departments are then moved one at a time, and calls between moved users and remaining PBX extensions still connect. The PBX is retired when the last extension moves, on a date confirmed with you.
The routing schedule is built from the production calendar instead of office hours. Each shift has its own supervisor ring group, and the plant line switches between groups automatically when the shift changes. Weekend maintenance windows and shutdowns are entered in advance, so nobody has to change settings at the start of a shift.
Shop-floor paging, cordless handsets and order lines for plants and distributors.
Learn more: Manufacturing & DistributionCarrier-grade SIP trunks for the PBX you already run — channels, DIDs and failover sized to your traffic.
Learn more: SIP TrunkingPhones and headsets that arrive ready to plug in.
Learn more: DevicesReliable calling with routing your team will actually use.
Learn more: Business PhoneDecide who answers, in what order, and what happens when they cannot.
Learn more: Call routingOwn the switch or rent it: ownership, maintenance, remote users and the path between them.
Learn more: Cloud PBX vs traditional PBXCoverage depends on the building. 3CTel plans base-station placement with you during the site review, and the mobile app on plant Wi-Fi or cellular acts as a second path where handset coverage is weak.
No. Many existing SIP desk phones can be re-registered to the cloud platform, and office staff who prefer a computer use the desktop app. Which phones can be kept is confirmed during planning.
Online fax gives purchasing and shipping a fax number that delivers to email and sends from the app. Supplier paperwork still arrives; the machine on the wall is retired with the PBX.
Yes. The escalation is built and tested on a temporary number before activation, and the sequence of who rings and after how many seconds is agreed with you in writing.
The shift calendar, the buildings and the PBX you have today are enough to design the routing, choose handsets and plan the move.
