Switching the line off

Switching a line off does not make it silent. A call to a line that is off is answered, given the same deterministic closed-line sentence in the business's own name, and closed with outcome line_off. Calls already in progress are not cut. Outbound follow-ups that would have used the line are refused with a reason and stay on the record rather than disappearing.

Status: Available What this means
Audience: both
Channels: phone
In the app: #/calls
Last verified: 2026-09-10
Product version: 6.3.2

Off is a spoken refusal#

The instinct behind an off switch is that nothing should happen. On a phone line that is the wrong behaviour, because the caller experiences "nothing" as a fault: they hear a connect and a drop, or ringing that never resolves, and they usually try again. Neither reaction is useful to the business, and neither leaves a record.

So an off line answers. The refusal brief carries closed_line_text, the worker plays it on a track of its own, posts refused_line and hangs up. The row is ended with outcome line_off. The caller has been told something true in a voice that belongs to the business, and the business can count how many people rang while it was off.

Off, closed, and not claimed#

State	Caller hears	Row and outcome
Line switched off	The closed-line sentence	`ended`, outcome `line_off`
Outside hours	The same sentence	`ended`, outcome `after_hours`
Inbound permission off	The same sentence, at every hour	`ended`, outcome `line_off`
Number not claimed by any workspace	Whatever the carrier does with an unhandled call	No row at all — there is no workspace to write one in
No worker has checked in	Ringing that reaches nothing	Refused as `not_ready` before a row exists, so the drain can retry

The first three are worth distinguishing in the record even though the caller cannot tell them apart. line_off says a person decided; after_hours says a schedule decided. Six months later that is the difference between "we were shut for the festival" and "people keep ringing at midnight".

What keeps running while it is off#

Calls in progress: They finish. Switching the line off changes what happens to the next call, not to the one somebody is on.
The call record: Refused calls are written, so the Phone screen keeps counting. An off line produces rows, not a gap.
Follow-ups: They stay due. A phone follow-up that cannot be placed is recorded with its refusal reason; it is not silently completed and not silently dropped.
Line health: The line stops being judged for conversations it was never going to have. Health findings drain themselves as their causes clear.
Other lines: Nothing. Off is a fact on one channel_routes row, so a second number in the same workspace carries on unaffected.

Turning it back on#

Set the line's status back to on.
Result The next call is answered as a conversation. Configuration is read per call, so nothing needs restarting.
Look at the line_off rows for the period it was down.
Result That is the list of people who rang and were turned away, with times and numbers where the caller was identifiable.
Check the follow-ups screen for anything closed as missed:.
Result Those are commitments that expired while the line was off, and they need a human decision rather than an automatic retry.

If the line was off because something was wrong rather than because the business was shut, the Phone screen's health section is the better first stop: a line that reports itself unhealthy names which of the four causes applies, and each of those drains on its own once fixed.

Questions#

Is switching the line off the same as setting the voice channel's autonomy to `off`?

No. Line status governs the number: whether calls on it are answered or placed. Autonomy governs what Connect may do without a person — so autonomy off on the voice channel stops Connect acting on the channel while the line itself may still be answered under other rules. They are set in different places and refuse different things.

Can I switch off just outbound calling and keep answering?

Yes, and that is usually the better switch. Inbound and outbound permission are independent fields on the line, so a line can answer everyone and call nobody, which suspends call-backs without turning away enquiries.

Does an off line still cost anything?

A refused call is short and is metered like any other call — the record is written and the cost booked from its own duration. It is far cheaper than a conversation, but it is not free, and a number being hammered while off is still worth noticing.