Night service in telephony is a feature of
private branch exchange
A business telephone system is a telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing the range of technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX).
A business telephone system differs from ...
s and other business telephone systems, whereby for a set period during the day (usually those hours outside of normal office or work hours, when normal operator services are not provided), all incoming calls are automatically redirected by the
switchboard to a specific extension or to equipment such as an
answering machine
An answering machine, answerphone, or message machine, also known as telephone messaging machine (or TAM) in the United Kingdom, UK and some Commonwealth countries, ansaphone or ansafone (from a trade name), or telephone answering device (TAD), ...
or other
voice mail
A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows callers to leave a Voice recording, recorded message when the recipient has been unable (or unwilling) to answer the Telephone, phone. Calls may ...
system.
In systems without
direct inward dial
Direct inward dialing (DID), also called direct dial-in (DDI) in Europe and Oceania, is a telecommunication service offered by telephone companies to subscribers who operate private branch exchange (PBX) systems. The feature provides service for m ...
capability, all calls for a large organisation originally were placed to the facility's main number, where a
switchboard operator
In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated syste ...
or attendant would ask which extension or department the caller intended to reach. The call would then be transferred manually. As soon as the front office closed for the day, the system would be unusable for inbound calls.
Night service would redirect after-hours calls to a desk where personnel remained on duty overnight, such as a
night watchman's duty station or a commercial
answering service
A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...
. An
automated attendant
In telephony, an automated attendant (also auto attendant, auto-attendant, autoattendant, automatic phone menus, AA, or virtual receptionist) allows callers to be automatically transferred to an extension without the intervention of an operator/ ...
may also be used to retain inbound calling to individual extensions after a live attendant goes off duty.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Service
Services marketing
Telephony