Manage a Main Line

Companies are given a Main Line number when they sign up with Dialpad. This number serves as the go-to number for your entire business —multiple team members (called operators) can place and receive calls from this number. 

Let's look at how to manage a Main Line in Dialpad.

Main line settings

To update your main line information and settings, head to your Admin Settings from Dialpad.com

1. Navigate to the Office Settings
2. Select Main Line 

Here, you'll see the option to rename your main line, and add an abbreviation representing it across Dialpad. Both the main line's name and its abbreviation can be changed at any time.

In this section, Dialpad also lists any local, toll-free, and fax numbers associated with the main line.

Select Add A Number or Add a Fax Number to add additional lines to your account.

Assigned operators & phones

Assign users as operators to make and receive calls on your Main Line. You also have the option to add a room phone in environments, such as a reception desk, where you want a shared phone to ring.

Business hours & call routing

In the Business Hours & Call Routing section, define when your business is open and closed, as well as how calls are handled. It also serves as the area for you to set the main line's time zone.

Choose for the main line to take calls 24/7, or set it to receive calls only during specific (normal or split) business hours. From there, it's important to set call routing rules.

Dialpad also offers the ability to set unique holiday hours, which will override your office's normal business during the designated date(s).

Mainline call routing

Ensure calls are routed to the right team every single time. Your routing settings are completely customizable and can be updated at any time, based on your company's needs. 

To customize your inbound call routing preferences, first, head to your Admin Settings at Dialpad.com and navigate to Office Settings

1. Select Main Line
2. Navigate to Business Hours & Call Routing
3. Select Edit Call Routing
4. Navigate to Call Routing 

Dialpad offers the following routing options:

Operators

• Longest Idle - Agents are rung individually based on whoever has been idle the longest
• Fixed Order - Agents are rung individually based on the same fixed order 
• Round Robin - Agents are run individually on a rotating fixed routing 
• Simultaneous - All agents are rung at once 

Other routing options

Select Other Routing Options if you prefer to route calls to voicemail, an IVR menu, or another contact center or voicemail. 

Other routing options offer the following choices:

• Directly to voicemail: Agents receive notifications when voicemails are left
• To a message (no voicemail): Default or custom message
• To another Department or Contact Center: Choose another department to send calls to
• To a team member/room phone/number: Choose another team member, room, phone, or number (including outside Dialpad; contact our Support Team first) to send calls to
• To an automated response menu: Options include dial by name directory (Office), dial by extension directory, dial by name directory (Company), forward to a department/contact center/office, forward to a person or number, leave a voicemail, recorded message, operator, and disabled 
  • If you forward to another department or contact center using an automated response menu, you can choose one that is located in another office within the entire company.
  • By default, calls will end if the caller doesn't choose an option after hearing the menu twice. To avoid this, set one of the options as the default instead  (this also applies if you've set one of the options to ring operators and the operators do not answer).
  • When using the automated response menu, the recorded Message that plays is uninterruptible, and all DTMF entries will be ignored. When the recorded message is completed, the call will return to the same automated response playing the initial greeting.

Mainline welcome greeting

1. Navigate to Business Hours & Call Routing
2. Select Edit Call Routing
3. Navigate to Open Hours Welcome Greeting
4. Upload or record your new greeting, then select it from the drop-down menu 

Mainline ring duration

Set the perfect ring duration for your mainline — keep in mind that every 15 seconds equals about 4 rings.

To customize your inbound ring duration, first, head to your Mainline Settings

1. Navigate to Business Hours & Call Routing
2. Select Edit Call Routing
3. Navigate to Ring Duration
4. Slide the toggle to the desired number of rings you'd like callers to hear  

Your new ring duration will be applied instantly and will be reflected in both open and closed hours 

Hold queue settings

If all operators are busy on other calls, send callers to a hold queue.

To enable your hold queue and customize your queue settings, first, head to your Mainline Settings

1. Navigate to Business Hours & Call Routing
2. Select Edit Call Routing
3. Navigate to Hold Queue

Turn on and off the hold queue by ticking the check box Enable the hold queue

Once enabled, customize the maximum hold queue size, maximum wait time, and even the queue greeting (ie your elevator hold music). 

Changes made here will be reflected instantaneously in both open and closed hours.

Fallback options

Choose what happens to the calls when no operators are available during business hours.

Dialpad offers the following fallback options: 

• Directly to voicemail
• To a message (no voicemail)
• To another department, office, Contact Center or geographic router
• To another team member, room phone or external number 
• To an automated response menu

To set your fallback options, first, head to your Mainline Settings

1. Navigate to Business Hours & Call Routing
2. Select Edit Call Routing
3. Navigate to Fallback Options

Mainline voicemail

Set a voicemail greeting that your clients will hear if your fallback option is directly to voicemail or leave a voicemail as in an automated response menu. 

To set your mainline voicemail, first, head to your Mainline Settings.

1. Navigate to Business Hours & Call Routing
2. Select Edit Call Routing
3. Navigate to Voicemail Greeting (it's at the bottom)

Here, you have the option to use Dialpad's default voicemail greeting, to record your own greeting, or even upload an audio file.

To hear your current voicemail greeting, select the blue play arrow.

If you're recording a custom voicemail greeting, it must be 45 seconds or shorter in length.

You can always rename or delete a voicemail greeting after listening to it. If you're uploading an MP3 file, it cannot be any larger than 10 MB.

Hold music

Set hold music to play for callers on hold on your main line. Dialpad lets you choose from several different audio clips, or you can upload an audio file to customize the hold music as your own.

Dialpad Ai

Enable Dialpad AI on the main line. You can set Ai to start automatically, turn on or off at the discretion of operators, and show real-time transcripts when a call or conference begins. 

Integrations

Dialpad offers many different integrations to ensure you get the most out of your time. Enable integrations on Dialpad for your main line.

Advanced settings

Take even more control over your main line with these advanced settings:

• Automatic Call Recording
• Call Waiting (for Operators)
• Department Failover Number
• Spam Blocking

Frequently asked questions 

What is my main line number? Why did I get two numbers when I signed up?

When you sign up for a Dialpad account, we automatically give you a free local Main Line number which cannot be removed. This number is considered your company's phone number that your callers can call to reach out to any operator assigned to your mainline.

The second number you receive is your direct Dialpad number, which callers would use to reach out to you directly. 

Don't like the numbers you were assigned? No problem — in fact, you'll have the option after you finish the sign-up flow to port in an existing local or toll-free number.

How can I change my mainline number?

To change your main line, you'll need to add a new number and then remove the old one (your prior Main Line number). You'll also need to delete the removed number from the reserved pool to avoid any charges for that line.