Let's take a look at Local Presence in Dialpad.
Who can use this feature?
Local Presence is available to Dialpad Sell customers on the Pro and Enterprise plans.
Purchase Local Presence
From Dialpad.com, navigate to Admin Settings > Office > Office Settings > Local Presence.
Local Presence is available through three purchase options:
- Top 100 Metro Areas: Covers around 80% of the U.S. population
- Individual Phone Numbers: Get a single phone number important to your business
- Complete Package: Covers around 98% of the U.S. population
Choose a purchase option, then follow the purchase flow to successfully add Local Presence to your Dialpad account.
Plan on choosing the Top 100 Metro Areas purchase option? Select View Coverage Areas and you'll see a list of area codes and cities defining this purchase option's coverage areas.
Once you've chosen a bundle, the Local Presence's coverage area appears and indicates the coverage area. You can also purchase single numbers to use.
Enable Local Presence for a Call Center
From Dialpad.com, navigate to Admin Settings > Call Centers > Advanced Settings > Call Settings.
Use the Call Center Caller ID drop-down and select Local Presence. You'll only see this if the Call Center is assigned with at least one number.
If you want the agent to be able to choose whether they make an outbound call based on the call center's main DID or utilize local presence, click on the Allow agents to toggle local presence on and off checkbox (see above image).
Use Local Presence as a Call Center Agent
From the Dialpad app, select the Call button and choose the appropriate Call Center from the New Call From drop-down.
Keep in mind that you don't need to choose a specific number assigned to the Call Center. As long as the Call Center's caller ID is set to Local Presence by an Admin, all numbers assigned to the Call Center will allow Local Presence to work automatically.
Local Presence uses the best-available number from the purchase option chosen. As the call takes place, you'll see a special label indicating the number used by Local Presence.
Notice that it matches the area code of who's being called. As seen above, a number already assigned to the Call Center may be used anyway if the recipient of the call uses a number with an area code matching or neighboring the Call Center's.
If you've enabled the option allowing agents to toggle local presence, the agent will be able to change the outbound caller ID from the Your caller ID displays as… option by selecting Change.
As the call takes place, the agent will see the proper caller ID chosen.
Use Local Presence in Coaching Teams
You can also apply Local Presence to Call Center Coaching Teams. From the Dialpad app, go to your Admin Settings and click on Coaching Teams. Scroll down until you reach Local Presence and click on the checkbox to use Local Presence numbers for members of your Coaching Team.
Select the Allow members of the Coaching Team to toggle local presence on and off option if you want the trainee to be able to choose whether they make an outbound call utilizing local presence, or their personal DID.
Coaches may want to enable this feature so that trainees who have established a relationship with a customer or client can call that person using their personal DID instead of Local Presence, as their personal DID may be more recognizable.
Using Local Presence as a trainee
From the Dialpad app, the trainee should ensure that the New Call From dropdown menu is set to their DID. If the option to toggle the Local Presence is not enabled, the trainee's outbound calls will automatically utilize the local presence numbers. If Toggle Local Presence on and off is enabled, the trainee will be able to modify the outbound caller ID from the Your caller ID displays as option by selecting Change.
If you want to place a call to a contact found in the Recents tab or in a contact search, you can now choose which number to call from within the Call icon dropdown menu.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if someone calls back?
If the recipient of a call makes a call back to the Local Presence-based number, it'll be routed to the Call Center. Dialpad attempts to reach the Agent who made the outbound call first, then routes to another agent.
For Coaching Teams, if the recipient of an outbound call returns the call by dialing that Local Presence-based number, it'll be routed to that agent's voicemail. However, if they dial a Local Presence-based number that did not originate from an agent, the call will be routed to the main line voicemail.
What happens if a rep calls a number whose area code is not part of the number bundle I’ve purchased?
If the area code being dialed is not in the Local Presence number bundle, Dialpad will try to find a nearby area code in your purchased bundle based on LATA (Local Access and Transport Area). This lookup occurs automatically when a call is placed, and if no suitable area codes are available in the bundle, Dialpad will default to the Call Center area code.
What should I do if Local Presence reads 'unable to allocate number for this area'?
We may run out of area code-specific numbers from time-to-time, but you may reach out to our Support Team and request additional numbers to satisfy the need.
What happens if a rep calls into an area with overlapping area codes, such as a dense metro area?
Local Presence will automatically choose the area code that is part of the bundle that you’ve purchased, thus the outbound area code might not exactly match the area code being called. For example, when dialing a 646 area code in Manhattan the outbound number might show as the 212 overlapping area code.
What does 'Dynamic Caller' mean in call logs?
An inbound call back to a local presence phone number will be labeled as 'DynamicCaller' in the call logs. There is no charge for outbound calls that appear as normal outbound calls from the Call Center.
What happens if someone text messages a local presence number?
We do not SMS on local presence numbers