If your support line is a mess of missed calls, long hold times, or endless transfers, you’re not alone. The good news: automated call routing can save your team’s sanity and your customers’ patience. This guide is for anyone running a support desk—whether you’re the accidental admin or the designated IT person—who wants to set up real, useful automation in Dialpad without the headaches or hype.
Let’s get straight to it.
Why bother with automated call routing?
Here’s the reality: Most customers just want to talk to the right person, fast. Manual call handling slows things down and annoys everyone. Automated call routing, set up right, can:
- Send callers to the team or agent who can actually help them
- Cut down on time-wasting transfers
- Make sure no one falls through the cracks (or voicemail black hole)
But it’s not magic. If you overcomplicate your routing, you’ll create new problems—like callers stuck in endless menus or agents getting calls they can’t solve. This guide will help you skip those pitfalls.
Step 1: Get your basics in order
Before you touch any settings in Dialpad, get clear on:
- What types of calls do you get? (Billing, tech support, sales, etc.)
- What teams or people handle each type?
- What hours are you open? You’ll need this for after-hours routing.
Make a quick list. Don’t assume you know—ask your folks who answer the phones what really happens.
Pro tip: If you have a small team, resist the urge to carve things up into a dozen queues. Simpler is almost always better.
Step 2: Set up your main line in Dialpad
Assuming you’ve got admin access, log in and:
- Go to “Admin Settings.”
- Under “Office,” click “Main Line” (or create one if you haven’t already).
- Set your main business hours and after-hours rules.
You’ll use this main line as the starting point for all incoming calls.
What works: Dialpad’s interface is pretty straightforward, and most settings are in plain English.
What to ignore: Don’t get lost in the weeds with ring duration settings or obscure call handling rules just yet. Focus on the basics first.
Step 3: Map out your call flows
Now, decide how you want calls to move. This is where most people overcomplicate things. Keep it simple:
- Press 1 for support, 2 for billing, 3 for sales
- Or, if you’re small, maybe just “Press 1 for support, or stay on the line for all other inquiries”
Use a whiteboard, sticky notes, or just a rough sketch. The point is to see the flow before you build it in Dialpad.
Pitfall to avoid: Too many options in your menu. Every extra choice means more confusion for callers and more maintenance for you.
Step 4: Build your IVR menu
Dialpad calls this feature the “Call Routing Menu” or “IVR” (Interactive Voice Response). Here’s how to set it up:
- In your main line settings, find the “Call Routing” or “IVR” section.
- Click to “Add a menu option.”
- For each option, choose:
- The key the caller presses (1, 2, 3, etc.)
- Where the call should go: a specific person, a team, a department, or even a voicemail box
You can also set up a “default” route for people who don’t press anything—or who press the wrong button.
Pro tip: Record your own greeting instead of using the robotic default. Keep it short: “Thanks for calling. For support, press 1. For billing, press 2. To speak with an agent, press 0.”
Step 5: Set up departments and routing rules
If you have more than one team (say, support and billing), create Departments in Dialpad:
- Under Admin, click “Departments.”
- Add new departments for each functional group.
- Assign users/agents to each department.
- Set up each department’s hours and voicemail handling.
For each department, decide:
- Should calls ring everyone at once (“simultaneous ring”)?
- Or should they ring people in a set order (“round robin”)?
- What happens if nobody picks up? (Voicemail, escalate, or forward)
What works: Simultaneous ring is faster for small teams; round robin can help spread the workload in bigger groups.
What doesn’t: Don’t let calls go to voicemail as the default. People hate it. Always try to route to a live human first.
Step 6: Test everything—don’t trust the settings
Once your routing is set up, call your own number and try every menu option, every after-hours scenario, and every “wrong button” press.
- Use a checklist: Did each call go where it should?
- Try during business hours and after-hours
- Test what happens if you don’t press anything
Pro tip: Get a couple of non-technical coworkers to try it. If it’s confusing for them, it’ll be confusing for your customers.
Step 7: Monitor and adjust
Let it run for a week or two, then check your analytics in Dialpad:
- Are calls getting answered?
- Are people hanging up before reaching someone?
- Is one team overloaded while others are bored?
If you see bottlenecks or unhappy callers, tweak your routing. Sometimes the fix is as simple as changing the menu greeting or adding one more person to a department.
What to ignore: Don’t obsess over every single missed call. Focus on patterns, not outliers.
Step 8: Set up failover and escalation (optional, but smart)
Things go wrong. Maybe your internet dies, or everyone’s in a meeting. Use Dialpad’s fallback options:
- Set calls to forward to a backup number or mobile phone if nobody answers
- Escalate to a manager after X missed calls
Just don’t build an endless chain of forwards—eventually, callers need a clear answer or a voicemail.
Step 9: Keep your setup lean
It’s tempting to keep adding options, departments, or fancy greetings. Resist. The more complex your routing, the more likely something will break—or confuse your callers.
If you’re not sure whether you need a feature, leave it out. You can always add it later.
Pro tips for smooth call routing
- Update your team: Let support agents know how the routing works and who’s responsible for what.
- Keep greetings short: Callers tune out long intros. Say what they need to do, then get out of the way.
- Review every quarter: As your team or call volume changes, your routing should, too.
- Avoid “press 9 for more options”: Most people just hang up.
What automated call routing won’t fix
- Bad staffing: If you don’t have enough people, no menu can save you.
- Untrained agents: Routing gets people to the right place, but they still need the right answers.
- Cranky callers: Even the best system can’t make everyone happy. But it can make things less painful.
Keep it simple and iterate
Automated call routing in Dialpad isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to overthink. Start simple—just enough routing to solve real problems. Test it, see where things break, and adjust. And remember: the best system is the one your customers barely notice because it just works.