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What are the different dial plan nodes?

    Use the following dial plan nodes to customize the experience your customers have when calling your company and to reduce the number of phone numbers needed.

    Important: Please excuse our mess while we improve your admin experience! We are in the process of migrating all accounts to the new GoTo Admin. The article below is meant for admins who use PBX Administration (classic) at https://my.jive.com/pbx. If you're an admin who uses GoTo Admin at https://admin.goto.com, please refer to: What do the dial plan nodes do?
    Note: There is a new version of this visual dial plan editor in GoTo Admin with many new and improved features! Even if your account uses PBX Administration (classic) you can still use the new and improved dial plan editor by signing in with your admin credentials at https://admin.goto.com and selecting Phone system > Dial plans.
    Dial plans are based on routing rules. A node represents one rule or step in the routing process. All nodes are located in the library or left-navigation menu of the dial plan editor.
    Dial Plan Nodes Library
    Table 1. Dial Plan Nodes
    Node Description
    Auto Attendant Plays a recorded sound clip providing dialable options to the caller. Dialable options can be numbers, #, *, or any combination of these. Based on the option chosen, the caller is routed to different call paths.
    • Allow Extension Dialing: Allows the caller to dial their party's extension at any time. If the extension matches a dialable option, the dialable option will take precedence over the extension.
    • On timeout: Routes the caller to this call flow if they do not dial an option during the timeout period.
    • On invalid: Routes the caller to this call flow if they dial an invalid option.
    Caller Info — Coming soon! Allows you to add, remove, or reset skills for each option in an auto attendent. These skills coordinate with the skills assigned to agents in a call queue and enable you to use Intelligent Call Routing.
    Check Voicemail Routes the caller to the voicemail menu. From this menu, they can authenticate to the system and access their voicemail box.
    Conference Room Routes the caller to a conference bridge.
    CRM Integration Dynamically routes the caller to the contact owner by matching the caller ID with the phone number in Zoho CRM.
    Detect Fax Tells the system to listen for a fax tone. If a fax is detected, the call is intercepted and sent to a virtual fax machine. You must place this node as the first step in the dial plan. Not available in Brazil and Mexico.
    Directory Routes the caller to a dial by name directory to search for their party's extension.
    External Number Routes the caller to a local, long-distance, or international phone number.
    • Confirm Call Pickup: Gives the option to dial 1 to accept an incoming call or 2 to send it to the next step in the dial plan.
      Tip: Confirm pickup is helpful when a ring step includes an external number as it can interrupt your dial plan. For example, when a cell phone is turned off, calls go straight to the cell phone's voicemail box. Without confirm pickup, the voicemail would answer the call and prematurely end the ring step. Enabling confirm pickup allows the call to re-route back to the next ring step.
    • Pass Through Caller ID: Controls which caller ID is displayed for ring steps that include external numbers.
      • When enabled, the caller ID of the original caller is displayed.
      • When disabled, the line's External Caller ID is displayed.
    Note: If a Modify caller ID node is placed prior to this node, the modified caller id may not display. Display to an external number is determined by the phone number carrier such as AT&T, Verizon, etc.
    Hang Up Ends the call.
    HTTP Notify This node is advanced and requires third-party software and development on your end.Sends notifications to a remote web server through a URL (https is supported). This allows an event in your phone system to trigger an action on a remote system. The URL you provide will be hit with an HTTP POST as calls ‘pass through’. Multiple variables are available, some of which are also included in the post body. Sample use cases include:
    • Trigger a remote application to generate a “screen pop” notification.
    • Trigger an email/SMS message in real-time.
    • Allow supplemental real-time call logging.
    Warning: Traffic will not be sent across non-standard ports.
    Table 1. URL Variables
    URL Variable Description
    CALL_ID Unique string of characters used to identify the call (in POST Body = Y)
    CALLER_ID_NAME Caller’s name (in POST Body = Y).
    CALLER_ID_NUMBER Caller’s number (in POST Body = Y)
    CNAM Caller’s name (in POST Body = N)
    CNUM Caller’s number (in POST Body = N)
    DIALED_NUMBER Number the caller dialed (in POST Body = Y)
    DNIS Number the caller dialed (in POST Body = N)
    PBX_ID ID of the PBX receiving the call (in POST Body = Y)
    Example URL
    https://www.example.com/call_notification.php?caller={CALLER_ID_NUMBER}&dialed={DIALED_NUMBER}
    • This example URL passes the caller ID number and the dialed number to a remote web server located at www.example.com.
    • The variables in curly brackets { } are replaced with their actual value. For example, if a call to 801-555-0123 was placed from 909-555-0111, the URL would become:
    https://www.example.com/call_notification.php?caller=9095550111&dialed=8015550123
    Jump To Dial Plan Routes the caller to a different dial plan. This helps segment out dial plans into simple, discrete sections while still allowing for complex call flow setups.
    Leave Voicemail Routes the caller to a voicemail box.
    Note: If a line or ring group uses an alternate mailbox for voicemail, this node will still route the caller to its extension-specific voicemail box, not the shared voicemail box. To route the caller to a shared voicemail box, select it from this node.
    Line & Voicemail Routes the caller to a line where the user’s Find Me/Follow Me settings are followed. If the user has not set up their Find Me/Follow Me settings, the line will ring for 20 seconds and then go to voicemail.
    Modify Caller ID Prepends the caller ID of the incoming caller and then immediately routes the caller to the next step in the call flow. This modified caller ID displays on the device(s) for all subsequent steps in the call flow.
    Note: The modified caller ID may not display when dispatched to an external number that is not a part of your phone system. Display to an external number is determined by the phone number carrier such as AT&T, Verizon, etc.
    Password Restricts the caller access to certain call paths. To advance to the next node, the caller must dial the correct password. If the caller dials the incorrect password, the “Access Denied” message will play.
    Play Sound Clip Plays a sound clip and then immediately routes the caller to the next step in the call flow.
    Queue Routes the caller to a call queue. The caller will wait in the queue for the next available agent or until the timeout value expires.
    • On timeout: Routes the caller to this call flow if no agents answer during the timeout period.
    • On escape: Routes the caller to this call flow if they dial *.
    Receive Fax Routes the call to a virtual fax machine and then ends the call flow. If you would like a dial plan to detect a fax tone before going to another step, use the Detect Fax node. Not available in Brazil and Mexico.
    Remote Call Control
    Note: This node is advanced and requires third-party software and development on your end.
    Sends requests to the specified URL address and waits for a command back from that URL identifying the destination extension (used to integrate with third-party call management systems). If there is no response from the URL after two seconds, the call will be routed to the next step in the dial plan. If the destination extension is invalid, the call will be routed to the failover destination for the line. The extension can be given as the extension number (e.g., 1234) or as the extension ID (e.g., 014953cc-025a-c471-8e89-000100620002, the last ID in the URL on the extension’s page). The extension number or ID should be the only text in the response and should not be surrounded by quotes. Sample use cases include:
    • Route calls to a sales agent based on information in a CRM.
    • Route calls to a support agent that has been working on a ticket with a customer.
    • Route calls based on the area code of a caller.
    Table 2. URL Variables (included in POST body)
    URL Variable Description
    CALL_ID Unique string of characters used to identify the call.
    CALLER_ID_NAME Caller’s name (if available).
    CALLER_ID_NUMBER Caller’s number.
    DIALED_NUMBER Number the caller dialed.
    PBX_ID ID of the PBX reciving the call.
    Example URL
    https://www.example.com/get_call_routing.php
    • This example URL passes the call information to a remote web server located at www.example.com.
    Require User Group Restricts the caller access to certain call paths. To advance to the next node, the caller must belong to a specific user group. If the caller does not belong to the user group, the “Access Denied” message will play.
    Schedule Routes the caller to a different call flow based on a defined schedule. Custom holiday schedules can be created to automatically let your callers know you are closed then added to a dial plan with this node.
    Set Language Changes the language of system IVR messages (e.g., voicemail menu prompts) for all subsequent steps in the call flow.
    Simple Dial Routes the caller to a line or ring group for the specified timeout period. This node ignores any Find Me/Follow Me settings set up on a line.
    Stop Detect Fax This node is no longer supported.
    Wait Inserts a period of silence or ring tone to the call flow.
    • Ring During Wait: If checked, the caller hears ringing while waiting. Otherwise, the caller hears only silence.