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A dial plan decides what happens when someone calls your practice: which phones ring, what callers hear after hours, and where unanswered calls go. You build it in a visual, drag-and-drop editor by connecting steps into a flow.
This guide walks you through creating your first dial plan and building a typical dental office setup: ring the front desk during business hours, and send after-hours callers to a message with an option for emergencies.
Before you begin
A dial plan points to things you set up elsewhere in the portal. Create these first so they're ready to pick from when you build your flow:
Users for everyone who should receive calls (Directory > Users).
Ring Groups for teams that answer together, such as a Front Desk group (Telephony > Ring Groups).
Schedules for your office hours, plus any lunch closures (Telephony > Schedules).
Audio Clips for greetings and messages, such as an after-hours greeting (Telephony > Audio Clips).
Shared Voicemails for boxes your team checks, such as a Front Desk voicemail (Telephony > Shared Voicemails).
If you forget a schedule, you can create one from inside the editor: the Schedule step's dropdown includes a + Create new... option.
Viewing dial plans
Click Dial Plans in the sidebar under Telephony in the Voice portal. Each dial plan appears as a card showing a preview of its call flow, its name, and its extension number.
Use the toggle in the top-right corner to switch between card view and table view. To delete a dial plan, click the trash icon on its card.
Creating a dial plan
On the Dial Plans tab in the Voice portal, click the New Dial Plan button in the top-right corner
Enter a Name that describes what the plan does, such as "Main Line" or "After Hours"
Optionally, change the Extension. The portal suggests the next available number, and you can keep it
Click Create
The dial plan editor opens with a single Start node on the canvas. Start is where every incoming call enters the flow.
Getting around the editor
The editor has three areas:
Node library (left): the steps you can add to a call flow. Drag one onto the canvas to add it.
Canvas (center): your call flow. Each node has small dots called handles. Drag from an exit handle on one node to another node to connect them.
Settings panel (right): opens when you click a node or a connection. Set up the selected item here, or click the trash icon to remove it.
Along the top, you can rename the plan, change its extension, use Auto Layout to tidy the canvas, and Save your work. Use the +, –, and fit-to-screen buttons in the bottom-left corner to zoom.
To remove a connection, click the line between two nodes, then click the trash can icon in the Connection panel.
Node types
Each node is one step in the call. Exits are the paths a call can take out of a node; connect each exit to the next step.
Node | What it does | Exits | Common use case |
Schedule | Checks a schedule and routes based on whether you're open | Open, Closed | Send calls one way during office hours and another way after hours |
Internal Extension | Rings a user, ring group, call queue, or another dial plan | No Answer (after the timeout) | Ring the Front Desk ring group |
External Number | Rings an outside phone number | No Answer (after the timeout) | Reach the on-call dentist's cell phone |
Ring All | Rings every user in the account at the same time | Timeout | Small offices where anyone can answer |
Plays a prompt and routes by the key the caller presses | One per option, plus Timeout and Invalid | "Press 1 for a dental emergency" | |
Plays a recording, then continues | Next | Holiday or closure announcements | |
Voicemail | Sends the caller to a shared voicemail box | None, the call ends here | Front Desk voicemail |
Hang Up | Ends the call | None | End the call after a closing message |
Tip: Connect every exit to a next step, usually voicemail, so no caller hits a dead end.
IVR Menu
An IVR Menu plays a prompt and routes callers by the key they press, like "Press 1 for a dental emergency." Click the node to set:
Prompt: the audio clip callers hear.
Timeout: how many seconds to wait for a key press, from 1 to 30.
Options: up to 12 keys (0–9, *, or #), each connected to its own next step.
Each option gets its own exit. There are also two backup exits: Timeout, for callers who don't press anything, and Invalid, for callers who press a key that isn't an option. You can send these to another step or back to the menu to replay the prompt.
Audio Clip
An Audio Clip plays a recording, then continues to the next step. Use it for announcements such as holiday closures or office moves. Click the node and choose a clip from the Audio Clip dropdown, then connect its Next exit. If you leave Next unconnected, the call ends after the clip plays. Learn how to create Audio Clips.
Example: Building your main line
Most dental offices need the same basic flow: ring the front desk during office hours, send unanswered calls to voicemail, and give after-hours callers a way to reach the on-call dentist in an emergency.
During office hours, calls ring the front desk. After hours, callers choose between the on-call dentist and voicemail.
Before you start, make sure you have a Business Hours schedule, a Front Desk ring group, a Front Desk shared voicemail, and an after-hours greeting audio clip. Your greeting should say the office is closed and ask emergency callers to press 1 and everyone else to press 2 to leave a message.
Step 1: Check your office hours
Drag a Schedule node onto the canvas
Drag from the handle on the Start node to the Schedule node to connect them
Click the Schedule node. In the settings panel, choose Business Hours from the Schedule dropdown
Step 2: Ring the front desk when you're open
Drag an Internal Extension node onto the canvas
Connect the Schedule node's Open exit to it
Click the Internal Extension node and select your Front Desk ring group. Set the timeout to how long phones should ring before the call moves on
Step 3: Send unanswered calls to voicemail
Drag a Voicemail node onto the canvas
Click it and select your Front Desk shared voicemail box
Connect the Internal Extension node's No Answer exit to the Voicemail node
Step 4: Greet after-hours callers
Drag an IVR Menu node onto the canvas
Connect the Schedule node's Closed exit to it
Click the IVR Menu node and choose your after-hours greeting as the Prompt
Add two options: 1 for emergencies and 2 for voicemail
Step 5: Route emergencies to the on-call dentist
Drag an External Number node onto the canvas
Click it and enter the on-call dentist's phone number and a ring timeout
Connect the IVR Menu's 1 exit to the External Number node
Connect the External Number node's No Answer exit to the Front Desk Voicemail node
Step 6: Send everyone else to voicemail
Connect the IVR Menu's 2, Timeout, and Invalid exits to the Front Desk Voicemail node. Callers who don't press anything, or press the wrong key, still get to leave a message.
Step 7: Save
Click Auto Layout to tidy the canvas, then click Save. A "Dial plan saved successfully" message confirms your changes.
Variations:
Lunch closures: Between the Open exit and the Internal Extension, add a second Schedule node using your Lunch schedule. Route its Closed exit to voicemail or a lunch message.
Holidays: On the Business Hours Schedule node, check Route holidays separately. You can then send holiday calls down their own path, such as an Audio Clip with a holiday message. If you leave this unchecked, holiday calls follow the Closed exit.
No emergency line: Replace the IVR Menu with an Audio Clip that plays your after-hours greeting, then connect its Next exit to voicemail.
Renaming a dial plan and changing its extension
Open the dial plan from the Dial Plans page. Click the pencil icon next to the name at the top of the editor to rename it. To change the extension, edit the Extension field next to the name.
A dial plan's extension lets other steps reach it. For example, an Internal Extension node in one dial plan can send calls into another dial plan.
Tips
Save often. The Save button is only active when you have unsaved changes.
Ring a group, not everyone. Ring All rings every user in the account, including clinical staff chairside. A Front Desk ring group keeps calls with the people who answer them.
Give every path an ending. Trace each exit on the canvas and make sure it reaches a person, voicemail, or an intentional Hang Up.
Keep ring times short. Send unanswered calls to voicemail rather than letting phones ring for a long time.
Test your flow. After saving, call your practice number during and outside office hours to confirm each path works.