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How do I forward missed Dialpad calls to an answering line?

In Dialpad, go to Your Settings, Call Handling & Voicemail, Show Advanced Options, set the Ring duration (30 seconds by default), and under “Advanced missed call routing” choose “To a team member / room phone / external number” with the answering line. Calls you do not pick up in that time go to it.

Two cautions from Dialpad’s help pages, read on 31 Oct 2026. Transfers outside the company are off by default as a fraud precaution, and Dialpad does not say whether your own missed-call routing needs them switched on (Main Line routing to an outside number needs a call to Support first). And forwarded calls can carry a “press 1” prompt that cannot be fully turned off, which an automated answering line may not get past.

Updated Oct 31, 2026

How it works

  1. Set missed-call routing on your line

    Dialpad.com, Your Settings, Call Handling & Voicemail, Show Advanced Options. Set the Ring duration, then under “Advanced missed call routing” choose To voicemail, To a message, To a team member / room phone / external number, or To a department. Pick the external number and enter the answering line.

  2. Check outside transfers are allowed

    Transfers outside the company are off by default (a fraud precaution). An admin enables them under Office Settings, Making Calls; on some plans you have to ask Customer Care.

  3. For the Main Line, ask Support first

    Admin Settings, Office, Main Line, Business Hours & Call Handling, Edit Call Routing, Ring Duration. The “No operator” options include “To a team member/room phone/number”, but sending to a number outside Dialpad needs a call to Dialpad Support first.

  4. Check the press-1 prompt

    Dialpad’s “Answer Forwarded Calls” prompt asks whoever answers a forwarded call to press 1. It keeps unanswered calls out of a mobile’s voicemail and cannot be fully turned off. An automated answering line may not press 1, so test the whole path.

  5. Test it before you rely on it

    Call your business number from another phone and let it ring without answering. The call should reach the answering line after the ring time. If you set busy forwarding, call again while the line is in use, and if you set unreachable, try once with the phone switched off.

What it costs to run

Dialpad’s pages read on 31 Oct 2026 state nothing about cost for forwarding to a US number. They say personal calls forwarded to an international number are charged (dialpad.com/rates), and one cost note covers calls an automated menu sends outside:

ItemList priceSource
Calls an automated menu forwards to an outside number“May incur outbound usage or per-minute charges depending on your plan or contract”Dialpad Help, IVR External Number Company SettingRead on Oct 31, 2026

Third-party list prices, read on the date shown. They are not Betterlane prices.

When it is not worth it

  • Do not use a forwarding number (Your Devices) for missed calls: Dialpad rings forwarding numbers at the same time as your Dialpad number, not after it, so an automated answering line could pick up before you do.
  • A Yealink desk phone’s own forwarding is Always Forward only, applies to user devices only and is turned off on the phone itself; it is not a missed-call setting.

Questions

What ring duration does Dialpad use?

Seconds, set per line: 30 by default for a user line, a Main Line or a Department, 45 for a room phone and 10 for a Contact Center.

How do I stop forwarding to a number?

For a forwarding number: Your Settings, Your Devices, Forwarding Number, Remove. For missed-call routing, choose another option under Advanced missed call routing.

What happens during a Dialpad outage?

Dialpad says a user’s line fails over to the most recently verified forwarding number.

How many forwarding numbers can I add?

Up to five. Each is verified by a call where you press 1.

Sources

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