Phone extension

What is a phone extension?

A phone extension is a short business number, which you dial to reach an individual or department. Typically, it consists of a handful of digits.

An extension phone option enables everyone in your business to easily connect to each other. It’s also a way for customers to reach specific team members without being subjected to lengthy auto attendant menus. Many large businesses identify phone extensions as essential to daily internal and external communications.

You can also link extension numbers to marketing campaigns and determine their success by gathering meaningful phone system insights.

How to set up a phone extension number on Dialpad

As we mentioned, Dialpad Enterprise plan customers receive phone extensions as standard (plus local phone numbers and unlimited office locations).

To set up your office phone extension, login to your Dialpad account and head to Admin Settings > Office > Users. Then follow these steps.

1. Select Options > Calling > Add Extension for each team member.

2. Enter a four or five-digit extension number, then go ahead and Save.

3. When you need to add or edit extension numbers, duplicate the steps above and choose Edit Extension instead of Add Extension. If you want to remove phone extensions entirely, select the Remove Extension option.

To locate an individual team member’s extension number, simply direct them to User Settings > Profile.

To enable outside callers to reach your team members via extension, you’ll need to be on Dialpad’s Enterprise plan and have assigned extensions to your users.

Don’t call it a phone system: Get more than just phone extensions with Dialpad

Bonus feature: Click-to-call

You can also use the click-to-call feature, found in Dialpad’s extension for Chrome, to make calls even more easily. Other names for this are click-to-dial and click-to-talk.

This feature provides you with a phone service inside Chrome, enabling you to click phone numbers on a website to make a call. Functioning in real time and using VoIP technology, it can drive time savings within your business.

All you need to use this feature is a Chrome browser, together with a Mac or Windows desktop or mobile device.

Dialpad’s click-to-call integrates with your CRM system, too, which your sales agents will love. It lets them launch outbound calls with a click, and see customer information in one place when they’re talking to them.

To use click-to-call from Chrome, navigate to your Dialpad account and select Settings > Extensions > Dialpad Extension > Details.

Choose Extension Options > Use this Dialpad app to place all calls. Then make your selection from either the desktop app, web app, or Chrome app.

Once you’ve completed these steps, this extension option will be your default choice for placing calls using the click-to-call feature from Chrome.

Click-to-call can be a powerful addition to your business. From driving conversion rates to saving agent call time, it’s worth checking out.

The benefits of adding a VoIP phone extension for your business

Better use of VoIP system features and resources

Implementing VoIP phone extensions (also known as Direct Inward Dialling or DID), minimises the number of lines assigned to your business and takes up less bandwidth.

This is because VoIP technology grants each team member a virtual phone number without requiring their own physical phone line. VoIP phone extension numbers can be used with any premium-rate, local, toll-free, or mobile number.

VoIP phone extensions are a useful addition to forward-thinking businesses that need to scale staff up and down depending on the season. During busy periods, you can add new phone extensions for each new team member. During quieter times, you can easily remove these using Dialpad’s intuitive dashboard—no IT experience required!

More convenient communication for internal use

Businesses with distributed teams benefit from phone extensions, as they make it much easier to get hold of team members quickly.

However, smart communications platforms like Dialpad have click-to-dial features too, so you can just click a team member’s name in the app to call them, removing the need for manual calls. With Dialpad, remote teams can make and receive calls from anywhere and on any device (desk phone, mobile phone, laptop, you name it) using extensions.

You can also send instant or SMS messages and conduct video meetings—all from the same place.

Enhanced call management processes and better customer interactions

Being able to connect customers directly to the team member or department they want to talk to is customer service 101.

When inbound callers can route themselves, your business’s phone lines remain free and there’s no need for a switchboard, which is a win-win.

Provide a direct line to team members and departments in the UK with an extension number

For popular departments within your business, like billing or customer service, your main call routing menu will have things covered.

For businesses with fewer inbound calls or more niche departments, a phone extension option may be a better choice. One use case for this is individual team members that need to receive direct calls from customers or prospects.

With Dialpad, all Enterprise plan customers get virtual phone extensions at no extra cost. To manage internal and incoming calls more easily, get a product demo of Dialpad to see how it works.