Phone not ringing

Symptom

People call your number but your desk phone, the Webphone or your mobile app doesn’t ring. Callers may hear ringing, a message, voicemail, or the call may just end.

Start by calling the number yourself from a mobile and noting what you hear.

On a free trial?

Until your identity is verified, only internal calls work, so calls from outside numbers won’t reach you. See Your free trial.

Quick checks

1. Is it everyone or just one person? If nobody’s phone rings, start with the call flow (causes 1 and 2). If only one person is affected, start with their device (causes 3 to 6).
2. Is the device online? On the PBX tab, open Devices and check its status.
3. Is Do Not Disturb on? Look for the DND status in the Webphone or on the desk phone’s screen.
4. Is there a known outage? Check Support › Network status.

Likely causes and fixes

1. The change wasn’t applied, or a path isn’t connected

Nothing you change on the PBX canvas affects real calls until you click Apply configuration. If a path isn’t connected, the call usually ends at that point.

Fix:

• Open the PBX tab. If Apply configuration can be clicked, there are unapplied changes. Click it.
• Follow the line from the Inbound number to the users. Check every path is connected, including the after-hours path of Time conditions and the state of any Call flow control switch.
• Check the number is in the Included numbers of an Inbound number object.

2. The call is going somewhere else on purpose

Calls can be routed away from a user without anyone noticing:

• Time conditions sends calls down the after-hours path. Check the Time zone and the hours.
• A Call flow control object was switched to the other state, for example by someone dialling its internal number.
• The caller’s number is on a Blocklist or the Global blocklist. Blocked callers hear a busy tone.

3. The device is offline

A browser, desktop or SIP device must show Online in Devices to ring. The Webphone mobile app always shows as online, so this check doesn’t tell you whether a phone is reachable.

Fix: see Device offline. For the Webphone in a browser, keep the Webphone tab open and signed in.

4. Do Not Disturb is on

• Webphone: use the DND switch to turn it off.
• Desk phone or Microsoft Teams: dial * followed by the user’s internal number (for example *1003) to turn DND on or off.

5. The device or user is turned off for these calls

• In the User settings under Device configuration, check Incoming calls is on for the device.
• In a Queue or Ring group, check the user’s Membership is on. Users can switch themselves out of queues in the Webphone.

6. The phone rings too briefly, or another device answers first

• Ring time is set per device on the User, and per user in a ring group or queue. If a user’s own ring time is shorter, theirs is used. Increase it if calls move on before anyone can answer.
• With the Linear ring mode, devices ring one at a time. The device you’re watching may not be first.
• If a mobile is added as an External number, its own voicemail can answer the call. Turn on Need to accept a call after the answer on the external number.

7. The Webphone rings but you don’t see or hear it

The browser or computer may be blocking notifications or sound. Allow notifications for the Webphone in your browser, and check the call notification setting in the Webphone. See Webphone notifications and ringtone and Webphone troubleshooting.

8. Numbers you’ve just ported

If the number has only just been ported to your account, see Numbers not working after porting.

When to contact support

If calls still don’t ring, create a support ticket with:

• the number that was called, and the number you called from;
• the date and time of a test call (with your time zone);
• what the caller heard (ringing, busy, a message, silence);
• which user and device should have rung, and the device type (Webphone browser, desktop app, mobile app, desk phone model);
• whether it affects everyone or one person, and what you’ve already checked.