An 8x8 Contact Center dial plan specifies how to interpret phone number sequences dialed by an agent using the phone tab, click-to-dial (or through API), and how to convert them into an ITU-T E.164 normalized outbound dial string. Dial plans can be used to include country codes and area codes, support extension-based dialing, correct the numbers from an external entity, and more.
Dial plans take numbers dialed by users, or numbers originating from other 8x8 Contact Center components such as: IVR callback, web callback, click-to-dial, workplace phone, etc., and apply editing rules to yield one of the following:
- A valid global public phone number (known as E.164)
- A valid PBX number
- A call disallowed message number
- A warning tone generating number
Dial plans change the interpretation of dialed digits within a tenant to correspond to familiar national, local, or private phone switch dialing conventions. A dial plan establishes the expected number and pattern of digits for an outbound phone call, and validates the agent-dialed sequence. It consists of a collection of calling number patterns and treatment pairs. When a user dials a series of digits, each calling number pattern in the dial plan is tested as a possible match. If the agent-dialed sequence matches a pattern, corresponding treatment applies. The treated sequence is then transmitted to initiate a call or rejected as invalid.
For example, the dialing sequences to reach the Crystal Jade Restaurant in Shanghai, China from home phones in the United States, United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Beijing use different leading digits:
- New York City, USA dials 011862163858752 → North American Dial Plan = +862163858752
- London, England dials 008621 6385 8752 → UK National Dial Plan = +862163858752
- Abuja, Nigeria dials 009862163858752 → Nigerian National Dial Plan = +862163858752
- Beijing, China dials 02163858752 → Peoples Republic National Dial Plan = +862163858752
In each case, a different national dial plan is used to remove the local prefix digits and restore the country code when necessary to yield an unambiguous international number.
Previous releases
8.4 Release
The following features and capabilities are added in this release:
- Ability to use private PBX numbers
- Ability to change the order of the custom rules
- Ability to use system variables and user-defined variables
- Dial plan editing results are no longer automatically prefixed with a plus (+) sign. All prior dial plans are automatically adjusted to compensate for the plus (+) sign change.
Backward Compatibility:
-All prior dial plans are automatically adjusted to compensate for the plus (+) sign change.
-The original International Numbering Plan (ITU-T E.164) allowed any digit sequence starting with a plus (+) sign to pass through without any digit modifications. The updated equivalent dial plan now includes E.164 number validity checks along with some special and premium number blocking. In some cases, users of this plan may experience a change of behavior if their customary dialing included non-E.164 number patterns.
8.1 Release
The following features and capabilities are added in this release:
- Ability to create and apply multiple dial plans within the same tenant:
You can apply dial plans for each agent based on their location. If your contact center employs agents in different countries, you can create custom dial plans suitable for each country and apply the appropriate plan to agents. Each agent can dial from their familiar national dialing plan. Until now, you were limited to applying a single tenant-based dial plan to all agents based in different countries forcing them to manually dial out.
Similarly agents in different domestic offices may have different dialing privileges or different in-house PBX, or in-state local dialing preferences which can be addressed using per agent dial plans. - Ability to apply dial plans to an agent’s dial out, verification call, forward to external call, and more:
Tenant Dial Plans apply to the Make Verification call, web callback, or IVR forwarding a call to external number scenarios. In these scenarios, the outbound calls must be dialed as defined in the ITU-T E.164 specification. For example, in the United States, the number +1 (650) 292-8618 can be dialed as 6502928618, and in the United Kingdom, the number +44 (0) 2088524140, can be dialed as 2088524140. - Ability to apply dial plan editing to calls beginning with +:
Dialing inputs regardless of the originating calling method (agent, agent profile, click-to-dial, campaigns, and web callback) are subject to dial plan editing including those beginning with "+". - Ability to select a desired dial plan during click-to-dial or web callback:
The click-to-dial and web callback APIs accept a new optional parameter to select a particular dial plan or if omitted applies the tenant default dial plan. These APIs cannot dial numbers without, at a minimum, filtering the number through the tenant default dial plan or a specific dial plan. No more API exposure to allow any number to be dialed without restrictions. -
The dial plan now applies to all outbound calls:
Call Type Default Dial Plan Overriding Dial Plan Agent dial Tenant dial plan Agent dial plan Click-to-dial Tenant dial plan Dial Plan specified as API parameter Web callback Tenant dial plan Dial Plan specified as API parameter Verification call Tenant dial plan Agent dial plan Forward to external Tenant dial plan N/A Campaign call Tenant dial plan Dial Plan specified in properties - Ability to associate agents with a custom dial plan based on their location
