We expect everything to be near-instant, from how fast a website loads to how quickly we receive payments to our ability to reach the right person when we call a business.
Fast service, self-serve options, an easy-to-understand phone menu: these are baseline expectations when people call a business. And phone extensions make it easy to meet these expectations.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to add an extension when you call a business from your phone. If you’re running a business, we’ll cover why it makes sense to create extensions for your employees.
If you’re not sure how to add an extension to a phone number in your contacts, it’s easy. To add an extension on an iPhone, you dial the number, press and hold the * key, then dial the extension. On an Android, you’ll press ⋮ to go into the settings and select Add a 2-second pause, then add the extension. When calling a business line with an automated phone menu, follow the prompts to dial an extension.
How to add an extension to a phone number
Phone extensions are short, numerical codes added to the main numbers of a business. Extensions are typically one to four digits and when dialed, connect the caller directly to a person or department.
For example, if you want a way to connect callers directly with customer support, you could add an extension of “1.” Callers would dial your main telephone number, and then press “1” to connect to customer support.
The steps below explain how to dial an extension using an iPhone, Android, or phone menu. If you’re trying to set up business phone extensions, keep reading — we’ll cover that in the next section.
Adding an extension on an iPhone
If you’re dialing from an Apple iPhone, you have two options to add an extension to your call.
You can dial the full number and then press and hold the asterisk (*) key. A comma will appear after the number, and you’ll dial the extension and hit the call button.
Alternatively, you can dial the number and press and hold the pound (#) key until it turns into a semicolon (;). Then, dial the extension and hit the call button.
Adding an extension on an Android
When calling from an Android phone, dial the number on your keypad and then press ⋮ to access the settings. You’ll see a few options — select Add 2-sec pause. Then, dial the extension and press the phone dialer.
If you don’t know a person’s extension or you’re calling from a phone other than an iPhone or Android, you can use a phone menu to dial an extension. You’ll call the main phone number and listen to the menu, also known as interactive voice response or IVR. Businesses should set up their phone menus so you can hear your options (e.g., “press 1 for Customer Support, press 2 for Sales,” etc.).
Once you know the extension you want to dial, press the corresponding numbers on your phone. Some phone menus will let you enter an extension at any time rather than listening to all options.
Set up phone extensions in OpenPhone in minutes
If you’re an OpenPhone customer, it’s easy to set up phone extensions for your employees or departments.
- Go to Settings in the workspace, tap Phone numbers, and select your main business phone number.
- Scroll down and select Phone menu.
- Under Menu options, select the key (from 0-9) and choose the destination from the drop-down menu. You can also add voice commands that customers can use, such as “Sales,” to reach the sales team.
- Don’t forget to record a greeting that introduces your phone menu (such as “Hi, thank you for calling. For Customer Support, press one…”). To do this, navigate to Greeting message, select Change greeting, and choose Upload a file, Record, or Text to speech.
Essential tips for setting up phone extensions for your business
- Keep your extensions simple. If your customers listen to a phone menu, you don’t want them to be confused by your extension options. They might also become annoyed if they have to listen to a long list of options in your phone menu.
- Inform your team. Make sure everyone knows the available phone extensions so they can help customers who might need assistance.
- Focus extensions on the most common reasons you need to route phone calls. For example, if customers commonly call and ask to speak to Service, add an extension for that department.
- Keep tweaking your phone extensions as needed. Update your menu options when you add a new department or you’re constantly relying on call routing from customer service to one person (like a billing person).
Pro tip: If your team sends emails, you can include phone extensions in the email signature. That way, customers can easily locate a phone extension for future communications without listening to your phone menu.
5 Signs your business needs phone number extensions
If you’re running a small business, you may not need phone number extensions right from the start. But eventually, extensions will make it easier for your customers when they call your main number.
If you’ve experienced one (or more) of the following, it might be time to implement phone extensions.
1. Your team works in different locations or remotely
Phone extensions seamlessly connect your customers with the right department or person — regardless of location. Rather than having different business phone numbers for different locations, customers can call the main number and easily reach the right person.
With OpenPhone, phone calls can be answered through the app on a cell phone. This means dialing an extension could connect a caller to an employee who is on the go (such as working in the field).
2. Your team is spending a lot of time routing calls
If a person or department has a high call volume and you don’t use phone extensions, you’ll need someone to answer the phone and route the calls. This costs time with every incoming call — time that could be spent doing more meaningful work.
Once you set them up, phone extensions automatically route customers where they need to go.
3. Your customers often wait on hold
No one likes to wait on hold, and it creates a poor customer experience. If you use phone extensions and an automated attendant, customers can quickly connect without needing to wait.
4. You need to set up self-service options
When you set up your phone greeting and make customers aware of available phone extensions, they can self-serve. Not only that, but you can include frequently requested information — like your business hours — in your pre-recorded greeting.
You can include something like “press 0 to speak to a representative” so customers can quickly reach someone to help them if they aren’t sure which option to choose from the menu.
5. You want to appear more professional
You may want to have a person answer the phone if you’re running a solo business or only have one or two employees, but a phone menu with extensions makes your business appear more professional. It gives the impression that your operation is larger and more organized — even if behind the scenes, you use call forwarding to route calls to a department of one.
Quickly route customers with phone extensions in OpenPhone
Customers form impressions every time they interact with your business. Once they know the available extensions, you can expect them to use the extensions to reach the right person more quickly. If they know how to add an extension to a phone number, they may even save it with your business’s contact information in their phone to save more time.
OpenPhone lets you easily set up your business phone menu and extensions for each phone line. When you set up an extension for a department, the call can simultaneously ring to multiple employees, regardless of location. Team texting, shared inboxes, and shared voicemail make it easy for anyone within a department to reply to a customer’s questions. You can also use collaboration features like internal threads to solve customer questions as a team.
Check out OpenPhone’s team collaboration features and more by signing up for a free trial.
FAQs
Phone extensions are assigned to individual employees or departments. After calling a business’s main telephone number, the caller enters the extension (a short, numerical code) that directs the call to the right place.
Companies with on-premises hardware (like desk phones or another type of landline) use PBX systems to set up extensions. In contrast, virtual numbers can be used to set up phone numbers and phone extensions for employees in any location. You can easily scale with virtual numbers since you don’t need hardware to set up additional numbers as your business grows.
Some extensions are direct extensions, which allow the caller to route to a specific individual within the organization. Other extensions use ring groups, which will ring the call to multiple people internally (such as an entire department). Some companies also use phone extensions as conference bridges, which allow people to dial the extension and join a conference call.
Your Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone system’s configuration will allow you to designate the extension and the intended recipient, whether it’s an individual or a department. Once configured, any caller who dials an extension will be routed according to your settings.
Yes, on an iPhone, you can dial the full number and then press and hold the asterisk (*) key. A comma will appear after the number, and you’ll add the extension. You can save this information to your cell phone contacts.
