Large companies often assign certain identifiers to their employees for ease of communication. As a result, it turns out that the organization has a single correct number, but when you call it, you have to go through several steps. First, specify the reason for the call, select the category of the question or the name of the person. And secondly, you have to wait for a connection with the called party. This is extremely inconvenient, especially if you need to make several calls a day. That's why sometimes there is a question like this: but how to dial an extension on a smartphone Android? The answer is to use the standard instructions, which will be presented below and will work for all phones.
Extension number - what is it
Let's start with a little background, or rather a simple example. Let's say you make a call to the technical support of a certain service. Initially the operator or the answering machine picks up the phone, and then you are asked the reason for the call. Usually, on the keypad of your smartphone you need to select the number used to contact a particular specialist. This is the extension number that you enter without even knowing it.
If you need to make dozens of calls every day, it makes no sense to go through the same procedure all the time. You can remember the ID of a specific person in the company and then enter the extension number from your cell phone yourself. This gets rid of the answering machine, and you immediately get in touch with the right specialist.
Examples of using an extension on Android
Extension numbers are used by almost all companies with at least five employees. The client can call a regular phone, but his call will certainly be answered either by an operator or an answering machine. In the first case, you don't even have to press anything yourself, an employee of the technical department will automatically redirect you to the right specialist. And in the second case, you have to do everything manually.
To illustrate, let's look at a simple example. Let's assume that a large firm has several dozen employees. Dmitri is assigned an identifier 203and Oksana. 104. Now back to the official and only phone number of the office - +375295550505. For an ordinary person to call Oleg, all he has to do is put a comma after the standard number and enter the employee ID. You get something like this: +375295550505,203.
And if the call is made from a landline within the company, that is, one employee calls another, then the main number can not be entered. It is enough just to dial the code of the specific employee, after which the call will be made automatically. This is the principle of communication in more or less large offices.
The difference between an additional number and an additional number
And what is the difference between an extension and a supplementary number, because initially it may seem that these concepts are synonymous? In fact, the first term is the identifier of a specific employee in a company. It is added to the main phone number and is used for the answering machine or a real operator to redirect the client to the right specialist.
As for the extension number, it's just another company phone number that you can also call. For example, one office has both a mobile and a landline number for communication. And in this case, special codes can also be used to communicate with specific employees. If you go to the official website of any company, in the section with contacts you can see both the main and even several additional phones.
Contact add-on codes
If necessary, numbers with extension codes can be entered into the phone book of your smartphone. The app picks them up perfectly, and you shouldn't have any problems making a call. You can specify the names of the employees, and then add their identifiers to the main company number. In this case, you will be able to communicate even without access to a landline.
And it is possible to enter in contacts not only people from one office, but also from different departments. Let's assume that you often deal with issues with a certain bank employee who has his own unique code. But at the same time you periodically call the credit organization, and again to a specific person. For convenience, you can easily add these people to your phone book.
How to use an extension number
Entering an extension on your smart phone is no more difficult than doing it from your home phone. But before you do this, you need to find out which department you plan to call. You can find out this information on the company's official website, if there is one. Then there are two options:
- Manual dialer - The way when you initially dial the main number of the organization, wait to be connected to a live operator or an answering machine, and only then switch to the right employee. This option requires time, which is not always convenient, especially when making a huge number of calls.
- Automatic dialer - The way in which communication is done without third-party tools. Simply put, you initially specify the company number, but already with a special identifier of a particular office or employee. Additional elements are also used to skip the answering machine (comma or semicolon).
As you can see, the principle of using an extension number is standard. Remember, this is just a code for a certain division or employee within the same organization. And if the company is small, they may not use unique identifiers at all - each employee simply has his or her own personal cell phone.
Input methods on an Android phone
Dialing an extension number from an Android smartphone can be done in different ways, i.e. using two options: automatic and manual. In the first case, the connection is faster, because you do not need to specify the code of a particular employee after the beep. And in the second - the connection is made in the usual mode, where either the operator or the answering machine is involved.
Manual
Anyone can dial the extension number, as long as they know the main or additional contacts of the company. Usually the information you need can be found on the organization's official website, so you are advised to verify it before you make the call. Is everything ready? Then proceed to making the call, using the step-by-step instructions:
- Open the mobile app that you usually use to make calls. It can be either the official program, originally built into the firmware, or any third-party utility from Google Play.
- Switch to dialing by opening the virtual keyboard. If you don't know, you need to click on the appropriate icon located in the bottom panel.
- Enter the main or additional phone number of the company, taken from the official site. Recall that in this case no additional codes are required. Press the button to make a call (it is usually marked with a sign in the form of a telephone receiver).
- Wait for the call to be answered by a real operator or an answering machine. Listen carefully to the commands, and remember the codes of departments or employees you need. And then you enter a special combination and connect to the person.
Note that you should enter the extension only after the beep. If you do this before, the probability of successful communication with the called party tends to zero.
As practice shows, in large organizations specialists do not answer immediately, but only after a few seconds or even minutes. No one picked up the phone for an extended amount of time? It means that the company is not working today, or all the employees are simply busy with other things. Try calling again after one or two hours.
Automatic
Not used to waiting a long time? Then you can call the right employee without additional connection to an answering machine or a real operator. Before you do this, you will need to find out the unique number of the unit or person in the organization. As a rule, this information is not available on the official site, so you still have to make one call in manual mode. And after that, go to the step-by-step instructions, allowing you to dial the extension number immediately:
- We take the phone and open the application, through which all the calls are made.
- Open the virtual keyboard by clicking the appropriate icon.
- We enter the main phone number of the company, and then the code of the specific office or operator. Let's go into a little more detail on this point. Modern smartphones support calls with a pre-programmed outcome. For example, four seconds pass between the answering machine and the beep. So after the main number you need to put two commas (,,). And if the answer is a real person and it is difficult to calculate the exact time, then we use the waiting tool, which is activated by entering semicolons (;).
- To add the desired character, use the standard menu, which opens by clicking on the three dots. There will be two options: a two-second pause or wait. And if the device is obsolete, you can put a comma in a different way by holding your finger on the star-shaped button.
A manual test call will help you understand how much time passes between answering and entering a unique identifier. We recommend that you try to call the company beforehand, and only then proceed to using automatic dialing.
Dialing in tone (tonal) mode
All modern smartphones support dialing exclusively in tone mode, as this format of communication is the most progressive and convenient. If we consider the old city phones, they supported the work in two directions at once: pulse and tone. Back then, people had to manually switch the device depending on where they wanted to call. Now it is no longer necessary.
What is tonal mode
I wonder what the tone mode is, how does it work? To begin with, when dialing in the tone format, the analog signal is automatically transmitted to the PBX, which processes it. The main advantage of this mode is the ability to interact with all the telephone exchanges. Thanks to this, a person can make calls not only within the boundaries of one country, but also around the world.
About 20-30 years ago, the tone mode was not so developed, so people were actively using disc phones. And here the signal was already transmitted in the form of pulses, i.e. by means of consecutive closures. If you remember, when dialing a number you could hear distinctive clicks. It appeared that one click - the first digit was dialed, and five clicks - the fifth digit was dialed.
Speed dialing on Android
On a touchscreen phone, the option speed dial is not as much in demand, but it is still used by connoisseurs of comfortable communication. If you've forgotten what it means, let us remind you. To call a certain person you don't always need to look for him or her in the contact list. You can do something easier, holding your finger on a pre-selected key on the virtual keyboard. Do you want to set up this dialing format? Then use a simple instructions:
- Open the application that you always use to make calls.
- Go to the virtual keyboard to dial a number. Hold your finger on the specific button designed for quick dialing. Note that the number one is already occupied by voice calls, so you can't use it.
- A list of contacts appears on the screen, where all you have to do is select the person you want.
But there is another option, which is suitable for modern devices with Android 9 or 10. Here the speed dial mode is implemented in a more convenient way. You need to open the phonebook and go to the tab "Favorites". If you don't have any marked contacts yet, select "Set up speed dial". The system prompts you to select people from the list of saved callers. All you need to do is to click on a certain contact.
As a result, a round icon will appear with the added caller. If you click on it, the call will automatically start. And for more convenience, we advise you to move the icon of a particular contact on the desktop. Then you can make calls in seconds!
By the way, for more information on setting up speed dial, see here.
How to add and save an extension to your Android phone contacts
Planning to call a certain extension often? Great, then we recommend saving it in your phone contacts for convenience. This is done in the standard way, but we've put together a couple of instructions for clarity.
Through the pause method
As you remember, a comma icon is used to create a pause. This option is suitable if you initially use an answering machine for the connection. To save the extension number in the phonebook, we recommend that you pay attention to the following guide:
- Open the app to make calls.
- Go to the tab "Contact" or "Phone Book". It all depends on the installed firmware and the current version of the operating system.
- Choosing "Create a contact"and fill in the standard information. Enter the person's name, title, email address, and other information.
- And then we go down to the column "Phone"and enter the main number of the organization. And to add a unique identifier, open the menu with additional characters, and then click "Pause". And after that we write the extension number.
- Enter a contact in the phonebook by selecting "Save".
This is a simple way to add digits to the main number and save the result in the phone book of your smartphone.
Through the waiting method
Do you need to use the standby method to communicate correctly? Then in this case you will need to add a semicolon icon after the main number. You can read the instructions above, they are similar. However, as practice shows, sometimes users cannot find the desired icon. And yes, it may indeed be absent. The solution in this situation is one - copy and then paste the symbol.
To find the icon, use a regular browser, or just put the icon through the keyboard in any text editor. Which option to use is up to you. And if you accidentally deleted important contacts, the following will help you restore them manual.
Call forwarding to an extension
If we talk about forwarding to employee extensions, when properly configured, everything works automatically. Initially, the specialist should activate the answering machine or connect the real operator. In the first case, a call to the client is recorded with instructions, after which the person enters the unique code of the department or employee himself and contacts him.
And if you consider communication within the same company, you do not need to perform call forwarding. In this case, calls are made from landlines that have been set up in advance. When communicating within one department, it is sufficient to simply dial the short number of a specific employee. If the organization is large, with several subdivisions - first you enter the department number, and then the extension code.
Answers to popular questions
Q: How do I call an extension without an answering machine?
If you do not have an answering machine connected to the company's main number, you can also use the instructions given earlier. Perhaps the operator will immediately activate the ability to enter an extension, so that you don't even have to use the pause or wait. If not, tell the person the purpose of the call and then wait to be connected to a specific employee.
Question: Is human intervention required when dialing an extension in automatic mode?
If you call the correct extension number in advance, with all the pauses and waits, then you don't need to do anything. You can simply put the phone aside and wait for the right employee to finally answer it while talking to the answering machine.
Question: How do I find out the extension number of a particular employee?
To do this, you need to make a test call in manual mode, and then remember the code that you entered for communication. This will be the unique identifier of the selected employee or department.
So now you know how to dial an extension on your Android phone. If you often make calls, it is better to save the particular person in your contact list. This way you will save a huge amount of precious time!