Ring groups let you route incoming calls to several team members at once — or one by one. Instead of sending every call to a single person, you pick a group of users and a ring strategy, and dialnote handles the rest.
You build ring groups inside the visual call flow builder using the Ring Users action.
Setting Up a Ring Group#
To add a ring group to your call flow:
- Open Settings → Phone Numbers and select the number you want to configure.
- In the Call Flow section, click Configure call flow to open the visual builder.
- Add a node with the "+" button and pick Ring Users.
- Fill in the Ring settings:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Name | Optional label shown on the canvas to tell similar nodes apart (e.g. "Sales", "Support") |
| Users | Pick the team members to ring. The list shows people who have access to this phone number |
| Ring strategy | "Everyone at once" or "One by one" (see below) |
| Ring for (seconds) | How long to ring before giving up — 5 to 300 seconds, default 30 |
| Show caller ID | The number agents see when the call rings their device |
When you're done, click Save Flow in the builder. The editor doesn't auto-save, so nothing takes effect until you save.
Pick users from this number's members
The Users list is built from people who already have access to this phone number. Add a teammate to the number first (in the number's Manage Members settings) if you don't see them here.
Ring Strategies#
dialnote supports two ring strategies:
Everyone at once (simultaneous) — All selected members' phones ring at the same time. The first person to pick up gets connected, and the other calls cancel automatically. Good for support or sales lines where speed matters most.
One by one (sequential) — dialnote rings each member in order. If the first person doesn't answer within the ring duration, the call moves to the next person in line. Good for priority routing, like trying a primary account manager before a backup.
When you choose One by one, a Ring order list appears. Use the up and down arrows to set who rings first, second, and so on, or remove someone from the order. Each person rings for the full ring duration before the call moves on.
Sequential ring adds up
With "One by one", the ring duration applies to each person. Set 30 seconds with 3 people and the caller could wait up to 90 seconds before fallback kicks in. Keep your per-person timeout short.
Who actually rings#
dialnote checks each member's availability status before ringing:
- Available members always ring.
- Members marked Away by the system (auto-away after inactivity) still ring.
- Members on Do Not Disturb or already On a Call are skipped.
- Members who set themselves to Away manually only ring as a last-resort fallback, and only with the "One by one" strategy.
So the group adjusts on its own based on who's actually ready to take calls.
If Nobody Answers#
Each Ring Users node has an If nobody answers toggle. Turn it on to send unanswered calls into a hold queue instead of straight to voicemail.
With the toggle on, you can set:
- Queue Name — A custom label (optional; a default name is generated if you leave it blank)
- Hold Music — A text-to-speech message or a custom HTTPS audio URL
- Announce Position — Tell callers their place in line
- Announce Wait Time — Share the estimated wait
- Accept / Reject Mode — Agents must accept or reject each call offer instead of auto-connecting
- Accept Timeout — How long an agent has to accept before the offer moves on (5 to 300 seconds, default 30)
The queue is created for you
When you turn on "If nobody answers" and save, dialnote auto-creates a call queue using the same members and ring strategy. You don't set up a separate queue first. Want more control over the queue later? Edit it from the Call Queues settings.
If the toggle is off, unanswered calls go to the next step in your call flow — usually voicemail — after the ring duration expires.
How It Works Behind the Scenes#
When a call hits a Ring Users node:
- dialnote checks which selected members are reachable based on their availability.
- Based on the ring strategy, members are dialed — all at once, or in order.
- The first person to answer gets connected to the caller instantly; any other ringing phones stop.
- If no one answers within the ring duration, the call goes to the queue fallback (if on) or moves to the next call-flow step.
Common Setups#
Sales team — fastest response wins: Use "Everyone at once" with your full sales team. Set ring duration to 20 seconds and turn on "If nobody answers". Callers get connected to whoever's free first.
Account management — try the owner first: Use "One by one". Put the primary account manager first, then a backup, then the general team. Set 15 seconds per person so callers aren't waiting too long.
After-hours overflow: Combine a ring group with a Business Hours check in your flow. Route to your main team during work hours, and a smaller on-call group after hours.
What's Next#
- Visual Call Flow Builder — wire the Ring Users node into a full call flow
- Call Queues — fine-tune the queue your ring group falls back to
- Business Hours — route by time of day before ringing
- Team Availability — how statuses decide who rings
- Voicemail — what happens when no one picks up