Troubleshoot call routing

If you notice that calls are not coming through over your tracking numbers, there are several different ways we can help you determine why.

This article will help you with some of the most common questions we get about call routing. 

Getting started

Before reaching out, we strongly recommend dialing your destination number directly.

The destination number is the number where calls to your tracking numbers are forwarding to. If this number is experiencing any downtime, then calls to your tracking numbers will reflect any errors happening on your destination number.

If you contact our Support team for help with call routing, please include call URLs that illustrate your concerns. This will help us troubleshoot your question as fast as possible.

Troubleshooting call routing

If you're having testing issues after activating a website pool, a Google ad extension tracking number, or a custom source tracking number, make sure you dialed the right number.
Misdials can happen when testing a tracking number. Be sure to dial the tracking number that was created to continue with your test. 


Your Activity Call Log is a strong indicator of how call routing is functioning.
You may note that on your Activity Log, at the left end of any given call’s row, there are various colored phone icons that different calls can be signified with. If you are having issues with your phones not ringing, these icons are worth your attention.

If the majority of your calls’ icons are gray (“Abandoned”), please contact CallRail's Support team, as we'll be able to assist with determining why your calls are showing as abandoned.


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Abandoned calls can also simply be a caller who chose to terminate the call soon after placing it. CallRail will register a call as "abandoned" if the caller ends the call less than 15 seconds after it was placed.

If the majority of your calls’ icons are any other color, such as green (“Answered”) or red (“Unanswered”), this is a sign that our tracking numbers have been able to forward the call to your destination number successfully, and the issue may be on the caller's end.

The number your tracking numbers are forwarding to may be down.
Something that is very commonly seen while troubleshooting is that test calls to the destination number itself leads to a number that is either turned off or disconnected. Sometimes, this is the case when you hear a message similar to, "This number is not in service."

If you dial your destination number directly and find that your call is not being connected, please reach out to your destination number’s carrier, or enter a different destination number where calls should route.

The routing CallRail assigned your tracking number by default may warrant review.
We have various routing configurations that we route the traffic for our tracking numbers through, and this is automatically assigned when a number is created - the vast majority of the time, this poses no problems.

This could be thought of as CallRail having a stretch of interstate with multiple lanes, and we place a number in the least-cluttered option for it to travel as efficiently as possible.

If you have ruled out your own destination number being the issue, please contact our Support team. We can quickly review the routing the call is attached to and adjust things as necessary.

The issue may lie with the phone you are dialing out from.
In rare instances, we see that the caller's phone is preventing the caller from reaching your tracking numbers. This is generally the result of either geographic location or cellular reception, so if you are dialing from a cell phone or from a remote location (i.e. the non-continental U.S.), it may be worth trying to place the call on another phone if possible.

Why am I seeing duplicate calls?

If you notice duplicate calls in your Activity page, make sure you aren't routing your calls to another tracking number.

Why isn't my T-Mobile number receiving calls?

T-Mobile has a feature called Scam Block which can cause a high number of abandoned calls within your call log. This feature blocks "unverified" numbers so they will not reach your phone. It may also inadvertently block desired calls (calls routed through call analytics companies, 800 numbers, etc.). 

We recommend checking to see if you have Scam Block enabled on your phone. If it is enabled, deactivating it will resolve the issue.

You can use the following codes to enable/deactivate Scam Block:

#ONB# (#662#) Turn on Scam Block

#OFB# (#632#) Turn off Scam Block

#STS# (#787#) Show Scam Block status

If you'd like to learn more about Scam Block, you can reference the following articles:

T-Mobile Scam ID & Scam Block.

MetroPCS Scam ID & Scam Block.

Why isn't my iPhone receiving calls?

iPhones using iOS 13 have a feature called Silence Unknown Callers which can cause a high number of abandoned calls within your call log.

This feature blocks phone numbers that an iPhone user has never been in contact with and does not have saved in their contacts list. It may also inadvertently block desired calls (calls routed through call analytics companies, 800 numbers, etc.). If the number is saved on your contact list, you previously texted with a customer using that phone number, or the customer has shared their phone number with you in an email, then a phone call from that number will go through.

We recommend checking to see if you have Silence Unknown Callers enabled on your phone. If it is enabled, deactivating it or adding the number to your contact list can resolve the issue.

To turn off Silence Unknown Callers, go to Settings > Phone, scroll down, then set Silence Unknown Callers to the “Off” setting.

You can learn more about Silence Unknown Callers here.

If you're still unsure, contact our support team.

If you hear a message about an application error, or if you still can't connect through a tracking number, contact our support team. We'd be happy to help you troubleshoot.

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