Incase of a non-toll free number, will failover DID work automatically if the primary DID fails?

Incase of a non-toll free number, will failover DID work automatically if the primary DID fails?

Yes—as long as you enable failover routing for the line, calls to a regular geographic or national number will divert to the backup DID anytime the primary returns a busy tone, SIP error, or times out.

Table of contents

  1. Quick answer
  2. How automatic failover works
  3. Configuring failover in <Your Portal>
  4. Testing & monitoring
  5. Edge cases & limitations
  6. FAQ

1 · Quick answer

Scenario

What happens

Primary DID connects

Call completes normally.

Primary DID busy / unreachable / SIP 5xx

Carrier reroutes to failover DID within < 1 s.

No failover DID set

Caller hears busy tone or fast-busy.

2 · How automatic failover works

  1. Inbound call reaches your local/national number.
  2. Carrier pings the primary DID (SIP OPTIONS, HTTP probe, or TCP check).
  3. If the probe fails—busy, timeout, error ≥ 500—the call is diverted to the failover DID.
  4. The caller hears a continuous ring; the switchover is silent.

3 · Configuring failover in <Your Portal>

Prerequisites

  • Admin role in the portal
  • One active non-toll-free number
  • At least one verified backup DID (preferably on a separate SIP trunk)

Steps

  1. Voice → Numbers → ✏️ Edit
  2. Select Inbound Routing → Failover
  3. Toggle Enable Failover and choose your backup DID
  4. Set Trigger rules:
    • SIP errors (486 Busy, 503 Service Unavailable, etc.)
    • Ring-timeout (e.g., 15 s)
  5. Click Save → status shows Protected in ~30 s

4 · Testing & monitoring

Test

Method

Expected result

Block primary PBX

Drop SIP traffic

Call diverts to failover DID

Ring-timeout

Don’t answer primary

After timeout, backup rings

Portal alert

Check Voice → Alerts

“Primary unreachable” logged; SMS/email sent

Enable alerts so ops staff know whenever failover triggers.

5 · Edge cases & limitations

  • Failover covers inbound calls only; outbound still originates from the default trunk.
  • Some carriers charge a failover fee after N activations per month.
  • Emergency calls (911/112) ignore custom failover logic.
  • Mapping both primary and backup to the same PBX negates resilience—use separate sites or carriers.

6 · FAQ

Q: Can I add more than one failover DID?
A: Yes—set up cascading rules (primary → backup 1 → backup 2).

Q: Will callers notice extra ring delay?
A: No—diversion happens at carrier level in < 1 s.

Q: Do I need a different plan for failover?
A: Most business plans include one backup DID; additional routes may incur a small fee—check your contract.