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Work through the symptom that matches what your callers are getting. If none of these fit, contact support with the number you called and roughly when.
Start with the flow, not the device. A phone only rings when the flow reaches a Ring this line step that names that person.
  1. Open the line’s Call flow section, then the designer, and select the ring step. Check the member list: a teammate who has access to the line but is not in that list never rings on it.
  2. Check the ring order. In a cascade, third position only rings after two ring times have run out, and the caller often gives up first.
  3. Check Skip users already on a call on the step. When it is on, anyone already on a call is skipped.
  4. Follow the path a real caller takes. A Business hours step sends closed-hours calls elsewhere, a Phone menu only rings on the key that points at the step, and a Contact property step sends unknown callers down No match.
  5. Check the header. If it shows Unsaved, callers are still on the previous version.
If the flow is right and the phone is still silent, the cause is on the device: notifications, Do Not Disturb, or the connection. See common issues.Full detail on the step: ring your team.
The ringing comes from your other devices signed in to Allo, such as your phone or a browser tab. They do not know you are on a call, so they ring as usual. The Allo app you are talking on shows the second call with Decline and End & Accept, and Hold & Accept when the call can be held, so you can turn it down there.To stop your other devices ringing, close the Allo apps you are not using, for example a browser tab left open next to the desktop app. Your phone keeps ringing as long as you are signed in on it.To skip people who are on a call altogether, open the line’s Call flow, then the designer, select the Ring this line step and turn on Skip users already on a call. Before you turn it on:
  • It applies to everyone on the step, not only to you.
  • Anyone on a call no longer gets the second call at all, including on the device they are talking on.
  • In Simultaneous and Cascade, the call moves on to the next free member, then to If missed if nobody is free. In Queue, the caller waits until someone is free or the maximum waiting time runs out.
  • Only Allo calls count. A call on your phone’s own line does not.
Either the ring step is set to Queue, or the path adds up to more than you think.A queue holds callers while members are tried one at a time, and sends them down If missed when their waiting time runs out. A cascade adds one ring time per member, so four members at 20 seconds each is 80 seconds before If missed runs.Fix: shorten the ring time, cut the cascade to two or three people, or lower the queue’s maximum waiting time. Then call the line yourself and time it.
Almost always the file format. Allo plays MP3 and WAV. An m4a file, the default for voice memos on an iPhone, can save without complaint and then play as nothing on the call.Fix: convert the file to MP3 or WAV and upload it again, or use Record audio to record straight into Allo, which cannot produce a format that fails to play.Then call your own line and listen to the whole flow before you leave it.
Your recorded greeting already lists the options, and the named options are read out after it.Allo plays the greeting first, then one line per option: “For Sales, press 1”. A greeting that already says “press 1 for sales, press 2 for support” gets both.Fix: cut the list out of the greeting and leave it as a welcome only, such as “Thanks for calling Dupont Plumbing”. The option names do the listing.Recording each option separately does not help. Allo always plays the greeting and then every option, so a greeting that lists the options is announced twice whichever source each option uses.
The option name is dropped into a sentence: “For , press 1”. A full sentence in that field produces “For if you would like to book an appointment please press one, press 1”.Fix: shorten the name to a noun phrase, such as “Sales”, “Support” or “A new appointment”.
Expected, if any part of that menu uses a recording. Callers can then only press once the last option starts playing. On a text-only menu they can press at any point.Fix: if pressing early matters more than the recorded voice, switch that menu to text to speech.
Check that what you think you built is what is saved. Unsaved work stays on your screen and never reaches a caller.
  1. Open the line’s Call flow section and look at the map under the heading. That is the live version.
  2. If the designer header shows Unsaved, your edits are not live. Select Save.
  3. Follow the branch a real caller would take, including No selection, If missed and No match. An empty-looking branch is often the one being used.
  4. Call the line yourself and press the keys.
The Contact property step sends every uncertainty down No match, not just a different value. It takes No match when the caller has no contact record yet, when their number is withheld, when the property is empty on their contact, and when the value differs.Check:
  • The caller exists in your contacts, with the number they actually called from.
  • The property is filled in on their contact.
  • The value matches what you typed. Case and surrounding spaces do not matter, so “acme” and “Acme” are the same, but “Acme Ltd” and “Acme” are not.
A first-time caller has no contact record at the moment the call arrives, so a brand new number always takes No match. Point that branch somewhere real.
A step is missing something it needs. The step says what, for example “Choose what this step does”, “Add at least one member to ring” or “Write or record a name for this option”.Two rules catch people out:
  • A menu needs at least one keypad option, and every option needs a name, written or recorded.
  • A Business hours step cannot sit underneath another one, and a Contact property step cannot test the same property as one above it. In both cases one branch could never run.
They are steps in the call flow now, not settings sections. Open the line’s Call flow and edit the matching step: Business hours, Phone menu or Ring this line. What happens after a missed call is set on the If missed branch of the ring step.

Call flows overview

Steps, saving and limits

Ring your team

Who rings, in what order, for how long

Recordings and audio

Formats, sources and replacing audio