---
title: Live Call Routing
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Incident Response > On-Call > Pages > Live Call Routing
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.datadoghq.com/llms.txt).

# Live Call Routing

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com, us2.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site.md). ({% placeholder "user-datadog-site-name" /%}).
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}

{% alert level="info" %}
Live call routing is provisioned by Datadog. To enable it for your organization, contact [Datadog Support](mailto:support@datadoghq.com). Include your use case and the desired country code (for example, `+33` for France).
{% /alert %}

## Overview{% #overview %}

Live call routing connects phone calls to your On-Call Team. When someone calls your dedicated number, the system handles the call according to your configuration.

Datadog On-Call supports two routing types:

- **Direct call routing**: Connects the caller to an active responder, following the escalation policy for the On-Call Team. Enables real-time coordination during critical incidents.
- **Voicemail routing**: Prompts the caller to leave a voicemail, then converts the voice message to a Page for the On-Call Team. Useful for non-technical callers or third-party vendors who need to report issues without a live conversation.

## Configuration{% #configuration %}

### Basic route settings{% #basic-route-settings %}

Each live call route includes:

- **Name**: A descriptive label, such as "Production Incidents" or "Security Escalations."
- **Phone Number**: The dedicated number provisioned by Datadog for this route.
- **Region Code**: The geographic region for the phone number (for example, `US` for the United States).
- **Active Status**: Whether the route is accepting calls.
- **Routing Type**: How calls are handled (see Routing types).

### Keypad options{% #keypad-options %}

Keypad options offer callers a menu when they dial your routing number.

You can configure up to nine options per route. Each option maps a key (1-9) to an On-Call Team and triggers that team's paging process. To improve usability:

- Use option 1 for the most critical team or escalation path.
- Group related teams under adjacent keys.
- Keep menu prompts concise and clear.

## Routing types{% #routing-types %}

Datadog On-Call supports two routing types: direct call routing and voicemail routing.

### Direct call routing{% #direct-call-routing %}

In direct call routing, the system follows the On-Call Team's escalation policy to connect the caller to the first available responder.

Responders must have valid phone numbers supporting voice notifications in their profiles; On-Call skips any responders that don't.

Responders then have the following options:

- Press `1` to acknowledge the call.
- Press `2` to escalate it.
- Press `3` to resolve it.

#### Escalation logic{% #escalation-logic %}

For direct call routing, On-Call calls the responders in each step of the escalation policy. If no one answers, On-Call immediately advances to the next step and calls its responders. It does not wait for the delay configured between steps, helping connect the caller to an available responder as quickly as possible.

Escalation proceeds as follows:

- **Multiple responders at the same level**: All responders are called simultaneously. The first to answer is connected.
- **Responder rejects a call**: The system immediately escalates to the next responder.
- **Responder has no phone number**: The system skips the responder.
- **Only one escalation level is defined**: If the responder is unreachable, the caller is informed that no one is available, and the call ends.
- **No responders have valid phone numbers**: The caller is informed that no one is available, and the call ends.

#### Best practices{% #best-practices %}

- Use multi-level escalation policies to avoid dropped calls.
- Add multiple responders at critical levels for redundancy.
- Test your routing setup regularly:
  - Test each keypad option to verify it routes to the correct team.
  - Simulate escalation behavior by rejecting or not answering a call.
  - Check that responders' phone numbers are valid, reachable, and configured with appropriate voicemail settings.
  - Verify that calls successfully connect to available responders.

### Voicemail routing{% #voicemail-routing %}

In voicemail routing, callers are prompted to leave a voicemail message.

#### Best practices{% #best-practices-1 %}

- Confirm team members have notification preferences configured to receive Pages.
- Test your routing setup regularly:
  - Test each keypad option to verify it routes to the correct team.
  - Confirm that voicemail recordings are properly captured.
  - Verify that Pages are created and sent to the correct team members.

## Troubleshooting{% #troubleshooting %}

### Route issues{% #route-issues %}

If your route isn't accepting calls:

- Confirm the route is set to active.
- Confirm that provisioning is complete. If provisioning is still in progress, contact [Datadog Support](https://docs.datadoghq.com/help/).
- Verify the phone number is correctly configured for this route.

### Keypad problems{% #keypad-problems %}

If a keypad option is not routing calls correctly:

- Confirm each keypad option is linked to a valid On-Call team.
- Test each option individually by dialing the route and pressing the corresponding key.
- Verify that your phone system supports DTMF (touch-tone) input, as some VoIP systems disable it by default.

### Direct call routing: calls not connecting or no Page created{% #direct-call-routing-calls-not-connecting-or-no-page-created %}

If calls are not reaching a responder or no Page is created:

- Confirm that the On-Call Team has an active escalation policy with at least one escalation level defined.
- Verify that all responders in the escalation policy have a valid phone number in their profile. On-Call skips responders without a phone number.
- Check that each responder's phone number supports voice notifications and is reachable and not blocked or forwarded to an unavailable destination.

### Voicemail routing: voicemail not converting to a Page{% #voicemail-routing-voicemail-not-converting-to-a-page %}

If a voicemail is left but no Page is created:

- Confirm the route's routing type is set to **Voicemail routing**, not **Direct call routing**.
- Verify the On-Call Team assigned to the route has an active escalation policy.
- Confirm that team members have notification preferences configured to receive Pages.
- Check that the voicemail recording completed successfully. Callers who hang up before the beep may not leave a recording that the system can process.