Resolve Basic Phones issues

Overview

This article helps you recognize issues when call forwarding doesn't work as expected and assists in resolving problems with Basic Phones for both incoming and outgoing calls.

Who uses this feature

Administrators, office employees, Customer Service Representatives (CSRs)
Applies to all business types

Things to know

All tracking numbers generate call bubbles in ServiceTitan when customers dial them. Seeing the call bubble is a sure indicator that the call reached ServiceTitan.
If customers call your forwarding number, the calls cannot be tracked and recorded in ServiceTitan. To record and log calls in ServiceTitan, advertise tracking numbers only.

Tracking and Forwarding numbers

Understand the difference between tracking and forwarding numbers before troubleshooting Basic Phones issues.

Tracking Number: Any number listed under the Phone Number section in Settings. You can create tracking numbers through the Add New Number option or port your numbers into ServiceTitan. These are virtual phone numbers that forward to a physical line in your office. When customers dial your tracking numbers, ServiceTitan tracks and records the calls.
Forwarding Number: Any number listed under the Forwarding Number section in Settings. Calls to tracking numbers are forwarded to your forwarding number. Forwarding numbers are unadvertised numbers that you shouldn't give out to customers.

Resolve issues with inbound calls

Place test calls to identify where the issue is coming from.

Test your forwarding number.
1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .
2. Click Phones > Phone Numbers.
3. Find the Phone Number the issue has been reported on and call the Forwarding Number next to it.
  1. If you replicate the issue by calling the forwarding number, the issue isn't related to ServiceTitan. Contact your phone provider to troubleshoot the issue further.
  2. If you are unable to replicate the issue on the forwarding number, go to step 2.
Test the tracking number.
1. In Settings > Phones > Phone Number, find the Phone Number the issue has been reported on and dial it.
  1. If you replicate the issue by calling the tracking number, it is likely a ServiceTitan issue.
  2. If you are unable to replicate the issue on the tracking number, the issue might be intermittent.
Collect call examples from the past 24-48 hours at most and contact Technical Support. Use the format below to provide examples to the Support Agent:
- Caller's number
- Number dialed
- Date, time, and timezone
- Description

Resolve issues with outbound calls (office and mobile)

Check the employee's number, the customer's number, and the device to find the root cause of the issue.

Call the employee's number directly. The system calls the number in the employee's profile first. If there are any issues with this, an outbound call fails.
1. If you are unable to get through to the employee's number directly, the issue is not related to ServiceTitan. Contact the agent's phone provider and continue troubleshooting.
2. If you are able to get through to the agent's phone directly, continue with Step 2.
Resolve any device-related issues.
1. Add your office Outbound Caller ID as a contact in the employee's device.
2. Ensure no apps are installed that block spam calls (iOS).
3. Ensure Focus mode is turned off (Android).
4. Make sure Do not disturb is turned off.
5. Uninstall the mobile app and reinstall if it is on the same device receiving calls.
Call the customer's number directly to see if it is working.
1. If you are unable to connect, there is an issue with the customer's phone number.
2. If you are able to connect, continue troubleshooting.
Replace the number on the customer profile with another one and place an outbound call to check if the call goes through.
Contact Technical Support. Collect call examples from the past 24-48 hours at most. Use the format below to provide examples to the Support Agent:

Caller's number
Number dialed
Date, time, and timezone
Description

Note: The troubleshooting steps are the same for the calls made on the mobile app.

Resolve issues with call bubbles

When you see a call bubble pop up in ServiceTitan, that means a call has reached our system and it's a signal that the customer dialed one of your tracking numbers.

List of HVAC calls for Ricky Smith with call durations displayed.

If you notice that no call bubble pops up when a customer calls:

Look for the call information in ServiceTitan to verify if the log exists.
1. Go to the navigation bar and click Search .
2. From the search dropdown, select Call.
3. Enter the Caller's number and Number Dialed and click Search.
In Settings > Phones > Phone Number, find the Phone Number that does not generate a call bubble and dial it.
1. If the system generates a call bubble when you call a tracking number, ServiceTitan is working as intended and the number the customer dialed was not a ServiceTitan tracking number.
  1. The customer might have old numbers not ported to ServiceTitan.
  2. The agents did not use the ServiceTitan Click-To-Call function when calling customers.
2. If the system doesn't generate a call bubble when you call a tracking number, contact Technical Support. Collect call examples from the past 24-48 hours at most. Use the format below to provide examples to the Support Agent:
  - Caller's number
  - Number dialed
  - Date, time, and timezone
  - Description

Note: All your previously advertised numbers must be ported into ServiceTitan.

Route blocks

What is a call route?

In North America, calls are passed between carriers, like a relay race, starting from the caller's carrier to the receiver's. Large networks like AT&T or Verizon use multiple servers across different regions to handle call traffic. The path of any particular call, both geographically/physically as well as digitally is known as the call route. Any given call route may have multiple carriers involved in handing it off.

Where does ServiceTitan fit in?

ServiceTitan is another step in the process that calls go through to reach their destination. When someone dials a ServiceTitan tracking number, their phone carrier sends the call over the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) to us. From there, ServiceTitan forwards the call through the PSTN to the office line that isn't publicly advertised (forwarding number).

Since ServiceTitan isn't a phone carrier, most calls to any number are handled through our network in the same way. All calls follow the same systems within ServiceTitan. The only time things change is when calls are sent to their final destinations, which can differ based on the forwarding number linked to the tracking number.

What happens when there's an issue?

When a phone issue is reported to us, testing is required to determine the likely place in the chain where the issue is happening as we can't see it directly. Most of the time, issues happen with one of the carriers between ServiceTitan and the destination provider. A telecom specialist will then place a route block to stop calls from going through that carrier and switch them to a different route. Using the relay race analogy, a route block is like ServiceTitan deciding to pass the baton to a different runner.