Make calls with the Gong dialer

Sales rep, Sales manager

Gong Engage*

To free-dial from anywhere in Gong: Click in the top right corner > Click to open the dialer

Easily dial people and log call details, straight from the Gong web app or mobile app. These calls can be recorded, giving you the same analytics and insights as all recorded calls in Gong.

To use the dialer on either the web app or mobile app, you must have an Engage license. Your admin must enable the dialer for you, and must set business numbers that are available either to you specifically (assigned numbers) or to your entire team.

Twilio is the underlying service that establishes the call for both web and mobile calls made with the Gong dialer.

Where to go to use the dialer

• From any to-dos that prompt you to make a call

  

• From People: If the next action for someone is a call, click Call to open the dialer

• Hover over a person's name on any page in Engage and click the call icon

• Click on someone's name on any page in Engage to open person view. From here, click on the phone icon to open the dialer

Free-dialing

If you have an Engage license, you can access the dialer from anywhere in Gong by clickingfrom the quick access menu in the top right corner, or using the keyboard shortcut Shift + D. Use the Keypad tab to dial and the Search tab to search for contacts and leads by name.

Enter a number manually or paste it in. If you type in a number linked to an existing contact or lead in Gong, their name will be displayed.

Suppose you call a number that isn’t already linked to a contact or lead in Gong and doesn’t exist in your CRM yet. In that case, Gong uses default CRM entity association to ensure the call activity is properly associated. If you manually link the number to a contact or lead in Gong or create a new contact with this number later on, the call is automatically associated with that person.

If a call is recorded, you can find it in Conversations, even if it isn’t linked to a specific contact or lead. If a call is not recorded, you can find it on your home page or the contact or lead’s activity timeline.

Numbers you can call from

At the top, you’ll see the number you’re calling from. You may be able to choose from several numbers. These may include:

• Assigned number: Numbers assigned to you specifically by your manager or admin

• Personal number: A number that you or your admin has entered, that you verify personally from your own mobile device. It's not recommended to use your personal number for outbound calls as personal numbers are often labeled as spam when used with the dialer. We recommend using virtual numbers for outbound calls and personal numbers for inbound calls, as the forwarding number

• Unassigned numbers: Numbers available to everyone in your company. When you make calls from an unassigned number, the person cannot call you back directly, but they can call back to a forwarding number, if your admin has set one.

Gong's dialer, whether you're using it from web or mobile, will not sync with another phone such as a desk phone for outbound calls.

Maximize call efficiency with local dialing

When you make calls using a number that matches the locale of the person you’re dialing, they’re more likely to answer the call. Once your admin has enabled local dialing, Gong selects local numbers for you to call from automatically. The number is displayed to the person you’re calling as an ordinary number, just like any other business number in Gong.

Calling US/Canada numbers

When you select Local number from the Calling from dropdown, Gong looks for an assigned number or company number that matches the destination country code, prioritized by area code. If none are available, Gong automatically provisions a new number with the same area code for you to use.

Calling non-US/Canada numbers

When you select Local number from the Calling from dropdown, Gong automatically selects an assigned number or company number that matches the destination country code, prioritized by area code, if there is one available. Automatic provisioning is not currently available outside of the US/Canada. Getting business numbers for countries outside of the US and Canada is done via Gong Support and usually requires specific regulation forms.

Receiving inbound calls when local dialing is used

If you make a call using local dialing and the person calls you back, Gong routes the inbound call to the last person who dialed their number, according to person’s Inbound call preferences.

Numbers you can call to

If we already have a number for the person you're calling, it will appear in the drop-down menu below their name. If there are multiple numbers for the contact, you'll see them all here. You can also free dial a number and click Call.

Can I make international calls?

You can make calls to/from anywhere you want, minus a few exceptions. However, we recommend buying a local number from the regions where you operate to improve answer rates.

For example, if you're located in the US but you want to dial UK numbers, your admin can provision a UK number for you. This helps with conversion rates as call recipients are more likely to pick up calls from numbers within their locale.

Gong understands what country a phone number in the CRM belongs to using the following logic:

• If the number starts with +, we try to parse it and see if the result is a valid number.

• If not, see if the contact has an address. If we know the country, try adding that country's prefix and see if the result is a valid number.

• If not, try adding the US prefix and see if the result is a valid number.

• If not, add + at the beginning, try to parse it and see if the result is a valid number.

• If not, leave it as is.

Will I incur charges for making international calls?

When you dial out of Engage or the mobile app, the call recipient will see your personal number, but the call is relayed from Gong/Twilio and your company will not incur any charges.

Let’s say you call someone in the US from India using a US number. Then, the prospect calls the US number back, and the call is forwarded to the rep’s personal India phone number. In these cases, whoever owns the personal phone could incur international charges from their mobile carrier.

Exceptions to numbers you can call to/from

Indian phone numbers (+91) cannot be provisioned or used and verified as personal forwarding numbers through Gong Engage due to India government regulations. Calls to India or any other outbound destination can only be made from non-India phone numbers.

Chinese phone numbers (+86) cannot be provisioned or used and verified as personal forwarding numbers through Gong Engage. Calls to China can’t be made through Gong Engage.

Recording a call

Your company can set up recording methods per region so that you can easily comply with regulations in different states or countries. The recording options are:

• Manual: you can start recording manually at any point in the call.

• Automatic: calls are automatically recorded

• Rep-side only: calls are recorded automatically, but only the rep is recorded

• Don't allow recording: the record button isn't displayed and you can't record the call

You cannot change or override the default call recording setting for a region, but you can stop the recording.

If manual recording is selected, initiate recording by pressing Record as soon as the call connects to the receiver.

Asking for consent

Remember to ask for consent when required, and note that you can always pause or cancel the recording during the call. Once the call is completed, you cannot delete the recording, unless you have permission to do so.

Actions you can take during the call

During the call, you can take any of the following actions:

• Record call

• Pause / cancel recording

• Use the keypad

• Mute yourself

• Take notes

• Get information about the account/person you're calling

• Set call outcome: mandatory when making a call as a part of a flow step, optional for one-off calls

• If accessing the dialer from a flow step, see your last email and/or script

Define your audio settings

Enable microphone access and set the microphone and speaker you want to use when making a call:

1. Start by permitting Google Chrome to access the microphone. You can do this in a few different ways:

   • Open the Gong dialer and when prompted, choose Allow.

   • Or, open the Gong dialer and click the site information icon next to the URL address. Make sure the microphone is enabled in site settings.

   • Or, go to your browser settings and navigate to microphone settings. Adjust your default settings or add Gong to your list of allowed sites.

2. To set the microphone and speaker when making a call, click to the right of the Calling from phone number.

    

3. Select the speaker and microphone you want to use. Test the sound as needed.

4. Select whether you want the following:

   • Echo cancellation: reduces background noise and echo for improved call clarity

   • Noise suppression: minimizes background noise interference during calls

   • Automatic gain control: adjusts audio levels and ensures consistent audio quality throughout the call

5. Click Done.

Choose a call outcome

When making a call as a part of a step in a flow, you must set a call outcome. For one-off calls, setting the outcome is not required. You can set the outcome during the call or after it.

You have the following outcomes to choose from:

Call result: No answer

• No voicemail: Rep doesn’t leave a voicemail

• Left voicemail: Rep leaves a voicemail

• Not in service: Number is not in service

• Busy: Line is busy

Call result: Answered

• Follow up: Person asks for more information, asks to call back, or hasn't decided yet

• Meeting booked: Person agrees to meet, or seller sends an invite

• Bad timing: Person says they're not interested right now or in the near future

• Has a solution: Person says they have a solution with a competitor

• Bad persona: Person says they are not the right person, and doesn’t provide a referral

• Wrong number: Number is wrong

• Gave referral: Person directs to someone else

• Bad fit: One of the sides says it's a bad fit

• Opt out: Person asks not to be contacted again

• Hung up: Person hangs up

• Gatekeeper: Gatekeeper answers and user can't reach targeted person

• Not interested (other): Person says they're not interested

Set a forwarding number for inbound calls

If you have at least 1 business number assigned to you, you can set your own forwarding number so people can call you back. As long as the business number is assigned to you in Engage, if someone calls back, the call will be routed to you via inbound calls on your web browser. If you’re not available on the web, you can also take the call from your personal forwarding number.

To do this:

1. Go to My Settings and scroll to Gong Connect.

2. Here, you’ll see whether Gong Connect is enabled by your admin, how many business numbers are assigned to you directly, and whether your company has set a default forwarding number.

   

3. To set your own forwarding number, click Set personal forwarding number, then enter your mobile number and click Call me to verify it. If you’ve made calls from your personal number, or from a number that your admin assigned to you, this is the number to which calls will be directed if people call you back. If you’ve called people using a number that is available to your whole team, return calls will not be directed to this number. If your admin has not set up a company forwarding number and you haven’t verified your personal forwarding number, we’ll attempt to call back the web browser—but this will only work if you’re currently in Gong and able to receive it.

Inbound calls made to a company forwarding number are routed to the last team member who dialed the prospect or customer from that company number.

Take notes about a call

While making a call in the dialer, the lower section on the left is your space to take down notes that you and your teammates can refer back to. The note is already linked to the contact you’re calling, so all you need to do is start typing. 

To see previous notes about the contact you’re calling or the account they’re connected to, click Notes on the right side of the dialer.

Review and update contact details

From the right-side menu, click Contact to get more context about the person you're talking to. See recent activity with the person, mark a phone number as valid or invalid, and more.

Mark someone as do not contact

If someone you’re on a call with asks to be opted out of future calls and emails, you can mark them as do not contact by selecting the Opt out call outcome in the dialer. 

Marking a contact as opted out removes them from any flow they’re currently in. They won’t be added to flows via automatic rules while marked as do not contact. Learn more about marking someone as do not contact.

Use the Gong dialer from the Gong mobile app

You can make and record calls on the go using a VoIP service within the Gong mobile app. If your admin has enabled mobile calling for your team, you can learn how to start using the dialer from mobile.

Export dialer calls to your CRM

This feature is currently available for Salesforce and HubSpot. Ask your admin to configure it in Company Settings > CRM > Salesforce or HubSpot settings.

Delete a call

Anyone can delete a call if enabled to do so in their permission profile. Learn how to delete a recorded call.

Gong dialer FAQs

*The features available to you depend on your company’s plan and your assigned seats.