Mobile tip: Pauses and waits

Do your messages ever include phone numbers that require users to dial an extension number or access code? Or, maybe your users have to navigate through a phone system menu after they've dialed in?

If so, you can make dialing more convenient for Android and iOS mobile app users by formatting numbers included in your message content with pauses and waits. 

Note for Android: Download the xMatters Android app version 1.9.7 or later to use this functionality on the Android mobile app.

Pause

A pause tells the phone to wait a brief period of time (a few seconds) before dialing the next sequence of numbers. A pause in a phone number is denoted by a comma , for example: 555-555-5555,67890.

In this case, the phone would dial 555-555-5555, wait briefly, and then dial 67890.

Pauses are useful when only a very short period of time is required after connecting a call before dialing additional numbers.

Wait

A wait tells the phone to wait for action by the user (tapping a button) before dialing the next sequence of numbers. A wait in a phone number is denoted by a semi-colon ; for example: 222-222-2222;12345.

In this case, the phone would dial 222-222-2222, wait for the user to tap (as shown in the image below for iOS and Android), and then dial 12345.

Waits are useful for systems that require a longer wait after connecting the call, such as listing menu options, before a user can dial additional numbers.

Multiple pauses and waits

You can use multiple consecutive pauses to increase the length of the pause. For example, 555-555-5555,,,67890. In this case, the phone would dial 555-555-5555, wait for three pauses, and then dial 67890. The length of a single pause will vary depending on the phone system, but it's typically from two to a few seconds.

If there are several layers to your phone system that a user has to navigate through to connect, you can use different combinations of wait and pauses. For example: 222-222-2222;1,3. In this case, the phone would dial 222-222-2222, wait for the user to tap to dial 1, then pause and dial 3.

Example message

Here's an example of a message received on the mobile app that includes a mobile-friendly version of a conference bridge phone number including a wait before the bridge number. Instead of scrambling around to find a pen to write down the bridge number, or trying to remember the code, mobile app users can just tap the phone number in the message to call in, and then tap again when prompted to dial the bridge number.

 xMatters reference: DOC-5310