What Does Direct Inward Dial Mean?
Direct inward dial (DID) is
a special service provided by telecommunication companies for users of private branch exchange (PBX) systems. With the
help of this system, a company can gain different set of numbers for different
sections of the office. This means that the company can have different phone
numbers over the same machinery. Thus, if a customer of the company is using
this service and wants to call with a specific problem, they can directly
contact the required person for resolving their enquiries. This is very
important for a business as it saves time and ensures customer satisfaction,
all in a very low budget.
Direct inward dial (DID) is also known as direct dial-in.
Techopedia Explains Direct Inward Dial
A direct inward dial system can be
understood more clearly with an example. Say a given
company has hired a telecommunications company with eight trunk lines (or physical
lines). It has rented 100 phone numbers from that company. However, as it has eight
trunk lines, it can accommodate a maximum of eight calls at once, and all other callers receive a busy signal. Those people can either wait until the call is disconnected,
or leave a message. In both cases, the satisfaction level of the customer would
be low, and it can be very risky if the customer is even a little impatient. However,
if the company uses a DID system on the PBX, it can automatically divert the
call to the necessary operator or workstation. This saves time and money,
as an additional PBX operator is not required.