Are you receiving missed call push notifications without receiving a ring? If so, then here are a few things you can check to resolve this issue.
Please note, this guide covers any issues where you do not receive an incoming call ringing at all. If your calls are disconnecting immediately after answering, then view this guide here.
Caller is hanging up before the call is connected
The most likely reason for incoming calls to go straight to missed with no ring include the caller hanging up before enough time has passed for you to receive a ring. For example, a caller may dial your number and then quickly hang up. This will register as a missed call without receiving a ring.
This is especially common if you are using a phone menu or IVR set-up. In this case, your callers call your line and are greeted with your phone menu options. If the caller hangs up before accepting an option, then you will receive a missed call.
On our premium plan, we offer an advanced phone menu, where your callers can be directed to an audio or directly to voicemail. If either of these options are selected, then the call will display as a missed call.
Connection issue
As a VOIP phone, OpenPhone requires a strong internet connection, either via WiFi or data, to work properly. If you do not have a reliable connection, it’s possible that you will not receive an incoming call. In these cases, we’d recommend to try changing to a different internet source (e.g. WiFi to data or vice versa) or, if using WiFi, reset your router.
It’s also possible that a third-party extension, firewall, or VPN can be blocking your connection, resulting in the above issue. If this is the case, you may want to try disabling to see if that resolves the issue. For more information on using VPNs with OpenPhone, please see this article.
Your OpenPhone settings
There are several phone number, account, and workspace settings that control how calls are routed as well as when you can receive call notifications. Some settings that may affect how or when you receive calls are described below. For more information about each of the below notifications settings, please see this article.
Do Not Disturb
Do not disturb allows you to turn off incoming notifications only for your account for a specific amount of time. If you have do not disturb enabled, you will not receive incoming call notifications.
Business hours
Business hours controls the time in which a specific number can receive incoming calls and when those calls are sent to voicemail. If incoming calls are outside of your business hours, then they will be directed to voicemail, registering a missed call with no ringing.
Phone number muting
Phone number muting disables notifications for your account on the specific line or lines that are muted. If you have a private phone number muted, then incoming calls will go straight to voicemail without a ring.
Work schedule
Work schedule allows you to set a consistent work schedule, controlling when you can receive notifications for your account. If you have no available agents to answer and the calls occur outside of your work schedule, then they will be directed to voicemail with no ring.
Push notifications are not enabled
If you have not granted OpenPhone permissions to send push notifications to your device, then you will not be able to properly receive incoming calls.
If push notifications are not enabled on the web or desktop apps, then you’ll have a blue alert bar letting you know on the top of your OpenPhone app. To enable, click on that bar. If you do not have a blue bar on the top of your OpenPhone app, then that means your push notifications are enabled.
To enable permission on the mobile apps:
On iOS:
- Open "Settings"
- Find OpenPhone in your list of apps
- Make sure Notifications are ON
On Android:
- Go to "Settings" via the gear wheel icon ⚙️
- Select "Apps"
- Select the gear wheel icon ⚙️
- Select "App permissions"
- Select "Notifications"
- Make sure Notifications are ON
Other device settings
Outside of push notifications, some devices have a do not disturb setting or a low battery mode that may affect your ability to receive incoming calls or other push notifications on OpenPhone.
Your OpenPhone subscription is inactive or expired
If your subscription is expired, you will not be able to use OpenPhone. If your subscription is expired, then you should see a banner inside the app communicating the billing issue.
If this is the case, you can restart your subscription by following the steps here.
Questions to ask when diagnosing the reason for your issue
When diagnosing why your incoming calls may be going straight to voicemail without a ring, you’ll want to answer some of the below questions:
- Is this happening to every incoming call? If this issue is occurring to every incoming call, then the problem is likely either your connection, something in your OpenPhone settings, your push notifications are not enabled, or your subscription is inactive. While rare, it’s also possible that there is a product bug or your phone number is misconfigured.
If this is only happening to some calls, then it’s likely that the caller is hanging up before the call is connected.
- Does this only happen on one device or multiple? If this issue is occurring only on one device or platform (i.e. occurs when using the mobile app but not the desktop app), then the issue is likely a push notification permissions issue or another device settings issue. While rare, it’s also possible that there is an app specific bug.
If this issue is occurring on multiple devices or platforms (i.e. occurs both on the mobile and desktop apps), then the issue is likely that the caller is hanging up before the call is connected, a subscription issue, or something in your OpenPhone settings.
- Are you receiving missed call push notifications or other push notifications? The incoming call ringing notification uses the same push notification pathway as all other push notifications. If you are not receiving push notifications at all (e.g. missed call or incoming message push notifications), then you have not enabled push notifications permissions.
If you are receiving other push notifications but not for incoming calls, then the issue is not related to your push notification permissions and must be another reason.
Escalating to OpenPhone support
Still having issues receiving calls after going through these steps? Please don't hesitate to submit a request here. In your message, please let us know
- A few examples of recent incoming calls in which this has occurred
- How frequently this is occurring
- The troubleshooting steps that you’ve already tried.
