DID Pattern and Caller ID Pattern

When you set up DID (Direct Inward Dialing, a phone number that routes callers straight to a specific destination on your system) numbers or Caller IDs in Cloud Voice, you can enter a Pattern instead of a single fixed number. A pattern uses special characters to describe a whole group of numbers at once, so one entry can match many callers or dialed numbers. This page explains each character you can use and shows how sample patterns behave.

The Pattern field

A Pattern field is shown wherever you configure DID numbers or Caller IDs. In it you can type a complete number, or combine the special characters below to match a range of numbers rather than an exact one.

Character	What it matches
X	Any single digit, 0 through 9.
Z	Any single digit, 1 through 9.
N	Any single digit, 2 through 9.
[###]	Any one of the digits listed inside the brackets. For example, [123] matches 1, 2, or 3.
.	One or more trailing digits. For example, 9011. matches any number that begins with 9011 but is longer than 9011 itself.
!	Zero or more trailing characters. For example, 9011! matches any number that begins with 9011, including 9011 on its own.

Note

Inside brackets you can express a run of consecutive digits with a dash. For example, [136-8] matches 1, 3, 6, 7, or 8.

Caution

. and ! look similar but differ at the boundary. 9011. needs at least one extra digit after 9011, so 9011 by itself will not match. 9011! matches 9011 on its own as well. Choose the wrong one and a number you expected to route can be silently rejected, so confirm which behavior you need before you save.

Pattern examples

The following patterns show which numbers each one accepts and which it rejects.

Pattern	Matches	Does not match
0591.	05910, 0591012345	0591, 0592229929
+[13-5]XZN!	+4022, +1136282882	+0136282882, +1106282882
0591ZXXXX	059123456, 059133456	05912345, 059103456

Tip

Read a compound pattern one character at a time. Take 0591ZXXXX: the 0591 is literal and must appear exactly, Z matches one digit from 1 to 9, and each X matches one digit from 0 to 9, so the whole pattern accepts a 9-digit number in the form 0591 + a non-zero digit + four more digits. That is why 05912345 fails (only 8 digits, one X short) and 059103456 fails (the digit in the Z position is 0, which Z never matches).