# Speed Dial Overview

Speed dial gives your users a fast shortcut to the numbers and extensions they call most. Instead of keying in a full destination every time, they dial a short code and Cloud Voice completes the call for them. This page explains what speed dial does and how a code translates into a placed call.

## What speed dial does

A speed dial entry links a short code to a number that users dial often. Long international strings and other lengthy numbers no longer have to be memorized or typed out at the phone: the user enters a brief code instead. Once an entry exists, anyone on the system can reach that destination with an easy-to-recall code.

:::note
Speed dial is most useful for destinations that are hard to remember or slow to type, such as overseas numbers with long country and area codes.
:::

## How a speed dial code is built

Each speed dial entry combines two parts:

- **Speed Dial Number**: the short code you assign to stand in for the full phone number.
- **Prefix**: the code that tells Cloud Voice you are invoking speed dial. The prefix is `*89` by default.

The prefix always sits in front of the speed dial number. This keeps speed dial codes from colliding with your extension numbers, so dialing a speed dial code never accidentally rings an extension.

:::caution
The prefix exists to separate speed dial codes from your extension numbers. If you change it from the `*89` default, pick a prefix that does not overlap with your extension ranges or other feature codes, or calls may route to the wrong place. Tell your users whenever the prefix changes, because their old codes will stop working.
:::

## How users place a call

To reach a saved destination, a user dials the prefix followed by the speed dial number:

```
{prefix} + {speed_dial_number}
```

For example, if you assign the speed dial number `1` to the phone number `5503302`, a user dials `*891` to call `5503302`.

:::tip
Keep speed dial numbers short and easy to remember (for example `1`, `2`, `3`). The whole point is to save keystrokes, so the shorter the combined prefix and code, the more useful the entry is.
:::