Chapter 5. Dialplan Basics

Everything should be made as simple as possible,
but not simpler.

—Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

The dialplan is truly the heart of any Asterisk system, as it defines how Asterisk handles inbound and outbound calls. In a nutshell, it consists of a list of instructions or steps that Asterisk will follow. Unlike traditional phone systems, Asterisk's dialplan is fully customizable. To successfully set up your own Asterisk system, you will need to understand the dialplan.