"Your call cannot be completed as dialed" when forwarding external call to external number

We have just built a FreePBX distro server (FreePBX 64bit Distro 10.13.66) running FreePBX13.0.188.8.

We have an On-Call technician that the main gets forwarded to after hours. In previous versions, I created an extension, and call forwarded it to the cell phone number. This worked well.

Now, with that same setup, I can make it work by dialing the forwarded extension from an internal phone. But as soon as the extension is dialed from an outside line, it plays the message “Your call cannot be completed as dialed” as if the external call does not have access to create an outgoing call.

Is there a switch somewhere that allows external calls to use an outbound route? The forward works perfectly if used from an internal extension.

Thank you for any ideas! I would be pleased to include any configuration files that might be applicable.

Most likely you are using SIP trunks and trying to forward the foreign Caller ID to the tech in the field.

The easiest way around this is to use a P-Asserted Identity with your SIP trunk.

If you can’s do that, set the trunk (or a specific route just for his CEL phone) to override the Caller ID to a number that is allowed outbound on your trunk.

Also, to get to the specific error, look through your /var/log/asterisk/full log file and find out if the recording is from your server or from your provider. This will help you understand the limits of the issue.

If your system is playing the recording, it means that something in your config is unhappy - the lines immediately in front of the recording should tell you what the actual error was.

If the provider is playing the recording, it’s probably what Greg pointed out - that your outbound provider won’t let the call pass.

I posted a note a couple of days ago about how I set up my system (using a different outbound trunk) to pass incoming SIP calls out without trying to reflect the calls back to the incoming provider.