---
key: choose-how-phone-and-email-links-open
title: Choose how phone numbers and email addresses open
audience: staff
section: settings/communications
routes: ["/settings/org/communications-workflow"]
permissions: ["org.notifications.configure"]
features: ["settings.org.communications-workflow"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: Choose whether phone numbers and email addresses open Nova's calling and email tools or your device's apps, with separate defaults for computers and phones.
keywords: [click to call, softphone, phone app, mailto, email composer, tel link, open in Outlook, dialer, default dialer]
related: [set-who-covers-unassigned-conversations, set-up-escalation-for-late-conversations, send-an-email]
---

In the sidebar, open **Settings**, then choose **How Links Open** under **Communications**. The page address is `/settings/org/communications-workflow`. The page title reads **Communications Workflow**, and the section you want is **Contact launch defaults**.

## Before you start

- Your role needs permission to change organization notification settings. Otherwise the section shows a **Read-only** pill and the lists cannot be changed.
- These are organization-wide defaults. Each person can still pick something different for themselves under **Phone and email launch behavior** on the **Calling** tab of their profile; see [[set-up-calling-on-your-profile]].

## Steps

1. Scroll to **Contact launch defaults**.
2. Under **Desktop phone links**, choose **Browser softphone** or **System phone app**. The softphone opens Nova's call panel with the number filled in and waits for you to press dial; the phone app hands the number to whatever your computer uses for calls.
3. Under **Mobile phone links**, make the same choice for phones and tablets. Most people expect the phone's own dialer here.
4. Under **Desktop email links**, choose **Nova inbox composer**, which opens a new email in Nova with the address filled in, or **System mail app**.
5. Under **Mobile email links**, choose the same for phones.
6. Watch the pill in the section header: it reads **Autosave queued**, then **Saving**, then **Saved**. These choices have no save button.

## What you see

- The choices apply anywhere in the app a phone number or email address is shown as a link.
- The **Browser softphone** choice never dials on its own. It stages the call so you can check the number first.
- On a computer, a person who has not picked their own email choice is asked each time: **How do you want to send this email?** Your default is the highlighted button, **Use Nova** or **Use my email app**. Ticking **Remember my choice** saves their pick to their profile.
- Email links open Nova's composer only for people allowed to read and send email in Nova. Everyone else gets their own mail app.
- The **Coverage resources** section links to **Manage phone lines** and **Manage email inboxes**, where lines and mailboxes are set up.

## If something looks different

- A teammate says numbers still open their phone app: they set their own preference on their profile, which wins over the organization default, or their browser softphone is turned off or their role cannot place calls. See [[set-up-a-phone-line]].
- A number opens the phone's dialer although **Mobile phone links** is **Browser softphone**: the softphone only shows on a phone or tablet for people who turned on **Enable on mobile and tablet web** on their profile. Everyone else gets the dialer.
- The pill stays on **Autosave queued** after an error message: the save failed. Change the choice again to retry, or reload the page and check whether it held.

[[route:/settings/org/communications-workflow|Open Workflow settings]]