Definition of AUTODIAL in Network Encyclopedia.

What is Autodial?

Autodial is a feature of Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT that maps network resources to phonebook entries. When a user or application tries to access a network resource, Network and Dial-up Connections in Windows 2000 (Dial-Up Network in Windows NT) automatically tries to establish a connection to the resource.

To configure autodial in Windows 2000, go to Control Panel in My Computer, and then open Network and Dial-up Connections. Choose Dial-up Preferences from the Advanced menu.

On the Autodial tab, select the check box next to the location where you want to enable autodial, and then click OK. To configure AutoDial in Windows NT, use the User Preferences dialog box for your phonebook entry.

Autodial won’t start if

Certain actions will not trigger AutoDial for Windows NT. These include:

• Pinging an IP address. (Pinging a fully qualified domain name, however, will cause AutoDial to engage.)
• Using both a dial-up and a local area network (LAN) connection. (AutoDial engages only after an attempt to connect over the LAN has failed.)