Forwarding your business calls to your receptionist

When you keep your current number, we give your receptionist a private number. You then tell your phone company to forward calls to it. The app shows the exact codes for your phone company, with your receptionist's number already filled in, and a “Dial” button that opens your keypad.

Set it up in the app

1. In your dashboard, tap “Assistants” and open your assistant.
2. Open the “Phone & website” tab. (Your assistant has to be live first. If it isn't, the page asks you to publish it.)
3. Tap “Add a number”, then “Keep my current number”.
4. Type your business phone number and tap “Set up forwarding”.
5. Step 1, “When should your assistant pick up?”: pick “When I don't answer” (recommended), “When I'm busy”, “Always” or “After hours only”.
6. Step 2: pick your phone company. The codes or steps for it appear underneath.
7. Tap “Dial” next to the code, press call, wait for the confirmation, then hang up. If the Dial button doesn't open your keypad (iPhones often block it), tap “Copy” and paste the code into your keypad.
8. Step 3: test it (see below), then tap “I've turned it on”.

Your dashboard then shows a line like “Forwarding: when you don't answer (set up on Oct 9)”, and later “a call reached your assistant on…” once a forwarded call gets through.

Which choice to pick

• “When I don't answer”: your phone rings first. If you don't pick up, your receptionist answers, so customers never hit voicemail.
• “When I'm busy”: if you're already on a call, the next caller goes to your receptionist instead of a busy tone.
• “Always”: every call goes straight to your receptionist. Your phone won't ring.
• “After hours only”: most phone companies can't switch forwarding on and off by the clock. Use “When I don't answer” instead: after hours you won't pick up, so your receptionist answers, and it already knows your opening hours. RingCentral and Grasshopper can forward only outside your hours (steps below).

In the codes below, the highlighted part is your receptionist's own number. The app fills it in for you, so the easiest way is to use the codes shown there.

AT&T (cell phones)

• Use your receptionist's 10-digit number.
• Dial each code on its own and wait for the confirmation before dialing the next.
• If your phone screens unknown callers for you (some Android phones do), turn that off, or those calls won't reach your assistant.

Verizon (cell phones)

• Set it up from the phone itself, while you're on Verizon's network (not roaming).
• Verizon doesn't list a code for forwarding only when you're busy. The “don't answer” code above is the closest. Whether it also catches calls while you're on another call can depend on your phone, so test it.
• If your phone screens unknown callers for you (some Android phones do), turn that off, or those calls won't reach your assistant.

T-Mobile or Mint

• Here the number starts with 1, then the 10 digits.
• Want your phone to ring longer first? Add **25 before the # in the “don't answer” code (any of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 seconds), for example **61*1{n}**25#.
• If your phone screens unknown callers for you (some Android phones do), turn that off, or those calls won't reach your assistant.

UScellular and other cell phones

Most other cell networks use the same standard codes as T-Mobile above (starting with **, then 1 and the 10 digits). If you see an error, your phone company can turn forwarding on for you.

RingCentral

1. Open the RingCentral app and go to Settings, then Phone, then Call handling, then Edit.
2. Choose “Work hours”.
3. Under “Missed calls”, pick “Forward to external number” and enter your receptionist's number.
4. Save. Your own phones still ring first; calls you miss go to your receptionist.

• Always: in Settings, Phone, Call handling, turn on “Forward all calls” and enter the number. Turn it off in the same place.
• After hours only: choose “After hours” instead of “Work hours” (use “Edit Schedule” to set your opening hours if you haven't), then set “Missed calls” the same way.
• To turn it off: set “Missed calls” back to voicemail and save.
• RingCentral treats calls you can't take as missed calls, so this covers busy times too.

Grasshopper

1. Sign in to Grasshopper on the web and open Extensions. Choose Edit on your extension.
2. Choose “Add a forwarding number” and enter your receptionist's number.
3. For how calls connect, choose “Calls will connect to you as soon as you pick up”. The other option asks the caller to press 1, which your receptionist can't do.
4. Pick when it should ring (for after hours only, choose a custom schedule covering the hours you're closed), then choose “Add this number”.

• Grasshopper rings your forwarding numbers in the order you set. Put your own phone first so you get the chance to answer.
• To turn it off, remove the forwarding number from the same extension.

Google Voice

Google Voice doesn't support forwarding to an answering service like your receptionist, so there's no reliable code or setting for it. Instead, get a new number for your receptionist (“Add another number”, then “Get a new number”) and give it to callers. You can also change your Google Voice voicemail greeting to tell callers they can reach your receptionist at the new number.

Ooma Office

• You can also do it at office.ooma.com: Settings, your line, Call Forwarding, Enabled. Set it back to “Disabled” to turn it off.
• Ooma's help pages don't show a setting to forward only the calls you don't answer. Call Ooma support and ask them to forward unanswered calls to your receptionist's number.
• At office.ooma.com you can choose “Enabled when devices offline” to send calls to your receptionist whenever your phones are off.
• If you use “Require key press” anywhere, turn it off. Your receptionist can't press keys.

Comcast Business

Dial from your business desk phone. If you hear a prompt instead, dial just the first part, then enter the number and press #.

Other office or home lines

These work on many home and office lines. Some lines want # at the end, and some need the feature added first.

Not sure who your phone company is?

It's on your phone bill. If it's a cell phone, one of these works on most phones: Verizon uses *71 and the number; most other cell phones use **61*1, the number and #. For an office line or phone app, call your phone company and ask them to forward calls to your receptionist's number.

Test it

1. From a different phone, call your business number.
2. For “When I don't answer”: don't pick up on your business phone. After a few rings the call should move to your receptionist. For “When I'm busy”, stay on another call while you call it. For “Always”, your business phone shouldn't ring at all.
3. Your receptionist should answer and greet you. The call then shows up in “Calls & chats”.

Calls you don't answer go to your assistant instead of your voicemail.