How to forward business calls when you can't answer

Two kinds of forwarding, and which one you want

Carriers offer forwarding in two forms, and picking the wrong one is the most common mistake.

• Forward every call. Your phone does not ring at all. Every caller goes straight to the other number. Use it when you are truly unreachable: a day off, a job with no signal, a holiday.
• Forward only unanswered calls. Your phone rings first. If you do not pick up, the call moves to the other number. Use it on a normal working day, when you answer what you can and want a backup for the rest.

Most owners who miss calls during jobs want the second kind. If you are not sure how many calls you miss or when, the 20-minute missed-call audit gives you the count from your own phone records first.

The codes, by carrier

These come from each carrier's own support page, linked under Sources. Dial them from the phone whose calls you want to forward.

Verizon

• Forward every call: dial *72 and the 10-digit number, for example *72-908-123-4567.
• Forward only unanswered calls: dial *71 and the 10-digit number.
• Turn forwarding off: dial *73. You should hear a confirmation tone or message.

Source: Verizon's call forwarding page.

AT&T wireless

• Forward every call: dial *21*, then the 10-digit number, then #.
• Turn forwarding off: dial #21#.
• AT&T says to wait at least three seconds for a confirmation tone before you hang up, both when turning it on and when turning it off.

Source: AT&T's call forwarding page.

Other carriers and office phone systems

Every carrier has its own codes, and they are not all the same, so do not borrow one from a different carrier. Look up "call forwarding" in your carrier's support pages or in your account. Many phones also have a call forwarding switch in the phone app's settings, which sets the same thing without a code. Office phone systems and internet phone services usually have it in the account website, often with a schedule, so that forwarding switches on by itself after closing time. Before you set a schedule, count which hours your missed calls fall in.

Where to send the calls

Forwarding only helps if somebody answers at the other end. The usual choices:

1. A second person. A partner, an office manager or a family member who knows your prices and your calendar. Tell them it is switched on, and agree on what they say and what they write down: name, number, address, what is wrong, how urgent.
2. An office line or a second phone that someone is sitting next to.
3. A number that rings several phones. Google Voice, for example, rings your linked phones when its number is called, and Google says you can link up to 6 numbers. Whoever is free picks up.
4. An answering service, where a person takes a message for a fee. Ask what they charge per call or per minute and how the message reaches you.

Whichever you choose, the person answering needs a way to hand the lead back to you the same hour. A shared note, a text to you, or one sheet of paper by the phone all work. A message nobody passes on is a missed call with extra steps.

What it costs and where it stops working

Read your own plan, because the details differ. Verizon's call forwarding page is a good example of what to look for:

• Fee: Verizon says there is no monthly fee for call forwarding on most plans, and that a fee may apply on certain older plans.
• Minutes: if your plan counts minutes, forwarded calls are billed as if you had answered them on your mobile, even when they go to a landline.
• Where it can go: the number you forward to has to be an active US line with a 10-digit number that can take voice calls. Calls cannot be forwarded to international numbers.
• Setting it up: you need the mobile phone itself, inside the carrier's coverage. If you set it up before you travel, it should keep working while you are away.
• Texts: forwarding applies to calls only, not text messages.

That last line matters more every year. A customer who texts your business number while calls are forwarded reaches nobody at the other phone. If customers text you, check that phone yourself at set times.

Test it in five minutes

1. Turn forwarding on and wait for the confirmation.
2. Call your business number from a different phone. Count the rings before the other number starts ringing.
3. Let it ring out without anyone answering, and listen to which voicemail greeting plays. If it is the other person's private greeting, your caller will be confused. Fix the greeting or pick a different number.
4. Turn forwarding off, wait for the confirmation, and call again to make sure your own phone rings.
5. Put a reminder in your calendar for the time you plan to switch it off. Forwarding left on by accident is how owners lose a whole morning of calls to someone else's phone.

Once calls are reaching someone, the response time quiz checks the other half: how fast a new caller hears back.

When forwarding is not enough

Forwarding moves the problem to another person. It works when that person exists and is free. It does not help at 9 PM, when you are a one-person business, or when three calls come in at once. For those hours the choices are a clear voicemail greeting that says when you will call back, fixed call-back times, and a short text reply to the missed caller. The message templates by trade have wording you can copy, and the missed calls calculator shows what the calls you still miss could be worth, using your own numbers.

Where NewFrontDesk fits

NewFrontDesk is being built for the calls forwarding cannot save: when a call is missed, the caller gets a text from your business number and the reply lands in one inbox. It is in test mode today and cannot send a real text yet. The status board shows exactly what works, and this page explains the design. Nothing in this guide needs it.

Sources

• Verizon: Call Forwarding FAQs
• AT&T: Call Forwarding (wireless support)
• Google Voice Help: forward calls to linked numbers

Carriers change codes and fees. If a code here does not work, your carrier's page is the final word.