How to forward your calls without changing your number

You keep your business number. Your phone carrier sends calls on to your phone assistant: every call, or only the ones you don't pick up.

What a forwarding code does

Your phone company can pass your calls on to another number. You turn that on by dialing a short code on your phone, the same way you dial a phone number. There's no app to install, and your customers keep calling the same number they always have.

An example. Mike runs a roofing company and his business line is with Verizon. His phone assistant has its own phone number, say (215) 555-0123. Mike opens the phone app, dials *71 215 555 0123 and presses call. He hears a short confirmation tone and hangs up. That's the whole setup.

From then on, when a homeowner calls Mike's business number, his phone rings as usual. If he doesn't pick up after a few rings, Verizon sends the call to the assistant, which answers as Mike's company and books the inspection. If Mike wants the assistant to answer every call instead, he dials *72 in place of *71. To stop forwarding, he dials *73.

Your carrier decides how many rings come before a call moves on. Some carriers let you change that number.

Decide which calls to forward

• Every call. Your assistant answers everything, day and night, and your phone doesn't ring. If you add a transfer number, callers with an emergency, or anyone who asks for a person, can be put through to you. This is regular call forwarding.
• Unanswered calls. Your phone rings first. If nobody picks up, the call goes to your phone assistant. Carriers call this conditional call forwarding.
• Busy and unanswered calls. This also catches the second caller while you're already on the line with someone.

Codes for the big US mobile carriers

Dial these from the phone that carries your business number and press call. Put your assistant's number where it says "number". For the codes that start with **, use the full number with 1 in front, for example **61*12155550123#.

Verizon's help pages list *72 plus the 10-digit number to forward every call, *71 to forward only when you're busy or don't answer, and *73 to turn forwarding off. With *71 your phone still rings several times first, so you get the chance to pick up.^{1, 3}

The codes that start with ** and ## are the standard GSM codes from the 3GPP specification.² Carriers can handle them differently on some plans, so check the result with the status code.

Prepaid lines, business plans and some phones can use different codes. If a code doesn't stick, your carrier's support line can set up forwarding for you.

Office phones and cloud phone systems

If your business line runs on a desk phone system or a cloud phone service, forwarding is a setting in its admin panel, often under a name like "forward when unanswered" or "call handling". The idea is the same: send every call, or the ones nobody answers after a few rings, to your assistant's number.

What happens to voicemail

For the calls you forward, your assistant answers instead of your voicemail box. Conditional forwarding uses the same "no answer" path that normally sends callers to voicemail, so those calls stop landing there.

Test it before a customer calls

1. From a different phone, call your business number and let it ring.
2. Check that your assistant answers, not your voicemail.
3. Book a test inspection. Make sure it shows up in your Google Calendar and that the alert reaches your phone.
4. Call back and cancel it, so the time opens up again.
5. If you forward after-hours calls, repeat the test in the evening.