How to forward your business calls to an AI receptionist

Before you start

You'll need:

• The number to forward to. When you sign up, we give you the number your receptionist answers on.
• Access to your phone line: the desk phone itself, your carrier's online account, or your VoIP admin portal.
• To know whether forwarding is on your plan. Most business lines include basic call forwarding. Some carriers only include "busy" and "no answer" forwarding with certain packages. If a code doesn't work, call your carrier and ask for the feature to be added.

Test before you rely on it. After turning forwarding on, call your business number from another phone and make sure the receptionist answers. Then test turning it off.

Carriers change their systems from time to time. The codes below come from each carrier's own support pages at the time of writing; if something doesn't work, check the linked page or call your carrier. We're also happy to walk you through it during setup.

Choose how you want to forward

There are three common patterns:

Many businesses use busy and no answer during the day and all calls after hours.

Bell (business landlines)

Bell's small-business support lists these codes for traditional lines (Bell: How to use call forwarding):

Forward all calls

1. Lift the receiver and dial *72 followed by the 10-digit number to forward to.
2. Listen for two beeps, then hang up.
3. To turn it off: lift the receiver, dial *73, listen for two beeps and hang up.

Forward when busy

1. Dial *90, then enter the number when prompted.
2. To turn it off: dial *91.

Forward when there's no answer (after about four rings)

1. Dial *92 followed by the number.
2. To turn it off: dial *93.

Bell notes that busy and no-answer forwarding are only available with certain packages. If you use a Bell cloud phone system such as Total Connect, forwarding is set in that system's portal or with its own feature codes instead.

Rogers (business and home phone)

Rogers' support lists *92 to forward calls when there's no answer (enter the 10-digit number when prompted) and *93 to turn it off (Rogers: Forward calls when there's no answer). Rogers also offers forwarding of all calls and forwarding when the line is busy, described in its related support articles. Rogers notes that call forwarding can only send calls to Canadian and US numbers.

Many Rogers business customers use Rogers' hosted phone services, where forwarding is set in the online portal. If your line doesn't respond to star codes, check your portal or contact Rogers Business support.

Telus (business lines)

Telus offers Call Forward on office phones, and forwarding on its hosted business systems. Codes and options depend on the service and your region, so follow Telus's own instructions: Telus Business: Call Forward on your office phone. On Telus hosted systems, forwarding rules are set in the online portal (Telus Business: Forward incoming calls).

Other landline providers

Many Canadian providers use the same standard codes as the ones above: *72 / *73 for all calls, *90 / *91 for busy and *92 / *93 for no answer. These are common North American feature codes, but they aren't guaranteed on every line. Check with your provider if they don't work.

Cell phones (Bell, Rogers, Telus, Fido, Koodo, Virgin and others)

If your business number is a cell phone, you can usually set forwarding in the phone's settings (on iPhone: Settings > Phone > Call Forwarding; on Android: Phone app > Settings > Calls > Call forwarding). Most Canadian carriers also support these standard GSM codes, dialled like a phone number:

Replace "number" with the full number, including area code. For "not answered", some phones let you set how long it rings first, for example **61*number**20# for 20 seconds; not every carrier supports this. Some carriers charge for forwarded calls or require forwarding to be on your plan, so check with yours.

Tip: "Forward when not answered" plus "forward when unreachable" is a good combination for owners on the move. Your phone rings as normal; if you're busy, out of signal or your battery dies, the receptionist picks up.

VoIP and cloud phone systems

VoIP systems (such as RingCentral, Microsoft Teams Phone, Zoom Phone, 8x8, Vonage, Nextiva, Dialpad and many others) handle forwarding with rules in their admin portal or app, rather than star codes. The typical steps are:

1. Sign in to your admin portal and open the settings for your main number, auto-attendant or call queue.
2. Find call handling, call forwarding, routing rules or overflow.
3. Add the receptionist's number as an external forwarding destination.
4. Choose when it applies: always, when no one answers after a set number of rings or seconds, when all agents are busy, or outside business hours.
5. Save, then test from an outside phone.

Business hours: most VoIP systems let you set business hours once and route calls differently during and after them. This is the easiest way to send after-hours calls to your receptionist automatically every day.

Queues: if you use a call queue or ring group, set the receptionist as the overflow destination for when nobody answers within a set time.

Setting up after-hours forwarding without VoIP

Traditional landlines usually don't switch forwarding on a schedule by themselves. You have three options:

• Dial the code at closing and turn it off in the morning. Simple, but easy to forget.
• Use your carrier's online portal, if it supports scheduled forwarding.
• Forward all calls, all the time, and have the receptionist transfer calls to you during business hours. This is often the most reliable approach, and your callers can't tell the difference.

Troubleshooting

• I hear a fast busy signal or an error. The feature may not be on your line. Ask your carrier to add call forwarding.
• Calls still ring my phone. Forwarding may not have saved. Dial the "off" code, then turn it on again and listen for the confirmation tone.
• Only some calls are forwarded. Check whether you set "busy" or "no answer" instead of "all calls".
• Forwarding works but I want my phone to ring first. Switch from "all calls" to "no answer" forwarding.
• I'm being charged for forwarded calls. Some plans charge for forwarding, especially on cell phones. Ask your carrier about a business plan with forwarding included.

Caller ID, voicemail and other things to check

A few details are worth checking once forwarding is on:

• Caller ID. When calls are forwarded, your receptionist normally sees the original caller's number, so summaries show who called. If you see your own number instead, ask your carrier whether caller ID is passed through on forwarded calls.
• Your existing voicemail. If your line sends unanswered calls to voicemail after a few rings, "no answer" forwarding may compete with it. Most carriers let forwarding take priority, but some require voicemail to be turned off or set to answer later. Test by letting a call ring out.
• Ring time. With "no answer" forwarding, callers hear your phone ring first. Too many rings and some will hang up before the receptionist answers; about four rings (roughly 20 seconds) is a common setting.
• Multiple lines and hunt groups. If your business has several lines that roll over to each other, set forwarding on the last line in the group, or on the main number, so calls aren't forwarded before your team has a chance to answer.
• Transfers back to you. If the receptionist transfers calls to a cell phone, make sure that phone isn't also forwarding back to the receptionist, or calls can loop.
• Toll-free numbers. Toll-free numbers are usually routed through your provider's portal rather than star codes. Ask your provider to point the number, or its overflow, to the receptionist.

Keeping your number and your options

Forwarding doesn't change your number, your listing or your phone bill's account holder. You can turn it off at any time and everything goes back to how it was. That makes it low-risk to try: every Wirepilot AI plan starts with a 7-day free trial, and we'll help you set up forwarding during your setup call.

What happens after you forward

Once calls reach your receptionist, it answers on the first ring, handles the call the way we set up together and sends you a summary by text and email. See how it works, or read about after-hours answering and call transfer.