Forward your business number, test it, and know how to undo it.
Call forwarding tells your phone provider to send calls from the number you already have to another number, such as the line a receptionist answers. The number stays on your account. Conditional forwarding sends only the calls you do not pick up; unconditional forwarding sends every call. Below are the steps each major provider publishes, copied from its own help page, then how to test the setup and how to turn it off.
What forwarding changes, and what it does not
Forwarding is a setting on your phone line. Your provider keeps the number, you keep paying for the line, and customers keep dialing the number on your truck, your website and your Google listing. When forwarding is on, the provider hands each call to the number you chose. When you turn it off, calls ring your line again.
Porting is the other way to change who answers, and it is a different operation: the number itself moves to a new carrier, and undoing it means porting it again. Forwarding is the simpler way to try a new answering setup, because turning it off is one code or one switch. Chleb's published position is that the receptionist keeps your existing business number, and your phone provider is confirmed on the integration check before you commit.
Two limits are worth knowing before you start. Forwarding moves calls, not text messages: Verizon says so on its own page, so check how texts to your number are handled before you rely on text replies. And forwarded calls are billed: AT&T and Verizon both say forwarded calls are charged under your plan like other calls, with long-distance charges possible when you forward outside your home calling area.
Conditional or unconditional forwarding
Unconditional forwarding, which providers call forward all calls or call forwarding always, sends every call straight to the other number. Verizon's page puts it plainly: when Call Forwarding is on, your mobile phone won't ring. Use it when you want the receptionist to take every call, for example after hours or while the whole crew is on jobs.
Conditional forwarding sends a call only in certain conditions: nobody answers after a set number of rings, the line is busy, or the phone is off or out of range. Your team still answers first, and only the calls that would have gone to voicemail move on. It is the gentler way to start, because nothing changes for the calls you already catch. Most providers let you set the conditions separately, and some let you choose how long the line rings before the call moves.
You can switch between the two whenever you like with the codes or settings below. One way to combine them is conditional forwarding during business hours and unconditional forwarding at night. RingCentral supports that directly with separate work-hours and after-hours rules; on the other providers listed here you switch by dialing the codes again.
AT&T Business Digital Phone and AT&T Phone
Dial these from the line you are forwarding, exactly as the provider prints them. Copied from its help page, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Forward every call: press *72, enter the forwarding number, then press #. Turn it off: *73#.
Forward only calls nobody answers: press *92, enter the forwarding number, then press #. Turn it off: *93#.
Forward calls while the line is busy: press *90, enter the forwarding number, then press #. Turn it off: *91#.
AT&T also lists Safe Call Forwarding, which sends calls to another number when there is a service disruption: press *372, enter the forwarding number, then press #. Turn it off with *373#.
AT&T notes that not every feature can be managed with a star code. The others are in its phone portal.
AT&T wireless
AT&T documents wireless forwarding as a setting on the phone rather than a code on its help page. Copied from its help page, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Change the setting on the phone itself. AT&T says that for security, wireless call forwarding can only be changed from the wireless phone and cannot be managed online, and its device tutorials show where the setting is on each model.
AT&T says call forwarding overrides your wireless voicemail.
If the number you forward to is busy, AT&T says callers to your number hear a busy signal.
AT&T bills forwarded calls for the length of the call, and long-distance charges apply when you forward to a number outside your home calling area.
Verizon mobile lines
Dial these from the line you are forwarding, exactly as the provider prints them. Copied from its help articles, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Forward every call: call *72 plus the 10-digit number. Turn it off: *73.
Forward calls you do not answer and calls that arrive while you are on the phone: call *71 plus the 10-digit number. Turn it off: *73. Verizon's article calls *71 Conditional Call Forwarding and says your phone rings three or four times before an unanswered call is forwarded.
Verizon's FAQ says Call Forwarding can only be managed from the mobile phone itself, not remotely, though its call forwarding article says Conditional Call Forwarding can also be turned on in My Verizon.
The number you forward to must be an active, voice-capable line in the US, dialed with all 10 digits.
Verizon says Call Forwarding moves calls only. Text messages are not forwarded.
When you turn it off with *73, the confirmation you hear may sound like a busy signal.
T-Mobile
Dial these from the line you are forwarding, exactly as the provider prints them. Copied from its help page, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Forward every call: **21* 1+PhoneNumber #. Turn it off: ##21#.
Forward only calls nobody answers: **61* 1+PhoneNumber #. Turn it off: ##61#.
Forward calls while the line is busy: **67* 1+PhoneNumber #. Turn it off: ##67#.
Where T-Mobile writes 1+PhoneNumber, dial a 1 and then the 10-digit number you are forwarding to.
For calls that arrive while the phone is off or out of range, T-Mobile lists **62* 1+PhoneNumber #, and ##62# to turn it off.
##004# resets call forwarding to the default.
The same page lists a code for how long the phone rings before a no-answer forward, from a 5 second up to a 30 second delay.
Comcast Business Voice and VoiceEdge Select
Dial these from the line you are forwarding, exactly as the provider prints them. Copied from its help page, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Forward every call: press *72, then dial the 10-digit number and stay on the line until it is answered, or press *72 again within two minutes. Turn it off: *73.
Forward only calls nobody answers: press *92, then dial the number at the second dial tone. Turn it off: *93.
Forward calls while the line is busy: press *90, then dial the number at the second dial tone. Turn it off: *91.
Comcast describes Call Forwarding Not Reachable as a disaster-recovery feature that forwards calls when your service is down from a power or network outage. *58 opens its menu and *59 turns it off.
Comcast says these features can also be managed online in My Account, though not for every account type, and that Business VoiceEdge customers have a separate article.
Spectrum Business and Spectrum Voice lines
Dial these from the line you are forwarding, exactly as the provider prints them. Copied from its help articles, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Forward every call: dial *72, wait for the dial tone, dial the number, then press #. Turn it off: *73.
Forward only calls nobody answers: *92. Turn it off: *93. Spectrum's handset steps for this give only the code, with no step for entering the number, so choose the number online: sign in, choose Services, then Business Phone, then Manage Settings, select Missed Calls under Call Forwarding, choose Forward to Phone Number, and select Save.
Forward calls while the line is busy: *90. Turn it off: *91. Spectrum's handset steps for this give only the code, with no step for entering the number, so choose the number online: sign in, choose Services, then Business Phone, then Manage Settings, select Busy Line under Call Forwarding, choose Forward to Phone Number, and select Save.
Spectrum calls no-answer forwarding Missed Calls: calls go to the other number when the line is not answered after a set number of rings.
The same settings are online: sign in, choose Services, then Business Phone, then Manage Settings, and pick Forward to Phone Number in the Call Forwarding section.
Spectrum says to include 1 and the area code when the number needs them. You hear a confirmation tone when forwarding turns on.
RingCentral
RingCentral documents forwarding as settings in its app rather than star codes. Copied from its help articles, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Only calls nobody answers: in the RingCentral app, open Settings, then Phone, then Incoming call rules. Under If no one answers, choose Forward the call and enter the number. How long devices ring first can be set from 1 ring (5 seconds) to 15 rings (75 seconds). With a work-hours schedule, set the After hours rules too.
Every call: click your profile picture, open Call rules, choose Forward all calls, set the Incoming calls dropdown to Forward the call, click Number, enter the number and save. The Forward all calls toggle turns it off.
RingCentral says Forward all calls is available only if your admin has given you call handling permissions.
While Forward all calls is on, a banner in the app says calls are being forwarded.
Google Voice
Google Voice documents forwarding as linked numbers rather than star codes. Copied from its help page, read September 28, 2026 and linked under Sources.
Google Voice forwards to linked numbers. In Settings, under Account and then Linked numbers, add a new linked number and enter the code Google sends by text to a mobile number or by a phone call to a landline. Under Calls, the Call forwarding switches turn each linked number on or off.
Google's help page says: "Forwarding calls from your Google Voice number to an automated system is unsupported." It points anyone who needs that to a Google Workspace auto attendant.
You can link up to 6 numbers, and a number already linked to another Google Voice number cannot be linked again.
How to test it before you rely on it
Test from a different phone than the one you forwarded, the way a customer would call. Write down the codes you used before you start, so you can undo them without looking anything up.
Chleb's published setup runs test calls before your number goes live, and it is still worth running these yourself whenever you change a forwarding setting, a phone plan or a provider.
Unconditional: call your business number. Your own phone should not ring, and the call should reach the number you forwarded to.
Conditional, no answer: call and let it ring. Count the rings before it moves, and change the delay if your provider offers one and it feels too short or too long.
Conditional, busy: call from a second phone while the line is on another call.
After hours: if you forward on a schedule, repeat the tests at night.
Undo: turn forwarding off with the off code or setting, call again, and confirm your own phone rings.
How to undo it
Because the number never left your account, undoing forwarding is the same kind of step as setting it up. These are the off codes and settings from the same provider pages:
AT&T business line: *73#, *93#, *91#, depending on which forwarding you turned on.
AT&T wireless: turn forwarding off in the phone's call forwarding setting.
Verizon mobile: *73.
T-Mobile: ##21#, ##61#, ##67#, or ##004# to reset all forwarding.
Comcast Business: *73, *93, *91, depending on which forwarding you turned on.
Spectrum: *73, *93, *91, depending on which forwarding you turned on.
RingCentral: turn the Forward all calls toggle off, or set If no one answers back to voicemail.
Google Voice: under Calls, switch the linked number off under Call forwarding. Google notes that this does not remove the linked number.
Verification
Checked on September 28, 2026: every code and step on this page was copied from the provider help page linked under Sources, as that page read on that date. That covers AT&T's star code article for Business Digital Phone and AT&T Phone and its wireless call forwarding article, Verizon's Call Forwarding FAQs and its article Call Forwarding: Everything You Need to Know, which says *71 also forwards calls that arrive while the line is busy, T-Mobile's self-service and short codes page, Comcast Business's call forwarding article for Business Voice phones, Spectrum's phone features and star codes article and its Spectrum Business call forwarding features article, three RingCentral articles, and Google Voice Help. Both Spectrum pages were checked for a handset step that enters the number after *92 or *90, and neither has one.
Not tested: none of these codes were dialed on a live line for this guide, and nothing here was checked on your account or your plan. It does not cover how caller ID appears after forwarding, Business VoiceEdge or other providers' enterprise products, or Spectrum Enterprise accounts, whose separate page could not be loaded when this was checked. Providers change these pages. If a code here differs from your provider's current page, your provider's page is right.
Questions buyers ask
Do I lose my business number if I forward it?
No. Forwarding is a setting on your line, so the number and the account stay with your provider. Porting is what moves a number to a new carrier. Chleb's published position is that the receptionist keeps your existing business number, and your provider is checked on the integration check before you commit.
Should I forward every call or only the ones I miss?
Start with conditional forwarding if your team answers most calls during the day, so only the calls that would reach voicemail move on. Use unconditional forwarding when nobody can answer, such as after hours or during a storm closure.
Will text messages forward too?
Not through call forwarding. Verizon's page says Call Forwarding moves calls only and does not forward texts. Check how texts to your number are handled before you rely on replies by text.
Can I forward a Google Voice number to an AI receptionist?
Google's help page says forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system is unsupported, and points to a Google Workspace auto attendant instead. Raise it on the integration check before planning around it.