How to Forward Calls to an Answering Service: 2026 Carrier Codes

How do you forward calls to an answering service?

Three steps:

1. Decide when calls should go to the service: when nobody picks up, after hours, or always.
2. Set call forwarding on your phone carrier or business phone system to the service's number.
3. Test it from a different phone before you rely on it.

Codes and steps on the main carriers:

• T-Mobile: forwards unanswered calls with **61*1 plus the 10-digit number and #.
• Verizon wireless: forwards unanswered or busy calls with *71 plus the number.
• AT&T wireless: doesn't publish codes; you set forwarding in the phone's call settings.
• Business phone systems such as RingCentral, Grasshopper, Nextiva, Dialpad and Quo have an after-hours rule instead.

Every code and menu path below was checked on the carrier's or vendor's own support page on October 23, 2026, and each one is linked in the sources. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this guide says so instead of guessing. It is written for restoration, HVAC and plumbing companies sending after-hours and overflow calls to an answering service, including ours.

Pick a forwarding mode first

Mobile carriers forward on no answer, busy or always, but they do not publish an after-hours schedule. For an after-hours mode on a mobile line, turn forwarding on at close and off in the morning, or use a business phone system with a schedule.

Mobile phones

T-Mobile

Dial these from the phone whose calls you want to forward. NNNNNNNNNN is the answering service's 10-digit number.

T-Mobile writes its forwarding codes with two stars at the start. One-star versions circulate on other sites, but they are not on T-Mobile's page. T-Mobile's page does not say whether forwarded calls use plan minutes, so check your plan.

Verizon (wireless)

How it works:

• Listen for the confirmation beeps, then wait for the call to end.
• The no-answer forward happens after a fixed number of rings, which Verizon's pages put at three to six.
• You can also turn forwarding on and off in My Verizon.

Limits and cost:

• The destination must be an active US number, entered with its area code.
• Verizon says airtime applies to forwarded calls, and plans without unlimited minutes are billed for them.

AT&T (wireless)

No published codes. AT&T's support pages don't list dial codes for conditional forwarding. AT&T says forwarding settings can only be changed from the phone itself: on smartphones, through the phone app's call settings, under call forwarding.

Forward when unanswered: check your phone's call settings, or ask AT&T to set it up.

Cost: AT&T bills forwarded calls for their full length, and long-distance or roaming charges can apply. On some plans, forwarded minutes don't count against the plan's minutes.

Busy service: if the number you forward to is busy, AT&T says your caller hears a busy signal. Ask your answering service how many calls it takes at the same time.

Landlines and business voice lines

Notes by carrier:

• AT&T traditional home phone: AT&T's page sends busy and no-answer forwarding to its support line, 800.288.2020.
• Spectrum Business: the same settings are online, under Business Phone, Manage Settings, Call Forwarding. The codes can vary by area.
• Comcast: the VoiceEdge codes come from a 2017 phone guide. For standard Comcast Business Voice, use the online portal or ask Comcast.
• Every carrier: landline carriers may charge local or long-distance rates on forwarded calls.

Business phone systems

RingCentral.

• In the app, open Settings > Phone > Call handling and edit the after-hours rules.
• Under Missed calls, choose to forward to an external number.
• Set your business hours first: if your hours are 24/7, the after-hours settings simply match your work hours.
• To forward every call, Call rules > Forward all calls lets you add a schedule.

Google Voice.

• Add the answering service's number under Settings > Account > Linked numbers and verify it, then turn it on under Settings > Calls > Call forwarding.
• Google says forwarding a Google Voice number to an automated system is unsupported, and Do Not Disturb sends calls to voicemail rather than forwarding them.
• If your answering service uses an AI agent, test it carefully, or forward from your carrier line instead.

Grasshopper.

• In the admin portal, edit the extension, add a forwarding number, and choose when it receives calls on a schedule.
• Grasshopper's call announce asks whoever answers to accept the call before it connects, so check it works with your service, or turn it off for that number.

Nextiva.

• Use selective call forwarding in the voice portal: add a condition for your after-hours schedule and forward to the service's number.
• On a user, selective forwarding does not forward call-group or call-center calls.

Dialpad.

• Routing is under Admin settings > Office > Main line > Business hours and call routing, where closed-hours routing handles evenings and weekends.
• Dialpad asks you to contact its support before routing to a number outside Dialpad.

Quo (formerly OpenPhone).

• In the call flow builder, add a Forward call step after the business-hours step, or after the step that rings your team, so unanswered calls go out.
• Quo forwards to US and Canadian numbers only.
• It doesn't record or transcribe forwarded calls, and it counts them double toward usage.
• Forwarded calls keep the original caller's number as caller ID.

If you use call tracking (CallRail)

If your ads show a CallRail tracking number, leave the carrier forwarding alone and route inside CallRail instead.

1. In the tracking number's call flow, add a Schedule step.
2. Send your business hours to the office.
3. Send "any other time" to the answering service.

CallRail's own example of the Schedule step routes after-hours calls to a call center. Test from a phone that is not part of the flow.

Check caller ID and cost before you go live

Caller ID.

• The answering service needs the caller's number to call back, so check what it sees on a forwarded call.
• Quo keeps the caller's number, and Grasshopper lets you choose what forwarded calls show. Most carriers' pages don't say, so ask the service to read back the number you called from during the test below.

Cost.

• AT&T bills forwarded calls for their full length.
• Verizon applies airtime.
• Quo counts forwarded calls double.

Forwarding a few hundred calls a month can show up on your phone bill as well as the answering service's.

Test before you rely on it

Run this the day you turn forwarding on, and again after any change to your phone system:

1. Turn forwarding on, then call your business number from a different phone. In no-answer mode, let it ring out.
2. Confirm the service greets callers with your company name.
3. Describe a real emergency for your trade: a ceiling leaking with water still coming in, or no heat with a baby in the house. Confirm your on-call person gets the alert.
4. Ask the service to read back the number you called from, to check caller ID.
5. If you use no-answer mode, call during business hours and confirm your office still rings first.
6. Turn forwarding off and on once, so the person who closes the office knows how.

If a step fails, leave forwarding off and fix it first. A forwarding mistake sends real emergencies to a dead end.

How Botcadence handles forwarding

Setup:

• You keep your number and choose the mode: after hours, on overflow when nobody answers, or 24/7.
• We set up the agent with you in about 5 business days. You place test calls like the ones above before you turn forwarding on.
• The agent answers calls up to your account's concurrent-call limit.

By trade:

• Restoration companies run the AI receptionist for restoration.
• HVAC and plumbing companies run the AI receptionist for HVAC.
• Any business can start from the after-hours answering service.

The restoration answering service page has the price and a live demo line you can call to hear how a forwarded call is answered.