Forward missed calls from a VoIP line or landline

RingCentral has two versions of this screen, and both work. In the desktop or web app: Settings, then Phone, scroll to Call handling, click Edit. Under Incoming calls, set how your own phones ring (Ring in order or Ring all at once). Under Missed calls, choose Forward to external number and enter your BeepBack number. In the Admin Portal or the mobile app the same screen is called Incoming call rules (Users, the user, Phone, Incoming call rules; on mobile, tap your profile picture, then Incoming call rules). Under Ring settings, pick how long your phones ring, from 1 ring (5 seconds) to 15 rings (75 seconds); four rings is about right. Under If no one answers, choose Forward the call and enter your BeepBack number. Leave Forward all calls off; that one silences your phone. RingCentral counts the forwarded leg as an outbound call on your plan.

Two settings decide whether BeepBack sees your customer or sees you. Both live under Incoming call information (in the Admin Portal: Users, the user, Phone, then Incoming call information; in the app it sits under Call handling, then Settings). First, the number RingCentral shows on a forwarded call: keep it on Incoming caller ID, never Dialed number. Dialed number hands BeepBack your own RingCentral number, so the text-back goes to your business line instead of the customer who called. Leave the option that displays your main RingCentral number for blocked or unknown callers off for the same reason. Second, Play announcement before connecting: set the Direct calls dropdown to Never. RingCentral’s own note on that choice reads “Select this option if calls are forwarded to an answering service,” and that is what BeepBack is here. Any other choice makes RingCentral ask the answering party to press 1 before connecting; BeepBack answers automatically and never presses it, so every forwarded call would die in that prompt. Leave Require my PIN to answer off too.

If your main number is answered by a company greeting or a call queue, put the rule where the call actually rings. The Missed calls rule above belongs to one user, and it only catches calls that reach that user’s extension. A company greeting (RingCentral’s auto-receptionist or IVR menu) that sends callers to your extension is fine: set the rule on that extension. A call queue is different: the queue has its own Wait settings for calls its members do not answer, and the option there is Forward to external number (RingCentral also calls it Unconditional Forwarding); enter your BeepBack number there. Check the company’s after-hours rule too: if it sends callers straight to company voicemail, no extension rings and nothing forwards. Then run the test from a phone that is not yours and look at the number on your dashboard. It has to be that phone’s number. If your own RingCentral number shows up instead, switch Incoming call information back to Incoming caller ID, or email hello@getbeepback.com and we will map it with you.

If you ever set up a missed-call auto-reply in RingCentral Automator, switch it off under My automations, or the caller gets a one-line text from RingCentral and then the conversation from BeepBack. To undo: set Missed calls (or If no one answers) back to Send to voicemail. More on how the two fit together: BeepBack behind a RingCentral line.

Straight from RingCentral: call forwarding in the desktop and web app · incoming call rules (Admin Portal) · incoming call information · call queue call handling

Vonage’s version is Follow Me: a sequence of up to five extensions or numbers, each ringing for 10 to 60 seconds before the call moves on. In the Admin Portal: Phone System, then Extensions, hover the extension and click the pencil, click Call Forwarding, toggle Forward Calls on, and mark Follow Me. Build the sequence so your own extension rings first (about 20 seconds) and your BeepBack number second; the sequence accepts extensions and outside numbers, so add your extension as the first stop if it isn’t already there. Pick which extension’s voicemail catches anything left over, and under Caller ID choose Originating Caller ID, not Number on Account: BeepBack has to see the caller’s number, not yours. Save. From your own account instead of the admin side: your Avatar, Settings, Call Forwarding, mark Follow Me, same fields. Don’t use Send To Ext. or Number (the user side calls it Forward All Calls); that’s the every-call version. Don’t use Simultaneous Ring with your BeepBack number in it either, for the ring-all reason above. Vonage has no missed-call auto-text of its own.

To undo: an administrator toggles Forward Calls off on the extension, or picks Send to Voicemail. Vonage notes that end users can only disable voicemail; Follow Me is switched off from the admin side.

Straight from Vonage: Follow Me · the call forwarding options compared

In 8x8 Admin Console: Users, the pencil on the user, then Call Forwarding (some screens say Call forwarding rules). Check When User does not Answer the Call, click its pencil, choose Selected Users or External Numbers, enter your BeepBack number with the country code in front (1), Save, then save the user. The ring timer is on the same rule, When no answer for (seconds), 1 to 120; set it around 20 (8x8’s docs give the default as 15 in one place and 25 in another, so read what yours says). Check When User is Busy too and give it the same destination if you want calls that arrive mid-call covered. Leave Forward all Calls unchecked. From the Work for Desktop app: Settings, Account Settings (it opens a browser), Call Forwarding Rules. On Work for Mobile: your profile, Settings, Account Settings, Call Forwarding. 8x8 says on the record that it has no missed-call auto-text, so there’s nothing to switch off. It also says you can’t customize the caller ID on an external forward, so run the test below to confirm the caller’s number arrives.

Two 8x8 rules of thumb. Every line has to keep at least one active forwarding rule, so to undo, point the no-answer rule back at Voicemail rather than unchecking everything. And Do Not Disturb overrides every rule and sends calls straight to voicemail; if your test call never forwards, dial *79 to switch DND off and try again.

Straight from 8x8: forward an extension to another number · the ring timer

In the Zoom web portal: Zoom Phone, the Settings tab, then under Business Hours click Edit next to Call Handling (and again under Closed Hours, or the rule only applies during the day). Pick how your devices ring: Simultaneously, then Max Wait Time; or Sequential, then Ringing Duration for Each Device. Under When a call is not answered choose Forward to External Contacts, click Add Phone Number, set the country to United States, and enter your BeepBack number. Then uncheck “Require to press 1 before connecting the call.” Zoom checks it by default, and BeepBack answers automatically, so a press-1 prompt would drop every forwarded call. Repeat under When I’m busy on another call if you want busy calls covered. Two requirements: the user needs a direct (DID) number assigned, and an admin has to leave the Call Overflow policy at No restriction, or the external option won’t appear. In the Zoom Workplace app the same settings live under your profile picture, Settings, Phone, Voicemail and forwarding. Zoom has no missed-call auto-text.

One caveat we can’t wave away. Zoom documents that the number receiving a forwarded call “will see your caller ID name and number,” not the caller’s, with the original number passed along only “as a best effort.” Run the test before you count on it. If your dashboard shows your own Zoom number on the test call, email hello@getbeepback.com and we’ll look at it with you rather than leave you guessing. To undo: set When a call is not answered back to Forward to voicemail/videomail.

Straight from Zoom: customizing call handling · the Call Overflow policy · caller ID on forwarded calls

Nextiva calls it Call forwarding (unanswered). In the voice portal, as an administrator: Users, hover the user and click Actions, then Voice Settings, then Forwarding on the left. Expand Call forwarding (unanswered), enter your BeepBack number, choose the number of rings from the dropdown (three or four), and click Save. Call forwarding (busy) sits right beside it if you want mid-call arrivals covered too. Leave Call forwarding (always) off. From any Nextiva handset, the same thing is a code: *92 then your BeepBack number turns no-answer forwarding on, *93 turns it off, and *90 / *91 do the same for busy. One condition Nextiva states plainly: this rule forwards only direct calls to the user, not calls that arrive through a call group, call center, or auto attendant. If your main number lands on one of those first, set the rule on whichever user the call finally rings, or email us and we’ll map it with you. Nextiva documents no missed-call auto-text of its own and doesn’t say what caller ID the forwarded call presents, so run the test below.

To undo: clear the number in Call forwarding (unanswered) and save, or dial *93.

Straight from Nextiva: call forward no answer · feature access codes

Dialpad is the awkward one, for two reasons worth knowing before you click. First, what Dialpad calls a forwarding number on your own line is simultaneous ring (“makes it ring together with your personal Dialpad number”), so never add your BeepBack number there: it would answer every call instantly. Second, sending unanswered calls to a number outside Dialpad lives in Department and Main Line routing, and Dialpad says you must “contact our Customer Care Team to enable this functionality” first. Once they have: Admin Settings, then Departments (or Office, then Main Line), then Business hours & call routing, then Edit Call Routing. Set the ring duration (10 to 45 seconds on a department; 20 is right), and for the fallback when no operator answers choose To a team member / room phone / number and enter your BeepBack number. Repeat for after hours. For a solo line with no department, Dialpad names an Advanced Missed Call Routing setting under Call Handling & Voicemail but doesn’t document its destinations, so ask Dialpad’s Customer Care Team for the outside-number option and email us if it isn’t there. Dialpad has no missed-call auto-text, so there’s nothing to switch off.

To undo: set the fallback back to Directly to voicemail on the same Edit Call Routing screen.

Straight from Dialpad: call routing for departments · the main line · forwarding numbers (simultaneous ring)

Grasshopper has no phones of its own; every extension forwards to phones you already have, in a list, and an unanswered call “either moves to the next number in queue or Grasshopper will accept the voicemail.” That list is the setting. In the Admin Portal: Extensions, edit the extension, and under Call forwarding numbers make sure your own cell is first and add your BeepBack number second. Set the ring order to Ring in specific order (the Legacy Admin Portal calls it In order, just once), not Ring simultaneously. Give your own number about 20 seconds under Ring duration (Legacy: Ring for; the default is 25). For the BeepBack entry, set call handling to Calls will connect as soon as you pick up, not “announced,” because the announced option asks the answering party to press 1 and BeepBack won’t. Under Preferences, set the caller ID shown on forwarded calls to the caller’s number. Two Grasshopper rules: a True Solo account allows only one forwarding number per extension, so it can’t build this list, and never forward to your own Grasshopper number (it loops).

Switch off Grasshopper’s missed-call auto-reply. Under Text management, then Instant response (Legacy: Settings, Instant Response), turn the Send instant response toggle off for the number, or the caller gets a one-line text from Grasshopper and then the conversation from BeepBack. To undo the forwarding: edit the BeepBack entry under Call forwarding numbers and set its status to Inactive.

Straight from Grasshopper: forwarding for an extension · ring time

Ooma Office doesn’t offer this on a user’s line, and the third-party guides that say otherwise are describing a toggle that isn’t there. Its Call Handling page (End User Portal or desktop app, Settings, Call Handling) has a Ring for timer, but the Then send to choices are My voicemail, Another extension, Another voicemail, or Busy tone: nothing outside Ooma. The only outside-number field, If my phone is offline, forward it to external number, is for outages, not missed calls. Pro+ accounts can Ring devices in a specific order with your BeepBack number added as an External Line device in a later ring group, which is the closest shape Ooma offers, but Ooma doesn’t document that combination, so treat it as a test rather than a setting. If you’re on Ooma, email hello@getbeepback.com and we’ll work out the best setup with you. Ooma’s texting product has no missed-call auto-text. (Ooma Telo, the home product, has no no-answer option at all.)

Straight from Ooma: directing incoming calls · call forwarding for a user

It depends on which Google Voice. On free, personal Google Voice, and on the standalone paid Starter and Standard plans, unanswered calls go to voicemail and nowhere else. Calls can ring your linked numbers at the same time, but a linked number has to be verified with a code, and Google says outright that “forwarding calls from your Google Voice number to an automated system is unsupported.” There is no setting to peel off missed calls, so BeepBack can’t sit behind a personal Voice number. On Google Workspace Voice Standard or Premier (the add-on tiers, not the standalone plans), an admin can build a ring group in the Admin console (Apps, Google Workspace, Google Voice, Ring groups), and under Unanswered calls, which fires after 30 seconds, choose Forward the caller with Forward type Phone number: your BeepBack number. Google doesn’t document what caller ID that hop presents, and we haven’t tested it, so run the test below before you rely on it. The other route is to move the number off Google Voice ($3 to unlock, waived if you ported it in) to a line that has plain conditional forwarding. Both are laid out on our Google Voice page, and we’re glad to help you pick: hello@getbeepback.com. No Google Voice tier has a missed-call auto-text of its own.

Straight from Google: linked numbers (personal Voice) · ring groups (Workspace)

Fi’s Call forwarding (fi.google.com or the Fi app, Home, Phone settings, Call forwarding) offers three modes: Don’t forward, Ring all numbers, and Always forward. None of them is “only when I don’t answer,” a forwarding number has to be verified by a code, and Fi documents no dial codes for forwarding. So a Fi number can’t hand its missed calls to BeepBack today. If Fi is your business line, email hello@getbeepback.com and we’ll talk through the options, including whether the number moves to a carrier whose codes are on the cell-phone guide.

Straight from Google Fi: call forwarding on Fi

The same three words find it in any help center: unanswered call forwarding (or “no answer call forwarding”). Point that rule at your BeepBack number, set the ring time around 20 seconds, leave forward-all off, and run the test below. If you get stuck, email hello@getbeepback.com with the provider’s name and we’ll walk through it with you.

AT&T Phone and AT&T Phone for Business (the digital home and office service, formerly U-verse Voice) is the cleanest landline case: from the handset, dial *92, your BeepBack number, then # to turn on No Answer Call Forwarding. *90, the number, then # adds Busy Call Forwarding. To turn them off, dial *93# and *91#. The same switches live online in the AT&T phone portal under Features, then Call Forwarding. One thing to know: on this service, voicemail is No Answer Call Forwarding pointed at voicemail. Pointing it at BeepBack replaces that, which is the intended trade (BeepBack takes the message), but it means AT&T voicemail stops catching missed calls.

AT&T traditional (copper) home or business phone lists Call Forwarding Busy Line and Call Forwarding Don’t Answer as features, but there’s no code to set them; AT&T turns them on for you at 800.288.2020. Ask for both, to your BeepBack number. You can set the ring count yourself: dial *47, wait for the second dial tone, then enter a code from 12 to 60 (about 2 to 10 rings; 30 is roughly five rings). AT&T’s traditional business page documents only forward-all, so a business copper line takes the same phone call.

Straight from AT&T: AT&T Phone feature codes · AT&T Phone for Business codes · traditional home phone features

Verizon traditional (copper) home or business line. The feature is Call Forwarding Busy Line/Don’t Answer, and in most areas Verizon ships it as the Fixed option: the destination number is set by Verizon’s business office, so you call Verizon, ask for the feature, and give them your BeepBack number (a service order; where it can be toggled, *90 turns it on and *91 off). Some areas offer a Variable option where you enter the number yourself; Verizon’s own pages list the activation code as *41 on one and *42 on the other, with *43 to turn it off, so ask which applies to your line. Two traps: *71 is a Verizon wireless code and does nothing on a landline, and the ring count before forwarding isn’t customer-settable in Verizon’s docs.

Verizon Fios Digital Voice. Verizon’s Fios portal documents forward-all and forward-by-caller, not a no-answer rule. The nearest documented route is Locate Me (Calling Features, Locate Me, enter numbers, choose the number of rings, activate), which rings a list of numbers in order; putting your BeepBack number after your own line is the shape to try, and we’d rather you test it with us than guess: hello@getbeepback.com. Verizon Business Digital Voice (the hosted service, not a landline) does have it: User Portal, Call Settings, Call Forwarding, switch on When no answer, pick the number of rings, enter your BeepBack number, Save.

Straight from Verizon: home phone forwarding features · star codes · business traditional phone features · Business Digital Voice

Spectrum Voice (home). From the handset, dial *92 and then your BeepBack number to turn on Forward Calls When No Answer (*93 turns it off); *90 and *91 do the same for Forward Calls When Busy. Online: sign in, Services, Home Phone, Manage Voice (Spectrum’s VoiceZone), the Settings tab, Edit next to Call Forwarding, switch Call Forward When No Answer to ON, choose a Number of Rings (1 to 10; four is right), add your BeepBack number with the 1 and area code, and Save Changes. On Spectrum the no-answer slot holds either voicemail or a forwarding number, so pointing it at BeepBack replaces voicemail for missed calls, which is the intended trade. One wrinkle: a Spectrum marketing page says *71 forwards unanswered calls, while its support pages say *92; the support pages are the ones we’d trust, and if a code doesn’t take, the portal always works.

Spectrum Business Voice. Same codes (*92 / *93 for no answer, *90 / *91 for busy) on Spectrum’s current support page, though Spectrum’s own business user guide says these two features are portal-only, so if a code doesn’t take, go online: sign in as Administrator, Your Services, Manage Voice, Global Call Settings, Incoming Calls, Call Forwarding, then Forward No Answer with your BeepBack number and a ring count, and Save. Spectrum says it plainly for business lines: voicemail is where no-answer calls go by default, and “if you change it, voicemail will not receive calls.”

Straight from Spectrum: home phone features and star codes · business call forwarding features

Xfinity Voice (home) can’t do this. Its forwarding comes in three kinds, Basic (all calls), Advanced (ring up to four extra numbers alongside your home phone), and Selective (specific callers), and its star-code list has no no-answer or busy forwarding at all. Advanced Call Forwarding would ring your BeepBack number on every call, which is the ring-all problem, so it isn’t a workaround. If your business runs on an Xfinity home line, email hello@getbeepback.com and we’ll talk through the options.

Comcast Business Voice. From the handset: press *92, wait for the second dial tone, dial your BeepBack number, and listen for the confirmation tone; *93 turns it off, and *90 / *91 cover busy. Online: My Account, Phone, Features, Call Forwarding, with a Number of rings before forwarding dropdown. Two Comcast rules: don’t turn on Call Forwarding No Answer on a phone that’s part of a Hunt Group (Comcast says so), and because Comcast keeps separate ring counts for forwarding and for voicemail, set the forwarding count lower than the voicemail count so the forward fires first. Comcast Business VoiceEdge uses the same codes; online it’s My Account, Business VoiceEdge User, Feature Settings, Call Forwarding, switch Call Forwarding No Answer to On, the pencil to enter your BeepBack number, and Number of Rings Before Forwarding.

Straight from Comcast: Xfinity Voice star codes · Business Voice call forwarding · VoiceEdge call forwarding

Optimum Voice (home). Forwarding on Line is Busy or Line is Not Answered exists, but Optimum says its advanced calling features “can only be managed at optimum.net/phone,” so there’s no code to dial for it (only *72 / *73 for all calls). Sign in there, open Phone, then Call forwarding, and set the Line is Not Answered option to your BeepBack number. Optimum doesn’t document the ring count for home lines.

Optimum Business Voice depends on where you are. Outside the New York tri-state area, Optimum’s business guide gives handset codes: dial *92, wait for the tone, and dial your BeepBack number (*93 turns it off; *90 / *91 cover busy), and *94 followed by a number from 2 to 9 sets the rings before forwarding. The default is four rings, and Optimum’s voicemail trigger also defaults to four, so dial *94 and set 2 or 3 so the forward wins. In the New York tri-state area, Optimum’s business guide documents only all-calls forwarding from the handset, so call Optimum Business and ask for Call Forwarding on No Answer and Busy to your BeepBack number, or set it in the Optimum Business Account Center.

Straight from Optimum: home phone calling features (NY tri-state) · business phone guide, outside NY tri-state (PDF) · business phone guide, NY tri-state (PDF)