Call forwarding is set up with your phone carrier, not in SupportFast: your number passes calls on to the agent's number. Customers keep calling the number they know.
Before you start
- A platform number or a SIP line linked to an active inbound agent: see Assigning and managing numbers.
- The phone you want to forward: the mobile with its SIM, or a phone connected to the landline.
- A plan from your phone carrier that allows call forwarding.
#How it works with the agent's number
- An “Inbound calls only” number works too: call forwarding only brings inbound calls.
- When the agent calls your contacts, it uses its own number, not yours.
Don't transfer calls to the number you forwarded. If you set your forwarded number as the destination of the agent's transfer, the call may come back to the agent instead of reaching you. Use another number, for example a teammate's mobile.
#The four types of call forwarding
| Type | What happens | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| If I don't answer | Your phone rings, then the agent answers. If the carrier allows it, you choose after how many seconds, from 5 to 30; otherwise the carrier decides: Very, for example, passes the call on after 10 rings. | To answer yourself when you can and leave the rest to the agent. 20 seconds is about four rings. |
| If I'm already on the phone | When you're already on a call, the new call goes to the agent. | To avoid missing the calls that come in while you're talking to a customer. With many carriers it only works with call waiting turned off: if call waiting is on, the new call reaches you as a waiting call. If in doubt, turn it off, or ask your carrier. |
| If my phone is off or has no signal | When your phone can't be reached, the agent answers. | To cover a dead battery, areas with no signal and a phone that's switched off. |
| Always | Your phone doesn't ring: the agent always answers. | When the agent should answer everything, for example in the evening, at weekends or when you're on vacation. |
The first three can be turned on together: that way the agent only answers when you can't. In the configurator below you choose them together and get a code for each one. “Always”, instead, is chosen on its own, because it already covers every case.
Call forwarding has no schedule: it stays on until you turn it off, even if you switch your phone off and on again. To have the agent answer only outside business hours, turn it on when you close and turn it off when you open. The agent can greet callers differently outside business hours: see General: identity, voice and greeting.
#The code configurator
Type your voice agent's number, choose your phone carrier and when the agent should answer. The configurator prepares the codes to turn call forwarding on, turn it off and check it: you copy them or dial them by hand. With carriers that also offer landlines, choose which line to forward.
Codes change from carrier to carrier. Some use one asterisk, others two, and landline codes are different. The configurator uses the codes each carrier publishes on its support pages, and warns you when it suggests the standard mobile code. Some plans don't allow call forwarding: if your phone shows an error, ask your phone carrier.
#Turning call forwarding on
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Prepare the code
In the configurator type the agent's number, choose your carrier and when the agent should answer. For “If I don't answer”, if your carrier allows it, also choose how many seconds the phone rings.
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Dial the code from the phone you're forwarding
Type the “To turn on” code on the keypad, like a phone number, and press the call button. After a few seconds the phone shows a confirmation message from the phone carrier.
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Check
Dial the “To check” code: the phone tells you whether call forwarding is on and to which number. Some carriers don't publish a code to check: CoopVoce, and Fastweb on mobile except for “Always”. In that case the configurator says so. Check call forwarding in the carrier's app or online account, or ask customer service.
Result
Calls to your number reach the agent in the cases you chose.
**61*+390212345678**20#: the phone carrier's message confirming that “If I don't answer” forwarding is on. Fictitious number.#How to test it
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Call from another phone
Call your number from a teammate's or a family member's phone, not from the forwarded phone.
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Let call forwarding do its job
With “Always” the agent answers right away. With “If I don't answer” let your phone ring without answering. With “If I'm already on the phone” run the test while you're already on another call.
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Check the call
On the agent's Calls page you find the call, as an inbound call. Also look at which number shows as the caller.
#Which number the agent sees
SupportFast records as the caller the number that the phone network presents with the forwarded call. Usually it's the number of the person who called, but it depends on your carrier: some present your number. In that case you always see your own number in Calls, and the agent doesn't recognize the customers in your contacts. That's why, after the test, you should check in Calls which number appears.
#Turning call forwarding off
Dial the “To turn off” code for the type you turned on: in the configurator choose “Turn off call forwarding” to see them all. Many carriers also have a code that turns off all mobile call forwarding at once, ##002#: the configurator shows it when your carrier lists it.
##002# also turns off voicemail. On many lines, voicemail works through call forwarding to the phone carrier's mailbox. After ##002# that is turned off too: if you used it, turn it back on as your carrier explains.
#Landlines and PBXs
For TIM, Vodafone, WINDTRE, Iliad and Fastweb landlines, the configurator gives you the landline codes: dial them from a phone connected to the line. Many carriers also let you set up call forwarding from your online account or their app. On a VoIP line or a PBX, you set it up from the PBX's control panel, or your provider sets it up for you: always use the agent's number as the destination.
If your number runs on a VoIP PBX, consider a SIP line too: it keeps your number for outbound calls as well. See Connecting your PBX (SIP).
#What it costs
Your line pays for the forwarded call, according to your phone plan: some plans include it, others charge for it separately. Ask your phone carrier, especially if the agent's number is in another country. In SupportFast the call uses your plan's minutes like any other call.
#Frequently asked questions
With “Always” forwarding, my phone still rings.
Call forwarding isn't on. Check it with the configurator's “To check” code, for example *#21#, then dial the code to turn it on again. If the phone shows an error, your plan may not allow it: ask your phone carrier.
Callers end up in my voicemail instead of reaching the agent.
Forwarding to the agent replaces voicemail for the same case. If you then turn voicemail back on, for example from the phone carrier's app, voicemail answers again: dial the code for the agent again and check with the “To check” code.
Can I exclude some numbers from call forwarding?
No. Call forwarding applies to everyone who calls your number.