As a small business owner who wears many hats, you're often on the go and have to manage calls from various business numbers or extensions. Call forwarding can make your life much easier by redirecting calls to a convenient destination, such as another number, a different device, or a voicemail.
Automatic call forwarding is a standard feature in most business phone systems. In particular, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services offer extensive capabilities to meet fast-evolving customer expectations. Here's what you need to know about this essential modern telecommunication feature and how set up call forwarding and troubleshoot common issues.
Why you should use call forwarding
Call forwarding can play an important role in protecting your privacy — by directing calls from a secondary number to your phone without disclosing your primary number. It also lets you stay accessible via multiple devices because you can forward calls to a landline, mobile phone, tablet, or computer.
Call forwarding also helps support business continuity. You can route calls to alternative numbers so customers can reach your team if your office is closed (e.g., due to natural disasters.) You may also set up a local number to expand into new markets and forward calls to your central office for cost-efficient sales and customer support.
Moreover, call forwarding allows you to send calls to a local number or mobile phone while traveling so you don't miss important calls. It also allows remote employees and distributed teams to receive work calls on their home or mobile phones for seamless communication and collaboration.
How to forward calls to iPhone, Android, and landlines
As a core feature on all Grasshopper plans, call forwarding can be set up via your Grasshopper app to send calls to iPhones, Android phones, landlines, voicemail, and more — for no additional costs:
- Forward incoming calls to multiple phones simultaneously to ensure every call is answered promptly.
- Create a custom schedule to forward incoming calls to different numbers at various times of the day.
- Send customer inquiries to informational extensions to streamline communications and improve efficiency.
- Redirect customers to pre-recorded messages while they wait (e.g., to promote your products or services.)
Grasshopper's user-friendly interface makes it a breeze to forward calls from anywhere and at any time:
- Log into your Grasshopper account and go to Settings > Call Forwarding Settings > Extensions. You'll see a list of numbers and extensions associated with your account.
- Select the number or extension to set up call forwarding by clicking the corresponding "edit" button.
- Enter the call forwarding number, which could be another phone number (mobile or landline) or voicemail.
- Determine how you want Grasshopper to handle the call (e.g., announcing a call before you pick it up.)
- Select the time frame for which the call-forwarding rule applies (e.g., 24/7, the weekend, or custom schedule.)
- Save your settings and make a test call to verify it goes to the desired destination.
How to address common call-forwarding issues and ensure seamless call-forwarding Some common call-forwarding issues may include calls not forwarding or getting dropped before reaching the destination. Other problems may concern forwarding delays, incorrect forwarding, or the inability to turn off the function when you no longer need it.
Double-check the configurations on your Grasshopper app, such as the forwarding numbers you entered and the call forwarding rules. If you forward calls to a mobile device, you may contact your carrier's customer support for assistance. You can also make test calls to help identify the issues. If you use a softphone to receive calls, confirm the device has the latest firmware and software version. Test your configurations periodically to ensure the call-forwarding feature works as intended. Set up a voicemail as a backup destination and use conditional forwarding to handle calls when you're busy or unavailable. Also, ensure your account access is secure to prevent unauthorized changes to your forwarding settings. And if you run into any issues, don’t forget that Grasshopper offers 24/7 customer support across all of our plans to help keep your business moving.
Stay tech-savvy with the latest business phone system features
Today's solopreneurs and small business owners must leverage the latest technologies to help them stay relevant and competitive cost-efficiently while delivering a seamless customer experience. Grasshopper's virtual phone system provides the cutting-edge features you need to run your business without the enterprise price tag.
Learn more about our call-forwarding feature and start a free trial to get started.