How to Set Up Call Forwarding for Your Small Business

To set up call forwarding for your small business, decide which calls should forward and where, then enable it from your phone using a carrier star-code — typically something like *72 to turn forwarding on and *73 to turn it off, followed by the destination number. Most carriers also let you switch it on from an online account or app. The whole thing takes a few minutes, and once it’s on, calls to your business number ring through to wherever you point them.

The only real decision is whether to forward every call or only forward calls under certain conditions. Get that right and the rest is just dialing a code.

Conditional vs unconditional forwarding: which do I want?

There are two ways to forward, and most businesses use a mix:

• Unconditional forwarding sends every call to the destination immediately — your business number never rings on your own phone. Use this when the destination should always answer, for example forwarding your main line to an answering service during a holiday or a closed period.
• Conditional forwarding only forwards in specific situations:
  • Forward on no-answer — rings your phone first, forwards if you don’t pick up within a few rings.
  • Forward on busy — forwards only when you’re already on a call (this is your overflow safety net).
  • Forward on unreachable — forwards when your phone is off or has no signal.

A common small-business setup is: answer in person when you can, forward on no-answer and on busy to a backstop that always picks up, and switch to unconditional forwarding after hours. For the underlying concepts, see our call forwarding glossary entry.

How do I turn forwarding on with star-codes?

Star-codes are the short dial sequences that toggle forwarding from any handset. The exact codes vary by carrier, so confirm yours before relying on them — but conceptually they work like this:

1. Pick up your phone and get a dial tone on the line you want to forward.
2. Dial the enable code, then the destination number. Commonly this is *72 followed by the 10-digit number you’re forwarding to (for example, *72 then your answering service number).
3. Wait for the confirmation — a tone, a short ring, or a voice prompt — then hang up. Forwarding is now active.
4. To turn it off, dial the disable code — commonly *73 — and wait for the confirmation tone.

Conditional codes (forward-on-busy, forward-on-no-answer) use different sequences again, and they also differ between carriers. If you can’t find them, your carrier’s support page or app will list them, and most carriers let you set all of this from an online account without dialing anything.

How do I forward my line to an answering service?

Forwarding to an answering service is the same process — the destination is just the service’s number instead of a mobile. The pattern is:

1. Get the forwarding number from your answering service (it’s usually in your account settings).
2. Decide the trigger. Use unconditional forwarding for full-time coverage, or conditional forwarding (on no-answer and on busy) if you want to answer in person first and only forward the calls you can’t take.
3. Enable it with the relevant star-code or in your carrier account.
4. Place a test call to your business number and confirm it rings through to the service and gets answered.

This is how you turn a published number into round-the-clock coverage without changing the number on your van, your website, or your business cards. An always-on service can pick up after hours, qualify the caller, and send you a brief — see the rundown of an after-hours answering service.

What should I check after setting it up?

Before you rely on it, run a quick test:

• Call your business number from a different phone and confirm it reaches the right destination.
• Test each condition you set — let it ring out to check no-answer forwarding, and call while you’re on a line to check busy forwarding.
• Confirm you can turn it off with the disable code, so you’re not stuck forwarding when you don’t want to be.
• Note your codes somewhere so any staff member can toggle coverage without hunting for them.

The bottom line

Call forwarding is a few minutes of setup: choose conditional or unconditional, dial your carrier’s enable code (often *72) plus the destination, and test it. Point it at coverage that actually answers and every call gets handled — even the ones you can’t take yourself. To see exactly what handlo does with each forwarded call, take a look at the features.