How to forward your calls to an AI receptionist

Call forwarding is the switch that puts an AI receptionist on your existing line. You keep your number, your customers keep dialing it, and the carrier quietly sends each call to the receptionist's number instead of ringing your handset. Setting it up takes one dialed code on most phones, but the code differs by carrier, and that is where most people get stuck: the iPhone's Settings menu, for example, only shows a Call Forwarding switch on some carriers. This guide gives the exact steps for each major US carrier, for landlines, and for VoIP services.

Before you start

• Have the destination number in front of you (for First AI Employee customers, your receptionist's number is in your welcome email and your dashboard).
• Dial the code from the phone whose line you are forwarding, not from another phone.
• Decide between the two modes below: forward everything, or forward only the calls you miss.

The two kinds of forwarding

That choice is also the plan choice: insurance that catches what you miss, or labor you hand off for good. Which plan is right for me works through it in one sitting, and the pricing page puts the minute allowances side by side.

What counts as a call you missed

If you choose conditional forwarding, it matters that "missed" is three separate things to a phone network, and each has its own switch: nobody answers, the line is busy, and the phone cannot be reached at all (switched off, dead battery, or no signal) ³.

On AT&T and T-Mobile you can set them one at a time, but the code that matters is the one that sets all three at once: **004*number#. Set only **61*number# and a call that hits a busy line or a dead battery never reaches your receptionist; it goes to your carrier voicemail as before. Verizon's *71 covers the calls you do not answer ¹; Verizon does not publish how it treats a busy line or a phone that is off, so if those calls matter to you, test both cases or use full forwarding instead. On landlines the busy and no-answer cases are usually separate features too, and which star code turns them on varies by provider.

Quick reference: the codes by carrier

Verizon

Verizon does not use the iPhone's Settings menu; it uses dial codes on every phone ¹.

1. Dial *72 followed by the 10-digit destination number (for example *725550104477) and press call.
2. Wait for the confirmation tone or message, then hang up.
3. Call your number from a different phone. The receptionist should answer.

To forward only the calls you miss instead, dial *71 followed by the 10-digit number: calls forward when your line is busy or unanswered ¹. To turn either mode off, dial *73.

AT&T

On an iPhone, the built-in menu works: Settings, then Phone, then Call Forwarding. Turn it on and enter the destination number. On Android, open the Phone app's settings and look for Call forwarding (on Samsung it sits under Supplementary services). The dial codes work on any phone: AT&T runs a GSM network, so the standard GSM codes apply ^{2 3}. **21*number# forwards everything and ##21# turns that off. For conditional forwarding, **004*number# is the one to use: it covers no answer, busy, and phone unreachable in a single dial, and ##002# clears every forwarding rule you have set. Include the 1 before the 10-digit number.

T-Mobile

The same GSM codes as AT&T: dial **21*number# and press call to forward everything, **004*number# to forward only the calls you miss in all three senses, ##002# to clear it. T-Mobile recommends the fully qualified form of the destination number, with 1 or +1 in front of the 10 digits, and does not forward to international numbers ⁴. The iPhone Settings path (Settings, then Phone, then Call Forwarding) works here too, and the T-Mobile app has a Call Forwarding section under each line's settings.

Landlines: Xfinity, Spectrum, and most home or office lines

Nearly every US landline and cable-voice provider uses the same pair: *72 to turn forwarding on, *73 to turn it off. Pick up, dial *72, wait for the second dial tone, then dial the destination number (Spectrum wants a # after it ⁵). Two provider quirks worth knowing. On Xfinity Voice, the activation places a courtesy call to the destination; if nobody answers it, repeat the whole *72 sequence within two minutes and forwarding turns on anyway ⁶. And if forwarding was ever set from the provider's web portal, the portal rule can override the dial codes, so turn it off in the same place you turned it on. For missed-calls-only forwarding, Spectrum uses *71 ⁵ and Xfinity uses *92 ⁶.

VoIP and virtual numbers: Google Voice, RingCentral, and the rest

VoIP services skip dial codes entirely; forwarding lives in the app or web portal. In Google Voice it is under Settings, then Calls. In RingCentral, Ooma, Vonage, Grasshopper and similar systems, look for Call Handling, Call Forwarding, or Answering Rules in the admin settings, and set the destination as an external number. The upside of portal-based forwarding: you can usually schedule it, for example receptionist after hours, office phones during the day.

Test it, always

Whichever path you used, place one test call from a different phone (your cell, if you forwarded a landline). You should hear the receptionist answer with your business greeting on the first ring. That single call confirms the whole chain: the code took, the number is right, and callers now reach an answer instead of voicemail. If the call still rings your handset, the code did not take; dial the off code and repeat the activation.

Key takeaways