How to forward calls in RingCentral to an outside number

In RingCentral, the number customers dial is usually your company's main number, handled by the Auto-Receptionist. Its routing options (Company Call Handling, and Forward all company calls for closures) list places inside RingCentral, such as a user, a call queue, an IVR menu or voicemail, but no outside number.

So the documented way to get your main number's calls to an outside number is in two steps: route the main number to a specific user or to a call queue, then set forwarding on that user or queue (below). Admins with Auto-Receptionist permissions change this under Phone System › Company Call Handling in the Admin Portal.

1. 1In the RingCentral desktop or web app, click your profile picture at the top left.
2. 2Click Call rules (on some screens it's Incoming call rules).
3. 3Turn on Forward all calls, then open it.
4. 4In the Incoming calls dropdown, choose Forward the call.
5. 5Click Number, enter the outside phone number, and select it.
6. 6Click Save. You can skip Add schedule if you'll turn forwarding on and off by hand.

The mobile app has the same steps, with Save at the top right. An admin can set it for someone else in the Admin Portal: Users › Users with Extensions › the user › Phone › Incoming call rules.

While it's on, a banner at the top of the app says your calls are being forwarded. Click Turn off on the banner, or switch the Forward all calls toggle off, to stop.

1. 1In the app, go to Settings › Phone › Incoming call rules.
2. 2Under My work day, click Incoming calls. If you set a schedule, there are separate rules for Work hours and After hours; set up each one.
3. 3Open Ring settings and choose how long your phones ring before a call counts as missed: from 1 ring (5 seconds) up to 15 rings (75 seconds). Some RingCentral pages give 2 rings as the minimum. Click Done.
4. 4In the If no one answers section, choose Forward the call and enter the outside number.
5. 5Click Save at the bottom right.

To turn it off, set If no one answers back to Send to voicemail and save.

A call queue rings a group of staff phones, and it's the only place RingCentral documents all three kinds of forwarding to an outside number. In the Admin Portal, go to Phone System › Groups › Call Queues, pick the queue, and open Call Handling & Members.

1. 1Every call: turn on Forward all queue calls and choose External number.
2. 2Unanswered or busy: on the Wait settings tab, find When members are available, but no members answer or all members are busy or unavailable and choose Forward to External number.
3. 3Callers waiting too long: set When maximum wait time is reached, send caller to to External Number. The longest wait you can set is 25 minutes.
4. 4Queue full: set When queue is full to Forward new callers to External Number. A queue holds up to 25 waiting callers.

Click Save. To undo, set the same options back to voicemail or waiting for members, or switch Forward all queue calls off.

RingCentral's help and developer docs don't describe a forward-when-busy rule for a single user. Call waiting is on by default, so a second caller rings through instead of getting a busy signal (up to nine calls at once on desk phones and the desktop or web app). If you turn call waiting off, extra calls go to voicemail, not to a forwarding number. For busy forwarding, use a call queue.

1. 1From a cell phone that isn't on RingCentral, call your main number.
2. 2For unanswered forwarding, let it ring past the ring time you chose.
3. 3Check that the outside number picks up. If you set separate after-hours rules, test again after hours.
4. 4In the Admin Portal, open Analytics & Logs › Call Log. The Forwarded To field (in the Detailed view) shows where each call was sent.

1. 1You can't find the menu: RingCentral uses several names for it. Look for Call rules, Incoming call rules, or Call rules and voicemail. Older screens say Call handling with a Missed calls dropdown.
2. 2It works in the day but not at night: Work hours and After hours are separate rules. Set both.
3. 3Calls go straight to voicemail: check that the ring time isn't too short, that Do not disturb is off, and that no custom rule conflicts with your regular rules.
4. 4You can't change the settings: your admin has to give you call-handling permission. Main-number settings need Auto-Receptionist permission, and multi-site accounts have to use the Admin Portal.

Nacho gives your restaurant a local number that answers calls, takes orders, and answers questions. The Phone page in your Nacho dashboard shows that number and asks how calls should reach Nacho. In RingCentral, Every call is Forward all calls (or Forward all queue calls), Only missed calls is If no one answers › Forward the call, and Only when the line is busy needs a call queue's busy setting.

RingCentral has a setting called Incoming call information that controls which number shows on incoming calls, and its help doesn't say what an outside number sees on a forwarded call. So after you set it up, use Test your setup on the Phone page: call your restaurant from your cell phone, hear Nacho answer, then check that the call on your Nacho Calls page shows your cell number.