How to forward calls on a Verizon business phone line

Verizon sells small businesses a few different phone services, and forwarding works differently on each. Check your bill, or ask Verizon, if you're not sure.

1. 1Business Digital Voice: internet-based phone service, usually bundled with Fios Business Internet. All three kinds of forwarding are things you can set yourself.
2. 2Traditional landline (Verizon's Preferred Voice package): you can forward every call yourself. Busy and no-answer forwarding usually go through Verizon.
3. 3One Talk, and Verizon business cell phones: different codes, covered near the end of this guide.

After you dial a code, follow the voice prompts. Changes you make with a code also show up in the User Portal.

1. 1Sign in to the Business Digital Voice User Portal and open Call Settings.
2. 2Select Call Forwarding, then click the toggle to turn it on.
3. 3Choose the kind of forwarding: Always, When Busy, or When no answer, and enter the number.
4. 4If you chose When no answer, pick how many times your phone rings before the call moves on. Verizon doesn't publish the list of choices.
5. 5Click Save. To turn forwarding off later, click the same toggle again.

When Busy covers calls that arrive while the phone is in use, and also calls that arrive while Do Not Disturb is on. On most Yealink desk phones you'll find the same settings under Menu › Features › Call Forward.

1. 1From a phone on the business line itself, lift the receiver and wait for the dial tone.
2. 2Press *72 (on a rotary phone, dial 1172).
3. 3When you hear the tone, dial the number you want calls to go to, exactly as if you were calling it.
4. 4That number rings. When it's answered, forwarding is on.
5. 5If nobody answers, hang up and do it again within two minutes. Two short tones mean forwarding is on.

To turn it off, press *73 (1173 on a rotary phone) from the same line and listen for two short tones. You can't switch this on or off from another phone. While forwarding is on, your phone gives a short reminder ring for each forwarded call, but you can't pick it up.

Verizon says calls forwarded this way are subject to local or toll charges, and forwarding to a long-distance number adds long-distance charges.

On a traditional line, this is a separate feature called Call Forwarding Busy Line/Don't Answer, and it isn't offered everywhere (Verizon says it isn't available in North Carolina). Most often Verizon sets the forwarding number for you and leaves the feature on. Changing that number takes a service order, so the usual route is to call Verizon and ask them to point it at your number.

If your line has the version you can switch yourself, *92 turns on don't-answer forwarding and *93 turns it off; *90 turns on busy-line forwarding and *91 turns it off. There's also a version where you enter the number each time. It's cancelled with *43, but Verizon's own pages disagree on the code that turns it on (*41 in its user guide, *42 in its online code list), so confirm with Verizon.

The number of rings before a call forwards is preset. Verizon's pages don't say it can be changed.

One Talk forwarding can also be set online: sign in to My Business, choose Manage Account, open One Talk under Product Portals, then Manage features › User Features › Call Forwarding.

On a Verizon cell phone, dial *72 and the 10-digit number to forward every call, and *73 to stop. *71 and a number forwards calls that are busy or unanswered; there's no separate code for just one of those. Cell phones can't forward to international numbers, and forwarded calls still use airtime.

Verizon doesn't publish an official test, so here's the simplest check. Use a cell phone that isn't on the line you're forwarding.

1. 1Every call: call your business number. It should ring straight through to the other number.
2. 2Unanswered calls: call and let it ring. Count the rings before it moves to the other number.
3. 3Busy: call while the line is already on another call. The second call should go to the other number.

On Business Digital Voice, a forwarding sign appears on the desk phone's home screen while forwarding is on.

1. 1Forwarding didn't turn on after *72: the other number has to answer, or you have to repeat the steps within two minutes.
2. 2Some callers hear a busy signal (traditional line): only one call forwards at a time on these lines.
3. 3You're trying from home (traditional line): forwarding has to be switched from the business line itself.
4. 4Forwarding won't turn off (Business Digital Voice): Verizon lists this as a known phone-firmware problem, and its tech support can remove the forwarding for you.
5. 5Every call goes straight to voicemail (Business Digital Voice): Do Not Disturb sends all calls to voicemail. Turn it off.

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: Every call, Only missed calls, or Only when the line is busy. On Business Digital Voice those match *72, *92 and *90. On a traditional landline, Every call is *72, and for the other two you'll usually call Verizon.

Keep the one-call-at-a-time limit in mind on a traditional line: with *72, a second caller hears busy while Nacho is on the first call. Then use Test your setup on the Phone page: call your restaurant from your cell phone and you should hear Nacho answer. Check that the call on your Nacho Calls page shows your cell number; Verizon's help pages don't say which number a forwarded call shows.