How to forward your business phone to an AI receptionist

Call forwarding is the fastest way to start using an AI receptionist on your existing business phone number — usually under 60 seconds, fully reversible, no porting required. Here is what forwarding does, how to set it up, and when porting becomes the better choice.

When someone dials your business number, the call routes to your phone provider, which checks whether you have a forwarding rule active. If you do, the call is sent to the AI receptionist number instead of ringing your handset. The caller never knows — they dial the same number they always dialed; the AI picks up.

You can forward unconditionally (every call goes to the AI), only when busy (the AI takes overflow), only when you do not answer (after a few rings), or only after-hours (your existing setup handles business hours, AI covers nights and weekends). Most small businesses start with unconditional forwarding for the first 1-2 weeks to see what the AI catches, then tune from there.

1. 1Get your AI receptionist forwarding number. After signing up, the dashboard shows you a dedicated phone number (e.g. an 800-number or local 10-digit number). This is the destination your existing line will forward to.
2. 2Open your phone provider portal or app. Most carriers (mobile and VoIP) have a "Call Forwarding" or "Calling Settings" section. The exact path varies by provider.
3. 3Enter the forwarding number. Choose "Forward all calls" (or whichever forwarding mode you want) and enter the AI receptionist number. Save the setting.
4. 4Test it. From a phone the AI does not recognize as yours, dial your business number. The AI should answer. If it does not, the most common cause is that you have not enabled forwarding in your provider portal — check that the toggle is actually on.

• Unconditional forwarding sends every call to the AI. Best for businesses where one person was already taking all the calls and you are replacing that role end-to-end.
• Conditional / overflow forwarding sends a call to the AI only if your line is busy or unanswered after N rings. Best for businesses with a front desk that wants to keep handling calls during business hours but use the AI for overflow + after-hours.
• Time-of-day forwarding sends calls to the AI only during specific hours (e.g. 5pm-9am, weekends, holidays). Best for businesses adding 24/7 coverage to an existing 9-5 desk.

Forwarding is great for the first weeks of running an AI receptionist — fast, reversible, and lets you cancel if it does not work for your business. Port the number to the AI receptionist (or a SIP trunk routing to it) once two things are true: you are confident the AI is the right long-term solution, and you want to consolidate your phone bill.

Porting takes 5-10 business days through the carrier and involves transferring ownership of the number to the new provider. It is reversible (you can port back) but takes the same time as the original port. Most owners forward for 2-4 weeks, decide, then port if they are committing.

• Inbound SMS (text messages) typically does not forward. SMS sent to your business number stays at your existing carrier — the AI will not see it. If receiving SMS at your business number matters, port the number to a provider that supports SMS at the AI receptionist endpoint.
• MMS (picture/video messages) almost never forwards.
• Voicemail-to-email at your existing carrier still works. If your old setup sends voicemail to your inbox and you forward calls to the AI, the AI handles the call before voicemail triggers — so voicemails should mostly stop coming. If you still get voicemails, your forwarding rule is not enabled or something is bypassing it.
• Emergency 911 services on the forwarded line behave the same as before — emergency calls dialed FROM your line go to your carrier, not through the AI. Forwarding only affects inbound calls.