What Is Call Forwarding and How Does It Work?

What Is Call Forwarding and How Does It Work?

A Guide to Call Forwarding

Call forwarding, otherwise known as “call diversion” is a phone management feature, commonly used by businesses (and other organisations) to redirect a phone call to another destination. In other words, when you receive an incoming call, you can forward or redirect it to a new number. If you choose to forward the call to a new number, you will be engaging in call forwarding. Call forwarding as a technology has gone through many modifications and changes throughout the years. Initially, the process involved the redirection of a user’s call to a second phone number. This process involved dialling a new number and connecting the current call to that number. Today, call forwarding has become more sophisticated, which now involves special rules and advanced settings. Since the entire process is automated, call forwarding has continued to gain popularity.

How Does Call Forwarding Work?

Call forwarding starts from the customer’s end. The customer will dial a phone number to initiate the call. The initiated call is normally denoted as the incoming call. Once your call forwarding system receives the call, it will forward it to a preset destination. However, you will have to make conditional call forwarding active beforehand. Your phone system will bridge the incoming and outgoing call, thus ensuring seamless communication between the customer and the forwarded destination.

What is Conditional Forwarding?

As mentioned above, call forwarding is not a new technology. However, the system’s complex and sophisticated settings are recent innovations. The innovations have made it possible for a business to set special rules and conditional call forwarding criteria. Modern call forwarding systems can catalogue the call based on a number of factors which include :

• The caller’s identity
• Country of origin
• Area code
• and even phone number.

Scenario-Based Call Forwarding Settings

If you are using an advanced mobile call forwarding system, you may have the option of setting different rules for each scenario. There is also the option of creating sequential call forwarding protocols.

For instance, when a call to your office phone goes unanswered, the phone system will forward the call to your cell phone. If you can’t answer your cell phone, the forwarding system will forward it to your assistant’s phone number.

You can even forward to multiple numbers at the same time. When one phone is answered, the other calls are disconnected.

Will the Customer Notice the Call Forwarding?

Although call forwarding is usually instantaneous, a keen caller may realise that their call has been forwarded. This can occur if the phone company alerts the caller to the forwarding process. The alert can be in the form of a sound message or some music. Alternatively, multiple ringtones during a single call can pique the caller’s suspicion. Different ringtones are common during international call forwarding. Another thing that may alert the caller is a significant gap between the start of the call and the ringing onset. Such a delay shows that call forwarding is taking place.

Manual Forwarding

Typically, manual forwarding involves dialling a 3-digit code and adding the forwarding destination. The 3-digit code will be different from region to region or from service provider to service provider. The process is easier when using call forwarding on iPhone because you can use the “Call Forwarding” button.

Remote Call Forwarding

Remote call forwarding is where you forward your phone calls from any location. In this case, you will receive a specific number from your telephone service provider. Once you have set up this new phone number, you will be able to forward your incoming calls to any number of your choosing. Sometimes, you want the conditional call forwarding only to happen if you are busy. In this case, the incoming call will have to ring on your primary phone for some time. It will only be forwarded after you fail to answer that call.

Final Thoughts

Call forwarding is an essential tool for any business. Here at Nexgen, we provide advanced call forwarding systems for your business needs. Contact us today or call us on 1300 020 402 to get started. Alternatively, browse our office phone systems page for additional options.