AI voice agents
How do you forward calls to an AI receptionist and keep your business number?
Nobody wants to reprint business cards or chase every listing that carries the old number, and you don't have to. What's left is a handful of decisions: which calls to send, how to switch forwarding on for the line you have, who pays for the forwarded part, and how to test it.
Can you keep your number when you switch to an AI receptionist?
Yes. An AI receptionist answers on a receiving number of its own, and your existing number forwards calls to it. Your line and the number itself stay where they are.
There are three ways to give an assistant something to answer, and two of them keep your number.
- A new number is usually the simpler and cheaper setup, as our cost guide points out. The catch is that every listing, invoice and saved contact with your old number still points at the old line.
- Forwarding leaves the number with your network, which hands calls on to the assistant. Nothing moves, and a short code switches it off again.
- Porting moves the number itself to another operator. ICASA's consumer guide describes it as changing networks while keeping your number, with the request lodged through the operator you're moving to. It suits a business replacing its whole phone service, not one adding an assistant to its current line.
The rest of this guide deals with forwarding.
Should you forward all calls to the AI receptionist, or only the ones you miss?
That depends on whether a person should get the first chance at each call.
Forwarding all calls, which the GSM standard calls unconditional forwarding, sends every call straight to the assistant. Your phone doesn't ring. That suits the hours nobody is working: evenings, weekends, public holidays and the December shutdown.
Conditional forwarding gives your own phone the first chance. The standard defines three conditions: your line is busy, nobody answers, or the phone can't be reached, for instance because it's off. The assistant only gets calls that would otherwise be missed, which suits trading hours.
Say you run a small bookkeeping practice in Kempton Park. During the day you'd want the office line to ring as normal, with the assistant catching calls while you're with a client. After hours, everything could go straight to the assistant. Or you could leave conditional forwarding on all the time and let the assistant pick up whatever slips through.
If you're unsure, start narrow. Forward only unanswered calls at first, listen to what the assistant does with them, and widen it once you trust it.
How do you divert calls from a cellphone to another number?
Use your phone's call settings or the network's dial codes. Either way, the network does the forwarding.
On an iPhone, Apple's guide takes you to Settings, Apps, Phone and then Call Forwarding, where you switch it on and enter the number. For forwarding only when the line is busy or out of service, Apple sends you to your carrier. Set it while you have signal: Apple notes that calls won't be forwarded if the phone was out of range at the time. Android phones have a similar setting in the Phone app, though the menus differ between makes.
The dial codes come from the standard itself, ETSI TS 122 030, which sets out how a handset asks the network to forward calls. Put the assistant's full number where the table says number.
| What gets forwarded | Switch it on | Switch it off |
|---|---|---|
| Every call | **21*number# |
#21# |
| Calls when your line is busy | **67*number# |
#67# |
| Calls you don't answer | **61*number# |
#61# |
| Calls when the phone is off or unreachable | **62*number# |
#62# |
| All three conditions above | **004*number# |
#004# |
*#21# asks the network whether all-calls forwarding is on, and ##002# clears every divert on the line. The standard also allows a ring time before a no-answer divert takes over, so ask your network how that works on your line. If call waiting is on, a call that arrives while you're on the phone waits for you instead of counting as busy. The busy divert sends it to the assistant when you decline it, and a no-answer divert does the same once it has rung long enough.
Set forwarding yourself, to a number you've checked. Never dial a forwarding code that someone sends you or reads out to you, because it hands your calls to whoever owns that number. On a dual-SIM phone, make sure you're changing the business line.
How does call forwarding work on a landline or a VoIP line?
The idea is the same. Only the place you switch it on changes.
On a Telkom business line, it's a code dialled from the handset. Telkom's guide to its Forward Call service has you lift the handset, dial *21*, enter the number, press # and wait for the acknowledgement tone. Dialling #21# cancels it. Other fixed-line providers have their own steps, so check with yours.
On a VoIP line or a cloud phone system, forwarding is usually a setting in the provider's portal or in the phone system itself. If an IT company runs it, send them the assistant's number in writing, with the hours you want it used.
Ask your provider two things. Can forwarding follow a schedule, so your team answers by day and the assistant at night? And if several phones ring for your main number, where should the forward sit so that every call reaches the assistant, not only the calls to one desk?
Does call forwarding cost extra in South Africa?
Usually, yes. The forwarded part of each call is billed to you.
Telkom's Forward Call guide says you're charged for the diverted portion of the call at the applicable rate, while the caller still pays for the first part, the call to your number. For cellphones, the call forwarding standard, ETSI TS 122 082, says the person who set up the forward may be charged for the forwarded part of the call.
So check what kind of number the assistant answers on, and what your package charges to call that kind of number. Forwarding every call costs more than forwarding only missed ones, because more calls make the second leg.
How do you test call forwarding before customers notice?
Test from a phone that isn't on your account, and test each condition you've set. A forward that works when the phone is off can still fail when the line is busy.
- Ring the business number and let it ring out. Then ring while the line is busy, and again with the phone off. Each call should reach the assistant.
- Listen to what a caller hears first. It should be your greeting, not a network announcement or your old voicemail. If voicemail answers, the no-answer forward isn't pointing where you think.
- Check that the assistant sees the caller's own number, not yours. It needs that number to call people back or send a WhatsApp confirmation.
- Ask the assistant to put you through to a person. If your cellphone forwards every call to the assistant, and the assistant transfers callers to that same cellphone, the transfer comes straight back. Whoever takes transfers needs a number that isn't forwarding everything.
- Dial
*#21#,*#67#,*#61#and*#62#to see what the network has on record for each kind of divert, and stick##002#on the wall where the whole team can find it. - Repeat the test at the times you'll rely on it most, such as a Saturday morning or just after closing.
Will your number change on Google or your Business Profile?
No. Forwarding happens inside the phone network, behind your number. The number on your Google Business Profile, your website, your invoices and the side of the bakkie stays the same.
That matters because what Google knows about your business doesn't come only from your profile. Its Search Central documentation says Google's algorithms find corporate contact information that is publicly available on the web, and that verified owners can provide or edit contact details on their Business Profile.
So keep the assistant's receiving number out of anything public. Once it's on a flyer or a directory listing, you have two numbers in circulation and no tidy way to take one back.
Forwarding is also easy to reverse. If you stop using the assistant, cancel the forward and the line behaves as it did before. Nothing on Google needs touching.
Where does forwarding fit when Cognexa builds an AI receptionist?
Our AI receptionist page sets out the parts. Telephony gives the agent a number to answer, either a new one or one forwarded from your existing line. The same page says delays are almost always a wait on somebody else, and a provider configuring forwarding is one of its two examples.
The forward is the last switch to flip. On our builds the number only goes live once the agent has been tested against awkward callers, so until then your calls ring exactly where they ring today.
Call costs sit outside our fee. Our pricing page lists voice minutes and telephony among the third-party costs billed by whichever provider carries the calls, and says they're estimated in your quote rather than discovered later. Your network's forwarding charges, covered above, arrive on your own phone bill.
Is your line ready for forwarding?
Start with the line. Find out whether your published number is a cellphone, a landline or a VoIP line, and who is allowed to change its settings. Then decide which calls the assistant should take, and when. If you're not sure where calls are slipping away, our guide to stopping missed customer calls helps you find the pattern before you change anything.
The rest is admin. Get the assistant's receiving number in writing, check what your package charges to call it, set aside time for the test calls above, and keep the cancel code where everyone can see it. If you're still choosing a provider, our guide to choosing an AI voice agent covers the questions to ask, including whether it answers on your existing number.