Route Your Phone Number
Forward your existing business line to the AI receptionist, or port the number to the platform
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Two Ways to Get Calls In
Your customers already know your business number. You have two ways to put the AI receptionist behind it: forward calls from your existing line to your platform-managed number, or port the number so the platform owns it outright. Forwarding is reversible in minutes and is the right way to start. Porting is permanent, takes days, and is the right end state once you trust the setup.
Find Your Platform Number
Open channel settings
Go to Settings › Channels and copy your platform-managed number once IntakeNexus has assigned it. Every forwarding code below sends calls to this number.
Test it first
Call the platform number directly from your mobile and confirm the AI answers before you change anything on your business line. If this fails, forwarding will fail too.
Full vs Partial Forwarding
| Approach | What Happens | Best For | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unconditional (full) forward | Every call goes straight to the AI. Your handset never rings. | After-hours, holidays, solo operators in the field, or once you fully trust the AI | You stop hearing your own phone ring. Regulars who expect you personally get the AI instead. |
| Busy forward (partial) | Calls come to the AI only while you are already on a call. | Anyone who loses second callers during a busy stretch | Covers only the busy case — an unanswered ringing phone still goes to voicemail. |
| No-answer forward (partial) | Calls ring your phone for a set number of rings, then hand off to the AI. | The most common starting point — you answer what you can, AI catches the rest | Callers wait through the ring cycle first, so answer time is slower than a full forward. |
| Unreachable forward (partial) | Calls go to the AI when your phone is off or out of signal. | Field crews with patchy coverage | Never fires while your phone is on and idle, so it cannot stand alone. |
Carrier Forwarding Codes
Dial these from the phone whose calls you want to forward, replacing NUMBER with your platform-managed number (digits only, no spaces or dashes). Wait for the confirmation tone or message before hanging up.
| Carrier | Unconditional On | Busy | No Answer | Cancel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verizon | *72NUMBER | *90NUMBER | *92NUMBER | 73 (all) / 90 / *92 off |
| AT&T | 21NUMBER# | 67NUMBER# | 61NUMBER# | #21# / #67# / #61# |
| T-Mobile | *21NUMBER# | *67NUMBER# | *61NUMBER# | ##21# / ##67# / ##61# |
| GSM standard (most carriers & VoIP) | *21NUMBER# | *67NUMBER# | *61NUMBER# | ##002# cancels all |
| Landline / legacy copper | *72NUMBER | Carrier-provisioned | Carrier-provisioned | *73 |
Set the Ring Timer
No-answer forwarding competes with your carrier voicemail: whichever fires first wins the call. Most carriers default to about 20 seconds, and voicemail commonly picks up at the same point. Set the forward timer below your voicemail timer — 15 seconds (roughly 3 rings) is a good default — or the AI will never receive the call.
**61*NUMBER**15#The trailing value is the delay in seconds, and most carriers accept only multiples of 5 up to 30. If your carrier rejects the timer, ask support to lower the voicemail pickup delay instead.
Port Your Number to the Platform
Porting (Local Number Portability, or LNP) moves your existing number onto the platform permanently. Calls and texts arrive natively with no forwarding hop, and you drop the old carrier line. Plan on 7–14 business days for a typical US wireline or wireless port.
Request the port
Contact support from Settings › Channels and ask to start a number port. You will receive a Letter of Authorization (LOA) to sign.
Gather your details exactly as the carrier has them
You need the account number, the account PIN or passcode, the service address, and the authorized account holder name — exactly as they appear on your current carrier bill. A mismatched digit is the single most common cause of rejection.
Unlock the number
Turn off any port-out lock or number-lock feature in your carrier account, and clear any outstanding balance. Locked or delinquent numbers are rejected automatically.
Submit and wait
Return the signed LOA with a recent bill copy. Support submits the port request and confirms a firm order commitment (FOC) date with the losing carrier.
Cut over
On the FOC date the number activates on the platform. Place a test call and a test text immediately, then cancel the old carrier line — not before.
Validation Checklist
- A direct call to the platform number is answered by the AI
- A call to your business number reaches the AI under the condition you configured (busy, no answer, or always)
- The call appears in Inbox with a transcript
- A lead is created or linked in Leads
- Your voicemail does NOT intercept before the forward fires
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Forward code returns an error tone | Carrier does not support star codes on this line (common on VoIP and cable) | Set forwarding in the carrier web admin panel instead of by dialing |
| Calls still go to voicemail, never to the AI | Voicemail pickup fires before the no-answer forward timer | Lower the forward timer to 15 seconds or ask the carrier to raise the voicemail delay |
| AI answers every call, including ones you wanted | Unconditional forwarding is active instead of conditional | Cancel with the unconditional cancel code, then set only the busy and no-answer forwards |
| Forwarded calls connect but show no caller ID | Carrier is not passing the original caller ID through the forward | Ask the carrier to enable caller ID pass-through; without it the AI cannot match a caller to an existing lead |
| Port request rejected | Account details do not match the losing carrier record, or the number is locked | Recheck account number, PIN, and service address against a current bill, disable the port-out lock, then resubmit |