How to forward your after-hours calls without changing your number

Forwarding is how the number on your truck reaches DeskWiz after hours. You keep the number. Nothing is ported. When you want it back, you turn it off.

The codes below were checked against each carrier's own support pages in September 2026. Where a carrier doesn't publish a code, it says so - don't trust a blog's "works everywhere" list, because it doesn't.

The two kinds of forwarding

Always (unconditional) sends every call straight to another number the moment it's on. Your shop phone never rings. You turn it on when you close and off when you open.

Conditional sends a call on only when your line is busy, or when nobody picks up after a few rings. It stays on all the time. During the day your office answers as usual; the calls that ring out go to DeskWiz. This is the one that also covers lunch, the second line, and the tech who's under a sink.

Either works with DeskWiz. If you only want after-hours coverage, Always is simpler. If you also want the daytime calls your office can't get to, use conditional.

The short version

Most US landlines and many business VoIP systems use *72 to send every call away and *73 to take it back. Verizon mobile uses those too, plus *71 for busy-and-no-answer only. T-Mobile does not - it uses the **21* / **61* / **62* / **67* codes below. AT&T cell: use the phone's own Call Forwarding screen; AT&T doesn't publish a dial code for smartphones.

Mobile carriers

Verizon. Always: dial *72 then the number to forward to, and call. Off: *73. Busy and no-answer together: *71 then the number; off is also *73. It forwards after roughly three or four rings and you can't change that. Airtime applies to forwarded calls even on an unlimited plan, and you can't forward to an international number. Dial from the phone itself, on Verizon's network - the codes can fail when you're roaming.

T-Mobile (including lines that came over from Sprint). Always: **21*1 then the ten-digit number then #. Off: ##21#. No answer: **61*1 number #, off ##61# - and you can set the delay by adding * and the seconds before the final #, from 5 up to 30. Busy: **67*1 number #, off ##67#. Phone off or out of range: **62*1 number #, off ##62#. To wipe every forwarding setting back to default: ##004#.

AT&T. AT&T's current support article gives no dial code for smartphones and says forwarding has to be changed from the phone, not online. On an iPhone: Settings, Phone, Call Forwarding. On Android it's in the Phone app's call settings. Some handsets also offer "when busy" and "when unanswered" in that same menu. Forwarded calls are billed for the length of the call and may pick up long-distance charges; no international destinations.

UScellular. No codes on their support site. Use the phone's menu: Settings, Call settings, Call forwarding, then Always, When busy, When unanswered, or When unreachable. T-Mobile bought UScellular's wireless business in August 2025, so if your line gets migrated, re-test - the codes that worked last year may not be the ones that work now.

Landlines and cable phone

AT&T traditional landline. Always: *72, then the number. The system places a test call to that number, and forwarding only turns on if that call is answered - if it isn't, hang up and repeat within a couple of minutes. Off: *73. For busy or no-answer forwarding AT&T asks you to call them. You can set how many rings before a no-answer forward with *47 followed by a two-digit code (12 for two rings, 18 for three, 24 for four, up to 60 for ten).

AT&T Digital Phone / U-verse. Always *72 number #, off *73#. Busy *90 number #, off *91#. No answer *92 number #, off *93#.

Verizon Fios. Always *72 / *73. Busy *90 / *91. No answer *92 / *93. Busy and no-answer together *42 / *43. You can also set it in the online account manager.

Comcast Business Voice. *72 then the ten-digit number; off *73. No answer *92 / *93. On VoiceEdge it's in the portal under Feature Settings, Call Forwarding, where you can also set the number of rings and forward when the phone loses power or internet. Busy forwarding isn't available if you use a hunt group.

Cox Business. *72 then the number as you'd normally dial it; off *73. Busy *90 / *91. No answer *92. No international destinations, and forwarding can't be switched on during an outage.

CenturyLink / Lumen. *72, then the number; a fast busy tone afterward means it's on. Off *73. Busy and no-answer codes only appear on older CenturyLink guides, so confirm with them before relying on those. Measured-service and long-distance charges may apply.

Spectrum Business Voice. Set it in the portal. The current handset-code list doesn't include forwarding; *72 / *73 appear only in an older Time Warner guide Spectrum still hosts.

VoIP phone systems - it's a setting, and it's per extension

If your shop is on RingCentral, Ooma, Nextiva, Grasshopper, 8x8, Dialpad, GoTo Connect, Vonage or Google Voice, forwarding lives in the admin portal, and most of these can do it by schedule: after 5pm and weekends, send calls to DeskWiz; during the day, ring the office. Set it once and it runs itself.

The thing that catches people: forwarding on a VoIP system is usually set per user or per extension, not on the company's main number. Turning on "forward all calls" for yourself doesn't move the number on your truck unless that number rings your extension. Set the after-hours rule on the main number's call handling, auto attendant, or ring group - that's where the published number lives.

• RingCentral: Call handling, work hours versus after hours, with an external number as the after-hours destination. "Forward all calls" overrides that and can take a date range.
• Ooma Office: *72 then the number and #; off *73. Or Call Handling, "Forward it immediately." The Virtual Receptionist has business hours and after-hours settings. Turn on "require key press on answer" so your cell's voicemail doesn't grab the call.
• Nextiva: Voice Settings, Forwarding. *72 / *73 for Always on your own line; busy *90 / *91; no answer *92. Schedules apply through Selective Call Forwarding. These only affect calls to you directly, not queue or group calls.
• Grasshopper: No codes. Each extension has forwarding numbers with their own hours; the account has business hours too.
• 8x8: Admin Console, per user: forward all calls, when busy, when no answer (with ring time), and when the internet is down - each can go to an external number. Auto attendant handles time-of-day.
• Dialpad: Forwarding numbers under user settings; ring time 10 to 45 seconds, then missed-call routing. Office hours and closed-hours routing are separate settings. The "press 1 to accept" prompt on forwarded calls can't be fully switched off.
• GoTo Connect: *72 then an extension or number; off *73. It's server-side, so it holds even if the phone goes offline. Schedules are dial plans.
• Vonage Business: Voice Settings, Call Forwarding: Always, Busy, No Answer with ring count, Not Reachable, and Selective with a time or holiday schedule. *72 / *73 work for Always.
• Google Voice for Workspace: Google says forwarding a Voice number to an automated system on the linked-number path is unsupported. Use the Workspace auto attendant or a ring group's after-hours action instead.

Things that go wrong

• The wrong family of codes fails silently. **21* does nothing on Verizon; *72 does nothing on T-Mobile.
• Always means your phone never rings. If you want the office to answer during the day, use the conditional codes or your VoIP system's hours.
• On AT&T landlines, CenturyLink and older Spectrum lines, forwarding only activates if the test call is answered. DeskWiz answers, so it will be - but if you're forwarding to something else, check.
• Your own voicemail can win the race. If voicemail picks up before the no-answer forward fires, DeskWiz never gets the call. Shorten the forward delay where you can, or lengthen the voicemail delay.
• Forwarded minutes usually count as airtime on mobile plans, even unlimited ones.
• Re-test after any SIM swap, carrier migration, or phone-system change. Forwarding doesn't always survive.

Test it, then go home

Turn forwarding on. Call your own number from a different phone. If DeskWiz answers, it's working. Turn it off and call again - your line should ring. Do that once before you go home the first night, and you'll never wonder.

If your carrier isn't listed or the code doesn't take, book a call - I've set this up on enough systems to know where the setting hides.