Forward Office Phone to Cell Phone: Steps, Codes, and Tips

Forwarding rules are set by your phone provider, and the steps change depending on the exact product you have. Two customers can use the same company and still need different instructions, so the first step is always identifying your service.

Find the product name on your monthly bill or in your online account. Then confirm a few details before you change anything:

• The exact name of your phone service or plan, from your bill or portal
• Whether you want all calls forwarded, or only calls that go unanswered or hit a busy line
• Whether your plan charges extra for forwarded calls, since some plans bill forwarded minutes differently
• Whether your phone system is managed by an administrator at your company who controls features
• Your cell number written out with the area code, since most systems need all 10 digits

Many landline and business phone services use star codes dialed from the office phone itself. The most common pattern is *72 to turn forwarding on and *73 to turn it off, but the details vary. Here are verified steps for several providers; only use the ones matching your actual service.

Always test after activating: call your office line from another phone and confirm the call rings on your cell.

• Verizon business landline: dial *72 and follow the activation instructions; dial *73 from the same line to deactivate
• AT&T Phone for Business: dial *72, the 10-digit destination, then # to forward all calls; *73# turns it off. No-answer forwarding uses *92 plus destination and #, off with *93#. Busy forwarding uses *90 plus destination and #, off with *91#
• Optimum Business Phone: dial *72, wait for dial tone, then dial the destination. If the call is busy or unanswered, press the flash or hook switch, dial *72 again, and redial the destination; two beeps and dial tone confirm. *73 turns it off
• Frontier Unlimited Digital Voice: lift the handset, dial *72, wait for a second dial tone, enter the destination, and listen for confirmation. *73 disables it
• Comcast Managed Voice (Panasonic TPA65 phones): lift the handset, dial *72 and the destination, then replace the handset. *73 disables. No-answer uses *92 plus destination, busy uses *90 plus destination when call waiting is off
• C Spire wireless: dial *72 plus the 10-digit destination and press Call; *73 then Call disables

Newer business phone systems usually manage forwarding in a web dashboard or mobile app instead of star codes. This is also how you set conditional rules like forwarding only after a number of rings.

Examples of verified portal steps:

• Spectrum Business Voice: sign in to SpectrumBusiness.net with an account role that can manage voice, open Voice from Overview, choose your phone number, then Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager. Enable forwarding, choose all calls or busy/no-answer, and set the destination
• Vonage Business Communications: select Call Forwarding and enable Forward Calls to a phone number
• Windstream OfficeSuite UC: in the WE Connect Dashboard, open the My Call Forwarding widget, choose Call Forwarding (Immediate), select Another Phone, enter the 10-digit number, and save. For unanswered calls, choose your extension, set the ring count, and select Another Phone Number
• Comcast Business: My Account and the Comcast Business App manage phone features for services that include them, such as Voice Mobility

Before you activate, decide which kind of forwarding you need. They behave very differently in daily use.

All-call (unconditional) forwarding sends every incoming call straight to your cell. Your desk phone will not ring at all, and on some systems forwarding overrides the line's voicemail. This works well when you are out of the office for the day, but it means you cannot screen calls at your desk.

Conditional forwarding only redirects calls in certain situations: when no one answers after a set number of rings, when the line is busy, or when the phone is unreachable. This lets your desk phone ring normally during work hours while missed calls still reach you. Some providers offer this as a feature you add (C Spire, for example, lists No Answer Transfer as an add-on feature), and some phone menus on the handset itself include always, busy, unanswered, and unreachable options.

A practical approach: use all-call forwarding when the office is closed or you are away, and conditional forwarding during business hours so missed desk calls follow you without taking over the line.

• All-call forwarding: every call goes to the cell immediately; the desk phone never rings
• No-answer forwarding: the desk rings first, then unanswered calls move to the cell after a set number of rings
• Busy forwarding: calls redirect only while the line is already in use
• Unreachable forwarding: calls redirect when the phone is off or out of service

Forwarding that is set up but never tested is a common way businesses lose calls. After activating, place a test call from an outside phone, such as your own cell, to the office line and confirm it reaches the right place. Vonage specifically recommends verifying the destination with an outside call.

Keep a simple record of the code or portal location you used, because you will need the matching deactivation step later. In most cases *73 from the same line turns forwarding off, or you disable it in the same portal screen where you enabled it. Remember that all-call forwarding prevents the original desk line from receiving calls, so turn it off when you are back in the office.

One limitation to know: Google Voice does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated answering system, so if your business number is a Google Voice line, forwarding it to a service like AllDayDesk will not work. Standard carrier and business phone lines are the usual path.

• Test from an outside phone after every activation or change
• Write down the activation code or portal location you used
• Use the matching deactivation step (*73 or the same portal screen) when you return
• Remember all-call forwarding stops the desk line from ringing entirely

Forwarding works well when you can answer, but it has limits. If you are on another call, driving, or in a job site basement, the forwarded call still goes to your cell's voicemail, and callers may not leave the details you need. There is also no one to answer questions, quote prices, or book appointments while you are unavailable.

That is where an answering service fits. AllDayDesk is an AI receptionist that answers your business line around the clock using the business information you save. You keep your existing phone number by forwarding calls to it, using the same *72-style steps or portal controls described above. It can take messages, answer questions from your saved details, and book new appointments on the built-in dashboard calendar once you have set up your services and availability, with an optional Google Calendar connection available in Settings after you authorize your account. Calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings show up in your dashboard, and if a caller asks something AllDayDesk does not know, it takes a message instead of guessing.

If you want to compare options first, it helps to look at how AI and human services differ before deciding.

• Forwarded calls you cannot answer go to your cell's voicemail with no follow-up
• AllDayDesk answers using your saved business information and takes messages when it does not know an answer
• New appointments book to the built-in dashboard calendar, with an optional Google Calendar connection in Settings
• You keep your existing business number by forwarding it