How to Transfer Calls from Office Phone to Cell Phone

The single most common mistake when you transfer calls from an office phone to a cell phone is using instructions for the wrong product. Carriers sell several phone services with different forwarding steps, and a code that works on one can fail or do something different on another. Check your monthly bill or your provider's online account and write down the exact service name, such as AT&T Phone for Business, Comcast Business VoiceEdge, or Frontier Digital Voice.

Next, decide what kind of forwarding you need. All-call (unconditional) forwarding sends every incoming call straight to your cell, so the desk phone never rings. Conditional forwarding only redirects calls that are unanswered, busy, or unreachable, which keeps your desk phone working during normal hours. These are usually set up separately, and not every service supports both.

• Find the exact product name on your bill or provider portal.
• Decide between all-call forwarding and conditional (no-answer or busy) forwarding.
• Have your full 10-digit cell number ready.
• Plan to test with a real call from another phone after setup.

Many traditional and digital phone lines use short dial codes. The general pattern is: lift the handset, dial the code, wait for a second dial tone or prompt, then enter your cell number. A confirmation tone, a spoken message, or your cell ringing confirms it worked. To turn forwarding off, dial the matching deactivation code from the same line.

Here are verified examples for specific services. These apply only to the named products, so confirm your service name first.

On AT&T Phone for Business, dial *72, your destination, then # to forward all calls, and *73# to turn it off. No-answer forwarding uses *92, destination, #, with *93# to disable, and busy forwarding uses *90, destination, #, with *91# to disable. On the Comcast Managed Voice Panasonic TPA65 system, lift the handset, dial *72 and the destination, then hang up to enable all-call forwarding; *73 disables it, *92 sets no-answer forwarding, and *90 sets busy forwarding when call waiting is off. On 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. On 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 it. Dial *73 to turn it off.

On Verizon business landlines, dial *72 and follow the activation instructions, then *73 from the same line to deactivate. On C Spire, dial *72 plus the 10-digit destination and press Call, and *73 then Call to disable. These are all-call instructions; C Spire's conditional codes are not covered by its published all-call guide, so confirm conditional support with C Spire directly.

• AT&T Phone for Business: *72 + destination + # (all calls), *92 for no answer, *90 for busy; *73, *93, *91 turn each off.
• Comcast Managed Voice (TPA65): *72 + destination to enable, *73 to disable; *92 no answer, *90 busy.
• Frontier Unlimited Digital Voice: *72, wait for second dial tone, enter destination; *73 disables.
• Optimum Business Phone: *72, dial tone, destination; repeat with flash if busy or unanswered; *73 disables.
• Verizon business landline: *72 to activate, *73 to deactivate.
• C Spire: *72 + 10-digit number + Call; *73 + Call to disable.

Hosted and cloud phone systems usually manage forwarding through a website or app rather than star codes. You sign in with an account that has permission to change phone settings, pick your number, and enter the forwarding destination.

For Spectrum Business Voice, sign in to SpectrumBusiness.net with a role allowed to 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. Disable it in the same place. For Vonage Business Communications, select Call Forwarding and enable Forward Calls to a phone number, then verify the destination with an outside call. Comcast Business Voice Mobility includes call forwarding and remote call forwarding, managed through My Account or the Comcast Business App, depending on your subscribed services. For Windstream OfficeSuite UC, use the WE Connect Dashboard's My Call Forwarding widget to forward immediately to another phone number, or set a ring count and a destination number for unanswered calls.

Some desk phones also have a forwarding menu on the handset itself. On a Kyocera DuraXA Equip on UScellular, for example, go to Menu, Settings & tools, Settings, Call settings, Call forwarding, then choose Always forward, When busy, When unanswered, or When unreachable, select On and Set, enter the number, and Save. Check your own phone's manual for its menu.

• Spectrum Business Voice: SpectrumBusiness.net, Voice, your number, Voice Settings or Forwarding Manager.
• Vonage Business Communications: select Call Forwarding, enable Forward Calls to a phone number.
• Comcast Business: Voice Mobility features are managed in My Account or the Comcast Business App.
• Windstream OfficeSuite UC: WE Connect Dashboard, My Call Forwarding widget, Immediate or no-answer forwarding.
• Some handsets have a built-in Call forwarding menu with always, busy, unanswered, and unreachable choices.

Some owners flip the problem around: they keep the office number ringing a cell phone and forward the cell when they are unavailable. Wireless forwarding uses its own codes. On Verizon mobile, dial *72 plus the 10-digit destination to forward all calls, *71 plus the destination for unanswered calls, and *73 to disable; setup must be done from the phone while in Verizon coverage, and it forwards calls only, not texts. On T-Mobile, **21*1 followed by the destination and # enables unconditional forwarding, **61*1 for no reply, **62*1 for unreachable, and **67*1 for busy, with matching ## codes such as ##21# to disable each and ##004# to reset to defaults.

One important limit: Google Voice explicitly does not support forwarding calls from a Google Voice number to an automated system, so a Voice number is not a path to an automated answering service. If your business number lives in Google Voice, check Google's current documentation before changing anything.

• Verizon mobile: *72 + destination (all calls), *71 + destination (unanswered), *73 to disable.
• T-Mobile: **21*1 + destination + # (always), **61*1 (no reply), **62*1 (unreachable), **67*1 (busy); ##004# resets.
• On Verizon mobile, forwarding applies to calls, not texts.
• Google Voice numbers cannot be forwarded to automated answering systems.

After activating forwarding, place a test call from a different phone to your office number and confirm it reaches your cell. Note how many rings you hear and whether the desk phone rings first. If the call still lands on the desk phone or its voicemail, recheck the service name and the code or portal step, or call your provider's support line.

Keep the deactivation code handy. All-call forwarding stops the desk phone from ringing entirely, so if you are back in the office and calls are not arriving, dialing the off code (usually *73 or the matching ## code) restores normal service. It is a good habit to test forwarding again after any provider equipment change or service upgrade, since features can reset.

• Test with a real call from another phone after every change.
• Write down both the activation and deactivation codes.
• Remember that all-call forwarding stops the desk phone from ringing.
• Recheck forwarding after service changes or new equipment.

Forwarding sends every call to one place: you. If you are on another call, driving, or simply want after-hours callers to reach something other than your personal voicemail, plain forwarding has gaps. This is where an answering service fits. AllDayDesk, the service on this site, answers business calls around the clock using the business information you save, and you keep your existing public number by forwarding calls to it using the same steps described above.

Setup starts by choosing your business or entering its website, checking the details it found, and hearing a personalized sample call so you know how it sounds before anything goes live. The sample does not create a real booking. Once you are set up, calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings appear in your dashboard, and new appointments go on the built-in AllDayDesk calendar by default once you have configured your services and availability. An optional Google Calendar connection is available in Settings after you connect and authorize your Google account. When the caller asks something the saved information does not cover, AllDayDesk takes a message instead of guessing. If you want calls handed to you directly, you can configure a transfer destination and rules, though pickup is not guaranteed. Changes to existing appointments are passed to you as requests rather than confirmed changes.

• Forwarding sends all calls to one cell phone; an answering service handles them for you.
• AllDayDesk answers around the clock using your saved business information.
• You keep your existing number by forwarding it, using the steps on this page.
• Calls, transcripts, summaries, and bookings show up in your dashboard.