You don't need a new phone number to use an AI receptionist. You keep the number that's on your sign, your website and your Google listing, and you tell your phone service to forward calls to the AI's number. You also choose which calls: only the ones you miss, every call, or everything after you close. This guide covers all three, how to set each one up with ModPhone, and how to test it before a customer ever notices.
How forwarding works
When you sign up for ModPhone, your agent gets its own phone number. The free trial includes one US number. Your existing number stays exactly where it is, with your current carrier, on your current plan. You add a forwarding rule, and calls that match the rule ring through to your agent instead.
Nothing about your number changes. When you turn the rule off, calls ring your phones the way they always did.
Two limits to know up front. Forwarding moves phone calls, not text messages: texts sent to your existing number keep going wherever they went before, so customers who want to text your agent use the ModPhone number, which handles both calls and texts. And ModPhone works by forwarding; this guide doesn't involve moving (porting) your number anywhere.
Before you forward anything
Get the agent right first, while nobody but you is calling it.
- Build your agent from your website and review the facts it learned. Fix anything wrong or missing, and fill the gaps using our checklist of what to teach your AI receptionist before it goes live.
- Call your ModPhone number directly from your cell phone. Ask the five questions your customers ask most, and ask to book an appointment if you use booking.
- Set up transfers so the agent can hand callers to a person. Use direct lines or cell phones as transfer numbers, not the main number you're about to forward. If you forward every call from your main line and then transfer back to that same line, the call rings straight back to the agent.
Option 1: forward only the calls you miss
This is called conditional forwarding. Calls go to your agent only when you don't pick up: the line is busy, nobody answers, or the phone is off or out of signal. Your staff still answer like normal, and the agent catches everything that would have gone to voicemail. It's the best way to start, because nothing changes for callers you do reach.
To set it up in ModPhone:
- On your dashboard, find the card that asks Want it answering your current business line? and click Show me how. The card appears for any number that hasn't had a call yet this month.
- Find your carrier. The code shown already includes your ModPhone number, with a copy button beside it.
- From the phone you want to forward, dial the code and press call. It has to be dialed from that phone, not from another one.
- Confirm in ModPhone that you've forwarded it, then test it (see below).
On Verizon, for example, Verizon's own instructions are to dial *71 followed by the 10-digit number to forward calls you don't answer, and *73 to turn forwarding off. Other carriers use different codes, and codes can vary by plan, which is why the dashboard builds yours for you. If the code doesn't take, call your carrier (611 from most cell phones) and ask them to forward busy and no-answer calls to your ModPhone number.
Your phone rings for a set time before an unanswered call forwards. How long depends on your carrier, so let it ring out fully when you test.
Option 2: forward every call
With unconditional forwarding, also called "forward all calls," every call goes straight to the agent and your desk phone doesn't ring. On Verizon, that's *72 followed by the 10-digit number, according to the same Verizon page. For other carriers, ask for unconditional or "always" forwarding to your ModPhone number.
This suits an office where the front desk can't keep up, or where you want the agent to answer first and send callers on to the right person. It works well with departments: a caller who says "billing" gets billing's number, and a caller who asks for "someone" gets your main transfer number.
Double-check the transfer numbers before you switch this on. They must be phones that are not themselves forwarded to the agent.
Option 3: forward after hours only
ModPhone answers whatever reaches it, at any hour. Its business hours setting controls when the agent will book appointments, not when it picks up. So the after-hours schedule lives in your phone system, and you have three ways to set it:
- Keep conditional forwarding on all the time. After you close, nobody answers, so every call forwards anyway. For many small offices this is all the "after hours" setup they need.
- If you have a hosted business phone system, ask your provider or IT person for a time-based rule that forwards calls to your ModPhone number outside business hours. Many business systems have a schedule or night-mode setting for exactly this.
- On a line with no schedule feature, turn on forward-all at closing and turn it off in the morning. It works, but someone has to remember.
Test it before customers do
- Call your business number from a phone that isn't the one you forwarded and isn't on your transfer list.
- If you set up conditional forwarding, don't answer. Let it ring out.
- You should hear your agent's greeting. Ask a real question.
- Say "Can I talk to someone?" to test the transfer path.
- Open Home in ModPhone. The call appears under Recent Calls within about half a minute, with the transcript and summary.
If it doesn't work
- Call your ModPhone number directly. If the agent answers there but not through your business line, the problem is the forwarding rule, not the agent.
- Make sure you dialed the code from the phone being forwarded.
- Use your 10-digit ModPhone number with no country code. The dashboard's code already does this.
- Let the call ring out. Conditional forwarding only kicks in when nobody answers.
- Codes differ by carrier and plan. When in doubt, call your carrier and ask them to set the forward for you.
Turning it off
Dial your carrier's cancel code from the same phone (on Verizon, *73), remove the rule in your phone system, or ask your carrier. Your number is untouched, and your agent simply stops receiving those calls. Its settings, knowledge and call history stay in ModPhone.
Or use a new number instead
If you'd rather not forward, publish your ModPhone number directly: put it on your website, your Google Business Profile and your email signature. Numbers added in ModPhone take both calls and texts, so customers can call or text the same number. Some offices do both, forwarding the main line for missed calls and listing the ModPhone number as the text line. For what to do once calls are flowing, see the first 30 days after switching.
Common questions
Can I keep my business phone number with an AI receptionist?
Yes. You keep your number with your current carrier and forward calls from it to your ModPhone number. You can forward only missed calls, every call, or calls outside business hours, and you can turn forwarding off at any time without affecting your number.
Will my phone still ring before the AI answers?
With conditional forwarding, yes. Your phone rings first, and the call goes to your agent only if nobody answers, the line is busy or the phone is unreachable. With unconditional forwarding, calls go straight to the agent and your phone doesn't ring.
Can I forward calls to an AI receptionist only after hours?
Yes. The easiest way is to leave no-answer forwarding on all the time, since nobody answers after you close. If you have a business phone system, you can also set a time-based rule that forwards to your ModPhone number outside your hours.
How do I stop forwarding calls?
Dial your carrier's cancel code from the phone you forwarded (on Verizon it's *73), switch off the rule in your business phone system, or call your carrier. Your number goes back to ringing normally right away.
Does call forwarding cost extra?
That depends on your phone plan. Some plans include forwarding at no charge, while others count forwarded calls against your minutes or charge for the feature, so ask your carrier. On the ModPhone side, a forwarded call counts toward your plan's minutes like any other call.
Set it up this week
This week, test the agent on its own number, then switch on no-answer forwarding from your main line and make one test call. You can start the free trial and have a number to forward to in about ten minutes.