More businesses are using call forwarding than ever before. If you’re in the small percentage of companies who aren’t, you’re missing out—not just because it helps you never miss a call, but because there are a ton of notable benefits that come with this technology.
Here are three of the more unexpected call forwarding benefits you should know about.
You Can Still Make Outgoing Calls
A lot of people think forwarding calls from a number means you can’t use the same number to make calls. That may stop them from using call forwarding altogether—because they don’t want to stop using their number while calls are being forwarded.
But this isn’t accurate.
It’s pretty straightforward: even if your incoming calls are being forwarded, you can still make calls using that same number.
The important thing here is knowing your incoming calls will still be forwarded to your designated number, regardless of how many outgoing calls you make.
How is this helpful? Consider the following scenario.
You’re a business owner, and you have to take calls for your business every day. But you also have a personal phone number for friends and family. You don’t want to give out your personal phone number to the public, so instead, you forward all calls going to your business number to your personal number when you’re out running errands.
If you still want to make outgoing calls to customers and clients using that number, you can. It won’t inhibit the call forwarding process. But it does give you more flexibility in how you run your business.
You Can Forward Calls to a Long Distance Number
When you use call forwarding software, you aren’t restricted to just forwarding calls to a number within your regional calling area. Most carriers allow you to forward calls to long-distance numbers as long as your phone service is active.
Keep in mind, long-distance numbers and international numbers don’t work the same.
Long-distance numbers are numbers outside your local calling area, or rate center. For instance, if it has a different area code than your local area code, it’s a long-distance number. Think New York City vs. Seattle—they’re on opposite sides of the United States with different area codes, but they’re in the same country.
International numbers, however, are in a completely different country altogether.
Carriers do not support call forwarding to an international number yet. But there is a chance that if you set up call forwarding before you start roaming or are outside domestic territory, your calls will continue to be forwarded while you’re traveling.
You can also forward calls to an international number if you port your phone number to a virtual number and forward it to your international number, whether it be mobile or landline. If you’re traveling or want to temporarily take forwarded calls outside of your domestic country, this solution can be a lifesaver.
You Can Choose Which or How Calls Are Forwarded
A lot of people think call forwarding will automatically reroute all incoming calls. This is sometimes true—but not always.
Indeed, iPhones don’t have built-in conditional call forwarding options. You can either forward incoming calls or not, there’s no in-between.
Things are different on Android phones, though.
Android phones allow you to select one of four call forwarding options:
- Always forward, which automatically forwards any incoming calls
- Forward when busy, which reroutes incoming calls to a designated number if you’re engaged in another call
- Forward when unanswered, which reroutes incoming calls to a designated number if you’re not answering
- Forward when unreached, which reroutes incoming calls to a designated number if you cannot be reached, don’t have a signal, or you’re in airplane mode
Keep in mind some carriers also offer Selective Call Forwarding, which allows you to forward calls from specific numbers only.
Opt for a Business Phone System to Get More With Call Forwarding
Neither phone operating systems nor phone carriers offer a lot of options for call forwarding. There are situations where you might need something more robust if, for instance, you’re running a call center or managing a customer service department.
In such cases, you can’t apply the same rules to all types of incoming calls. Nor can you just skip the ones you cannot properly forward to the right agent or department. Global call centers face similar challenges when forwarding calls to teams in different countries.
This is where a business phone system comes in handy. For instance, with Nextiva’s VoIP business phone system, you can enable VoIP call forwarding and bypass all the limitations above. You’re able to set up smart forwarding to ensure you’re always accessible and that customers are matched with the best agent for their problem.
Some of the advanced call forwarding features in Nextiva’s VoIP business system include:
- Forwarding calls to international phone numbers
- Creating custom forwarding schedules based on criteria like business hours and holidays
- Setting up advanced call forwarding policies, like the four discussed above plus Call Forward Selective, which forwards your incoming calls based on selected criteria, and routing calls to specific people and phone numbers
In other words, Nextiva provides you with the best of both worlds: the simple and effective call forwarding options you’d find on a normal Android phone, and the advanced ones you need to keep your call center running smoothly.
Here are some of the benefits of the call forward features that come with VoIP phone systems:
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Call forwarding helps you make sure that no call goes unanswered, which means your customers are getting the help they need and aren’t being ignored.
Whether it’s redirecting to the most relevant department or ensuring availability outside of business hours, call forwarding makes it possible for businesses to maintain a reliable line of communication with their customers.
Increased Flexibility for Employees
By allowing calls to be forwarded to mobile phones or home landlines, employees enjoy a greater degree of flexibility. This not only contributes to a better work-life balance but also enables them to remain productive and responsive even when they’re not physically present in the office.
For instance, if you only have two technical call center agents in your team, and they both have a degree of expertise in different areas, you can forward calls to their mobile phones even when they’re not in the office to ensure each one receives calls related to their specific skills.
This will help reduce wait times, improve your first call resolution rate, and boost the overall quality of the service you provide while giving agents more flexibility in where and how they work.
Enhanced Professional Image
Call forwarding contributes to a professional image by ensuring that clients can always reach the business. If you’ve ever had to wait for 20 minutes on the phone just to be connected with an agent (and then redirected to one who’s more experienced in your specific issue), you know how frustrating it can be.
This kind of thing can create fissures in the relationships you have with your customers. One small annoyance here, another major issue there, and they’ll likely be more open to take on your competitor’s offer when it comes along.
Plus, it will also make it likely they’ll tell others about their experience (which means new customer acquisition will be even harder).
Call forwarding makes you available for your customers. It shows professionalism and dedication in addressing their issues while streamlining communications and strengthening your brand’s power.
