Small-business owner answers a call at a job site

Find Me/Follow Me: 4 Routing Steps to Keep SMBs Reachable

Find Me routes an incoming call to wherever you are, while Follow Me rings a list of your devices, either at once or in order, until someone picks up. Together they work through a virtual number that forwards calls across phones automatically. For small business owners, the outcome is simple: fewer missed calls and a more professional response, no matter which device is closest to you.

TL;DR:

  • Use simultaneous ringing when any teammate can answer; choose sequential routing for solo owners or escalation chains that need a primary contact first.
  • Set each device to ring for 15 to 20 seconds, then test caller ID, ring order, and voicemail handoff from an outside phone before launch.
  • Keep the escalation list to two or three targets and total ringing under a minute, because extra hops delay answers and can trigger forwarding loops.
  • Set business hours and a fallback destination; when nobody is available, an auto attendant or after hours greeting prevents callers from reaching a dead end.
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Table of Contents

What Find Me and Follow Me actually mean

The two terms get used interchangeably, but they describe slightly different pieces of the same system. Find Me is the idea that a call should reach you regardless of location: at your desk, in your car, or on a job site. Follow Me is the mechanism that makes that possible, a configurable list of phones that ring when someone calls your business number.

Both features rely on a virtual phone number as the single entry point. Callers dial one number, and the system decides where that call goes based on rules you set. According to the routing behavior described on Wikipedia, that virtual number routes calls through a user-defined list, which can ring simultaneously or in sequence and can follow a schedule.

A few terms worth knowing before you open a provider dashboard:

  • Virtual number: the main business line that never changes, even as forwarding targets do.
  • Simultaneous ringing: every listed device rings at the same time.
  • Sequential ringing: devices ring one after another in a set order.
  • Fallback: where the call goes if nobody answers, usually voicemail.

How call routing works in practice

Every call follows a predictable path once routing is configured. Understanding that path makes it much easier to troubleshoot or adjust later.

  1. A customer dials your virtual business number.
  2. The system checks your forwarding list and routing mode (simultaneous or sequential).
  3. It rings each target for the ring time you set, moving to the next one if sequential.
  4. If nobody answers, the call falls back to voicemail or an overflow number.

The main settings you control are per-target ring duration, the order devices ring in, whether ringing is simultaneous or sequential, and the business hours schedule that determines whether calls route to your team or straight to a greeting. Most providers put these controls in a single routing or forwarding section of the dashboard. On Talkroute, that is where you manage multiple numbers and their forwarding destinations, including which phones ring for which incoming number.

Checking these settings periodically matters more than it sounds. A ring time set too short cuts off a slower-to-answer employee, while one set too long frustrates callers who hang up before reaching voicemail.

Choosing the right routing mode for your team

Simultaneous and sequential ringing solve different problems, and picking the wrong one creates friction for callers and staff alike.

  • Simultaneous ringing fits teams who share responsibility for answering, such as a small sales group or a shop where any available person can take a call.
  • Sequential ringing fits solo owners or escalation chains, where a call should try the main line first, then a mobile number, then an assistant.
  • Business hours schedules let you route calls to your team during the day and to voicemail or an after-hours message once you close.
  • Presence-based routing (ringing only active devices) cuts down on wasted rings to phones that are off or out of range.

A one-person operation rarely needs simultaneous ringing across five devices. A distributed team answering customer calls all day usually does.

Benefits and real-world small business scenarios

The practical payoff of Find Me/Follow Me shows up on both sides of the phone. Customers reach a live person faster instead of bouncing to voicemail, and your team stays reachable without carrying a second phone or sitting at a desk all day.

  • Solo owner: a plumber’s business line rings their cell first, then a second cell, so no job inquiry goes unanswered while they’re under a sink.
  • Distributed sales team: incoming leads ring every available rep’s mobile line simultaneously, so whoever picks up first keeps the deal moving.
  • Service appointments: a salon routes calls to the front desk during open hours and to a scheduling assistant’s cell after close, keeping bookings flowing without staffing a phone around the clock.

Internally, the same setup supports on-call rotations and after-hours coverage without requiring anyone to forward calls manually each shift.

Setting up Find Me/Follow Me: a step-by-step checklist

Getting this running typically takes less time than most business owners expect, especially when the forwarding list is kept short.

  1. Pick your primary virtual number and list the phones you want it to reach, whether mobile, landline, or a softphone app.
  2. Choose simultaneous or sequential ringing and set a ring duration for each target, usually 15 to 20 seconds per device.
  3. Set your business hours and a fallback destination, typically voicemail, for calls nobody answers.
  4. Call the number from an outside line to confirm caller ID, ring order, and voicemail handoff all behave as expected.
  5. Check caller ID display and, if you’re porting an existing number, confirm the port is complete before switching off the old service.

For exact dashboard steps, our support article on adding a forwarding phone number walks through each click, and a separate article confirms which phone types can receive forwarded calls.

Pro Tip: Test your routing from a phone you don’t normally use, since testing from a device already in the forwarding list can mask ring-order problems.

Best practices and quick troubleshooting

A few habits keep call routing reliable instead of becoming a source of missed calls itself. Keep the escalation order short: two or three targets usually outperform five, since every extra hop adds delay before a human answers. Use a consistent caller ID across devices so customers recognize your business number when it rings their phone.

  • Confirm ring times add up to a reasonable total before voicemail picks up, usually under a minute.
  • Check that a forwarding target’s own carrier voicemail isn’t intercepting calls before your system’s fallback does.
  • Watch for Do Not Disturb settings on mobile phones, which silently block forwarded calls from ringing at all.
  • Review device logs when a call seems to vanish, since most routing failures trace back to one misconfigured target.

Community discussion on the FreePBX forums shows that shallow routing, a local extension first, then a mobile number, tends to work better than complex multi-hop chains for small setups. Keeping the list short also avoids the forwarding loops that occasionally trip up more elaborate configurations.

Why routing is just one piece of your phone strategy

Why routing is just one piece of your phone strategy — overview diagram

Find Me/Follow Me solves the problem of reaching a person, but it doesn’t answer calls when nobody is available at all. That’s where pairing it with an auto-attendant or scheduled after-hours messaging earns its keep, since a caller who hits a dead end after three unanswered rings is far more likely to hang up than one who reaches a clear menu or a professional greeting.

Our stance: businesses that treat call routing as a complete communications plan on its own tend to underuse it. It works best as one layer in a broader setup, alongside texting and scheduled hours, not as a standalone fix.

— Paul

Setting up routing with Talkroute

We built Talkroute around the idea that small businesses need enterprise-level call handling without enterprise-level setup time. Our platform combines virtual numbers, customizable call routing, an auto-attendant, and desktop and mobile apps in one dashboard, so you can manage Find Me/Follow Me alongside texting and voicemail without juggling separate tools.

Talkroute

If overflow calls during busy periods are a bigger pain point than routing itself, 42Voice’s overflow call handling is worth a look as a way to add automated after-hours coverage on top of your routing setup.

Getting started typically looks like this:

  • Compare our plans starting at $19 per month to find the right fit for your team size.
  • Set up your forwarding list and test it end-to-end before going live.
  • Pair routing with our auto-attendant for calls that come in after hours.

Start a trial and configure your first routing list today on the Talkroute pricing page.

FAQ

What does *#62 do to your phone?

A code like *#62 typically activates “forward when unreachable” on many mobile carriers, sending calls to voicemail or another number when your phone is off or out of coverage. This is a carrier-level setting separate from a virtual phone system’s own Find Me/Follow Me routing. Check your carrier’s support documentation since the exact code can vary by provider.

How do I follow up over the phone after a missed call?

A quick callback within the same business day, referencing the original call’s time or topic, gets the best response rate. Pairing missed-call alerts with voicemail transcription helps you prioritize which calls to return first. Routing calls to a backup device reduces how often you need a follow-up call in the first place.

What’s the difference between simultaneous and sequential ringing?

Simultaneous ringing rings every listed device at once, which suits teams where anyone can answer. Sequential ringing tries devices one at a time in a set order, which fits solo owners or escalation chains where a specific person should get the first chance to answer.

How many devices can I add to a Find Me/Follow Me list?

Limits vary by provider and plan, so checking your dashboard or provider documentation for the exact cap is the reliable way to confirm it. Keeping the list to two or three targets usually produces faster, more reliable call handling than longer lists.

Can I forward calls to a softphone app instead of a phone number?

Yes, most modern virtual phone systems support forwarding to softphone apps in addition to mobile and landline numbers. Our support documentation confirms which phone types accept forwarded calls, including mobile, landline, and softphone destinations.

Sources

Stephanie

Stephanie is the Marketing Director at Talkroute and has been featured in Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur as a leading authority on business and telecommunications.

Stephanie is also the chief editor and contributing author for the Talkroute blog helping more than 200k entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.