To forward calls to voicemail, you set call forwarding to send calls to your voicemail number, either always or only when you’re busy, don’t answer or can’t be reached. On a personal phone that is a setting or a carrier code. On a business phone system, it is a routing rule that sends callers to a mailbox at the times you choose.
The goal is not to avoid callers. It is to make sure a call you can’t take still ends with a clear greeting, a recorded message and a fast follow-up. Every unanswered call that ends in silence or a full mailbox is real money walking out the door.
TL;DR
- Send everything to voicemail with unconditional forwarding. Send only some calls with conditional forwarding: busy, no answer or unreachable.
- On iPhone, forwarding lives in Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Forwarding. Conditional forwarding usually needs your carrier.
- Forwarding is managed by your carrier or phone system, not by an app. Deleting an app does not turn it off, so test after every change.
- A business line should use scheduled routing and a greeting that gives your name, your hours and what to do next, rather than one phone’s settings.
- For holidays, record a temporary greeting with exact dates and a return day, then schedule it to switch back.
Table of Contents
- What “forwarded to voicemail” actually means
- Unconditional vs. conditional forwarding
- How to forward calls to voicemail on an iPhone
- How to forward calls to voicemail on Android
- Carrier codes: use them, but know how to undo them
- Why a personal phone setting is not enough for a business
- Send calls to voicemail on a business phone system
- Write a voicemail greeting that gets messages
- Holiday voicemail message: what to say and how to switch it off
- Perspective: why we route to voicemail instead of just forwarding to it
- Run it with Talkroute
- FAQ
- Sources
What “forwarded to voicemail” actually means
When a caller hears that the call has been forwarded to voicemail, the network has sent the call to a mailbox instead of connecting it live. According to ClarifyRA, the message confirms where the call went but not why. Common causes include:
- no answer after the ring period
- a phone that is off or out of battery
- no signal
- Do Not Disturb or Focus
- silenced unknown callers
- a declined call
- a busy line
- active call forwarding
That last cause matters for owners. If your own callers keep landing in voicemail unexpectedly, check for forwarding you set long ago before you suspect anything else.
Unconditional vs. conditional forwarding
There are two ways to send calls to voicemail, and choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake.
| Type | What happens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Unconditional (all calls) | The phone never rings. Every call goes to voicemail. | Vacations, closed days, focused work blocks |
| Conditional: busy | Calls go to voicemail only when you’re on another call. | Solo owners and small front desks |
| Conditional: no answer | Calls go to voicemail after a set number of rings. | Staff who step away from their desks |
| Conditional: unreachable | Calls go to voicemail when the phone is off or has no signal. | Field teams and mobile workers |
For most small businesses, conditional forwarding is the safer default. Your phone still rings first, and voicemail catches only what you miss.
How to forward calls to voicemail on an iPhone
Apple’s own instructions are short. Open Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Forwarding, turn it on and enter the number you want calls sent to. To send calls to voicemail, that number is your carrier’s voicemail access number.
Two cautions save time:
- Apple notes that conditional forwarding, such as when you’re busy or out of service, requires contacting your carrier.
- Some carriers hide the Call Forwarding switch for certain lines, so you may need carrier setup instead of the on-screen toggle.
If you only want to silence the phone for an hour, Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode is quicker. It sends callers to voicemail without changing any forwarding setting, so there is nothing to undo later.
How to forward calls to voicemail on Android
Menus differ by manufacturer, but the path is usually the same:
- Open the Phone app and tap the three-dot menu.
- Choose Settings, then Calls or Call settings.
- Tap Call forwarding (sometimes under supplementary services).
- Pick a condition: always, busy, unanswered or unreachable.
- Enter your voicemail number and confirm.
If your phone has two SIMs, set forwarding for the SIM your customers actually dial.
Carrier codes: use them, but know how to undo them
Major U.S. carriers also support dial codes for forwarding. They differ by carrier and by line type: wireless, landline and business lines don’t always share codes. Look up the current codes on your carrier’s support page or ask the carrier to enable conditional forwarding on the account.
Before you dial any code, learn the cancel code for the same carrier. Forwarding is set at the carrier level, so an app can’t reverse it. The safest routine is:
- Set the forwarding.
- Call your number from a different phone.
- Confirm the call goes where you intended.
- When you’re done, cancel it, then call again and confirm the phone rings normally.
Skipping that last test is how owners lose calls for weeks without knowing.
Why a personal phone setting is not enough for a business
Phone-level forwarding was built for one person with one line. It has real limits once a business depends on it:
- It can’t switch on a schedule. You have to remember to turn it on and off.
- It can’t ring several people before falling back to voicemail.
- It gives every caller the same generic carrier greeting unless you set up a custom one.
- It ties your business number to one person’s device. When that person leaves or the phone breaks, calls break too.
This is where a business phone number that isn’t tied to one cell phone pays off. Calls arrive at the number, and the system decides where they go.
Send calls to voicemail on a business phone system
A cloud phone system treats voicemail as one destination in a routing plan, not as a workaround. A typical small-business setup looks like this:
- Ring first. Calls ring the owner’s mobile app, a desk app or a forwarding number.
- Fallback. If nobody answers, or it’s outside business hours, the call goes to a mailbox.
- Greeting. The caller hears a greeting recorded for that situation: open but busy, closed for the night or closed for a holiday.
- Notification. The message reaches you by email, with transcription, so you can read it before you listen.
In Talkroute, you can forward calls to any phone, including a number on a different carrier. See how to add a forwarding phone number and the answers on whether forwarding phones need the same provider and which types of phone you can forward to. For the full set of routing options, the Call Forwarding & Routing help section covers each one, and the Voicemail help section covers mailboxes, greetings and notifications.
If you want a menu in front of the mailbox, an auto attendant lets callers choose a department or a person before the call falls through to voicemail. Some callers then reach the right mailbox on the first try, instead of leaving a message for the wrong person.
A simple routing plan you can copy
| Time | What the caller experiences |
|---|---|
| Business hours | Rings your team in order; no answer goes to the main mailbox |
| Lunch or breaks | Straight to voicemail with a “back at 1:00” greeting |
| After hours | Straight to voicemail with your hours and an urgent-matters option |
| Holidays | Temporary greeting with exact dates and a return day |
When the schedule does the switching, no one has to remember to flip a setting at 5 p.m. on a Friday.
Write a voicemail greeting that gets messages
A caller who reaches voicemail is deciding in seconds whether to leave a message. Make that decision easy:
- Say your business name first, so callers know they reached the right place.
- State when you’re available and when they can expect a call back.
- Tell them what to leave: name, number and the reason for the call.
- Keep it short. Shopify suggests that most business greetings run 10 to 15 seconds.
- Record in a quiet room, at a natural pace, and re-record if you stumble.
If you want wording to start from, we’ve published ready-to-use business voicemail templates and a list of professional and fun voicemail greetings.
Holiday voicemail message: what to say and how to switch it off
Holiday closures are the one time most owners deliberately send every call to voicemail. A good holiday greeting answers four questions, in this order:
- Who did I reach? Your business name.
- Are you open? Exact dates, never “over the holidays.”
- When will someone call me back? Name the day you return.
- What if it can’t wait? An emergency number, a website, an email address or an online ordering option.
Put the warm holiday wishes last, after the useful information.
Sample script:
“Thank you for calling Riverbend Plumbing. Our office is closed from December 24 through January 1 and reopens Thursday, January 2. Leave your name, number and a short message and we’ll return your call that morning. For a burst pipe or flooding, call our emergency line at 555-0100. Happy holidays from all of us.”
Two habits keep a holiday greeting from becoming an embarrassment in February:
- Set an end date if your system allows it. Many business systems expire a temporary greeting automatically. If yours doesn’t, put a reminder on your calendar for the day you return.
- Test the call after switching back. Call from an outside phone and confirm the regular greeting plays.
Perspective: why we route to voicemail instead of just forwarding to it
Most small businesses meet voicemail by accident. A call goes unanswered, the carrier’s generic greeting plays, and the customer hangs up. We see that as a revenue leak you can fix in an afternoon.
Our view is simple: voicemail should be a planned step in your call routing, not the place calls fall when nothing else worked. That means your business number rings the right people first, falls back to a mailbox on a schedule, plays a greeting you recorded on purpose, and sends you a transcribed message by email so you can respond fast.
We built Talkroute for small and midsize teams that want that without desk phones or a phone technician. It runs on the devices you already have, so the same number works on your mobile, your computer and your team’s phones. When you close early, go on vacation or shut down for a holiday, the change is a routing update, not a code you have to remember to cancel.
The customers who call after hours are often ready to buy. Give them a professional, specific reason to wait for your call back, and most will.
Paul
Run it with Talkroute
If you’re tired of managing forwarding from one cell phone, Talkroute lets you keep a local or toll-free business number, set routing and business hours, record custom greetings, and get voicemail with transcription and email notifications. Plans are published on our pricing page: Basic is $19 per month, Plus is $39 per month and Pro is $59 per month, and extra users are $5 per month each.
If your calls already go to a mobile phone, you can keep it as the first place a call rings and let the system handle the fallback. For a wider look at the options, see our guide to the best cloud small business phone systems.
FAQ
Can I forward calls to voicemail on my iPhone?
Yes. Go to Settings > Apps > Phone > Call Forwarding and enter your voicemail number. Conditional forwarding, such as when your line is busy, usually has to be set up with your carrier. If you only need quiet for a while, Focus or Do Not Disturb sends callers to voicemail without changing any forwarding.
Does “your call has been forwarded” mean I’ve been blocked?
Not necessarily. The message only says the call went to voicemail. Switched-off phones, poor signal, Do Not Disturb, declined calls and active forwarding all produce it, and a blocked number is only one possible cause.
How do I stop forwarding and get my phone ringing again?
Cancel it with the same method you used to set it: the phone’s Call Forwarding setting, or your carrier’s cancel code. Then call your number from another phone to confirm it rings. Deleting a voicemail or forwarding app will not cancel carrier-level forwarding.
How can a business send calls to voicemail after hours automatically?
Use a phone system with business-hours scheduling. You set the hours once, and calls outside them go to a mailbox with an after-hours greeting. Nobody has to remember to turn forwarding on at closing time or off in the morning.
Sources
- Set up call forwarding on iPhone, Apple Support
- Your Call Has Been Forwarded to Voicemail: What It Means, ClarifyRA
- Business Voicemail Greeting: 11 Examples & Templates, Shopify
Recommended
- How to Add a Forwarding Phone Number
- How to Forward Calls to an Answering Service
- How to Forward a Landline to a Cell Phone (3 Ways)
- Can I forward calls to any type of phone?
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.