Forward your business number to Plumbify

This is the single most important step. Without call forwarding, your business line still rings the way it always has — and the AI receptionist never gets a chance to answer.

The good news: it's a one-time setup that takes about five minutes. You'll dial a short code from your business phone, the carrier records the forward, and from that point on every call to your business number routes through Plumbify.

What you need before you start:

Your Plumbify phone number (find it on your dashboard at the top — it starts with your area code or is a toll-free number)
Access to your business phone (the device you're forwarding from)
About 5 minutes

Which type of forwarding to choose

Most carriers offer three options. Which one's right depends on how you want Plumbify to handle calls.

Unconditional forwarding (recommended for full-time AI): Every call routes straight to Plumbify. Your business phone never rings. Best if you want the AI to handle 100% of inbound calls.
Forward when busy / no answer: Your phone rings first. If you don't pick up within ~20 seconds, Plumbify takes the call. Best if you still want to answer your own calls when you can.
Forward when unreachable (phone off / no signal): Backup mode only. Rarely useful for plumbers.

If you're unsure, start with "forward when busy / no answer". You can always upgrade to unconditional later once you trust the AI.

iPhone users — important: The iPhone Settings → Phone → Call Forwarding menu only sets up unconditional forwarding (every call). It cannot do "forward when unanswered." To set conditional forwarding on an iPhone, you must dial the carrier code below from the Phone app (the dialer screen, just like you'd dial a number).

To type the + symbol on iPhone, long-press the 0 key.

Carrier-by-carrier instructions

AT&T (mobile)

Open the Phone app and dial:

Unconditional (every call): **21*[Plumbify number]# then press call
Busy / no answer (recommended): **61*[Plumbify number]**20# then press call. The 20 is the ring timer in seconds — your phone rings for 20 seconds before forwarding. You can use 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30.
To check status: *#61#
To cancel forwarding later: ##21# or ##61#

Example for a 20-second ring before forwarding to a toll-free Plumbify number: **61*+18665630917**20#

Verizon (mobile)

Unconditional (every call): *72 followed by your Plumbify number, then call. Wait for confirmation tone.
Busy / no answer (recommended): *71 followed by your Plumbify number, then call. Verizon's no-answer timer is typically 25 seconds and isn't user-configurable.
To cancel: *73

T-Mobile (mobile)

Unconditional (every call): **21*[Plumbify number]# then call
Busy / no answer (recommended): **61*[Plumbify number]**20# then call. The 20 is the ring timer.
All conditions (busy + no-answer + unreachable): **004*[Plumbify number]#
To check status: *#61#
To cancel: ##21#, ##61#, or ##004#

Spectrum / Charter (landline)

Spectrum doesn't use star codes the same way. You'll need to enable forwarding through their portal:

Log into spectrum.net
Go to Services → Voice → Call Features
Find Call Forwarding and toggle it on
Enter your Plumbify number in the destination field
Save

Other landline carriers (Comcast Business, RingCentral, Vonage, etc.)

Most VoIP and landline systems have call forwarding in their admin portal under Settings → Call Handling or similar. Search the help docs for your provider for "forward all calls" — every modern phone system supports it.

If you can't find it, email us with your provider name and we'll send you the exact steps.

How to test it worked

Set up forwarding using the instructions above.
Use a different phone (your personal cell, or ask a friend) to call your business number.
You should hear the Plumbify AI receptionist greeting within 1–3 rings.
Have a short test conversation — pretend you're a customer with a leaky faucet.
Hang up, then check your Plumbify dashboard. The call should appear within 30 seconds with a transcript.

Troubleshooting:

You hear your own voicemail instead of the AI — the forward didn't take. Re-enter the star code, making sure you included the full Plumbify number with country code (1 + area code + number for US).
You get a "Setting Registration Failed" error popup — this usually means one of two things: (a) you tried to use the iPhone Settings → Phone → Call Forwarding menu, which only does unconditional forwarding and rejects some destinations. Use the dialer-based MMI codes above instead. Or (b) your carrier doesn't allow forwarding to a number outside your country on your current plan. This is rare for US plumbers forwarding to a US Plumbify number.
The AI picks up but the call doesn't appear on the dashboard — refresh the page. If it's still missing after 5 minutes, email us with the time of the call.
You want to turn it off temporarily — use the cancel code for your carrier. Forwarding turns off immediately.

How to undo it

Forwarding is reversible at any time. Dial the cancel code listed above for your carrier (e.g. ##21# on AT&T), and your business phone immediately starts ringing as normal. There's nothing locked in.