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Enter your business number
In your assistant’s phone settings, choose Forward my existing number, enter it, and check compatibility. Confirm the provider you pay for phone service.
Call forwarding
How to forward 8x8 calls to your AI receptionist
8x8 forwards calls through call forwarding rules in 8x8 Admin Console. Forward all calls, send unanswered and busy calls, or add a recurring after-hours rule. Each rule points to your InsertChat routing number, entered with its country code, and the AI receptionist answers whatever the rule sends.
8x8
Available for numbers in the United States.
Forward all calls
- In 8x8 Admin Console, click Users, then Edit next to the extension.
- Select Call forwarding rules and click Edit.
- Under Forward all Calls, choose Selected User or Service and enter your private routing number, including the country code.
- Click Save, then save the user profile.
Forward unanswered or busy calls
- In 8x8 Admin Console, click Users, edit the extension, and open Call forwarding rules.
- Under When User does not Answer the Call, set the ring time and choose Forward Directly To your private routing number.
- Under When User is Busy, choose Forward Directly To your private routing number.
- Click Save, then save the user profile.
Forward calls after hours
- In 8x8 Admin Console, open the extension’s Call forwarding rules and click Add New Rule.
- Apply the rule to Anyone on a Recurring Schedule that covers your closed hours.
- Under Forward the Calls to, choose Forward Directly To your private routing number.
- Click Save, then save the user profile.
Turn forwarding off
- Open the extension’s Call forwarding rules in 8x8 Admin Console.
- Change or delete every rule that targets your private routing number, then save the user profile.
Source: 8x8 documentation, reviewed .
Finish the setup in InsertChat
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Forward to your routing number
Choose when calls forward, then follow your provider’s steps to send them to the private routing number InsertChat creates. Never publish that number.
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Verify with a test call
InsertChat places a verification call. For unanswered-or-busy forwarding, let it ring without answering so your provider’s rule can forward it.
What happens after calls arrive
AI receptionist
InsertChat answers your business calls from your own services, hours, and prices. It books appointments on your calendar and brings in your team, full transcript attached, when a person should follow up.
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After-hours answering
Your team’s phones ring while you’re open. After hours, or whenever nobody picks up, the AI receptionist answers, books the visit, and flags emergencies to your team.
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Shared inbox
Bring website chat, calls, email, SMS, and WhatsApp into one workspace. Your AI answers first, and your team sees exactly what needs a person.
Explore Shared inboxYes. 8x8 asks you to include the country code when you forward to an external number, so enter the routing number with +1 in front of its 10 digits.
8x8 marks Add New Rule as admins only. End users can change their own forwarding settings, but an administrator creates the recurring schedule that forwards closed-hours calls to the routing number.
Yes. Use the When User does not Answer the Call rule: set how many seconds the extension rings, then forward directly to the routing number so the AI receptionist answers only the calls your team misses.
The first active line is included with your InsertChat plan; additional lines are $10 per month plus voice minutes. Your phone provider may also count forwarded calls against your plan, so check your plan with them.
Choose Another provider during setup. Ask your provider to forward all calls, or unanswered and busy calls, to your private routing number, keep caller ID passthrough on when offered, and make carrier voicemail ring longer than the forwarding timeout.
Facts last reviewed .
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