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Call forwarding

How to forward Zoom Phone calls to your AI receptionist

Zoom Phone forwards calls when you add an external number to call handling in the Zoom web portal. Add your InsertChat routing number to business hours to forward every call, or to closed hours only for after-hours coverage, and turn off the press-1 prompt.

Zoom Phone

Available for numbers in the United States.

Forward all calls

  1. In the Zoom web portal, open Zoom Phone, then the Settings tab.
  2. Set Business Hours to 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week.
  3. Next to Call Handling, click Edit, click Add Phone Number, and add your private routing number with the correct country or region.
  4. Clear Require to press 1 before connecting the call, and turn off your Zoom apps and devices so only the routing number rings.

Forward calls after hours

  1. In the Zoom web portal, open Zoom Phone, then the Settings tab.
  2. In the Closed Hours section, click Edit next to Call Handling, click Add Phone Number, and add your private routing number.
  3. Clear Require to press 1 before connecting the call, and turn off your Zoom apps and devices for closed hours.

Turn forwarding off

Source: Zoom Phone documentation, reviewed .

Finish the setup in InsertChat

01

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.

02

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.

03

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.

Explore AI receptionist

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.

Explore After-hours answering

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 inbox

Zoom Phone call forwarding: common questions

Setup, costs, and removal

Zoom checks Require to press 1 before connecting the call by default. That prompt waits for a key press your AI receptionist won’t send, so clear it; Zoom lets you turn it off for calls that don’t come from call queues.

A lock icon means a Zoom Phone admin has restricted that setting. Ask your admin to unlock call handling for external numbers, then add the routing number.

Yes. Zoom has separate call handling for break hours and holiday hours, and each one lets you add an external number. Add the routing number there too if the AI receptionist should cover those times.

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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