What Is Call Forwarding (Follow Me)?
Call forwarding sends a call to another destination when the extension does not answer, is busy or is not connected. "Follow me" rings in several places in order — the office, then the mobile — until someone answers.
What it actually is
Call forwarding is an instruction to an extension: "If I didn't answer — or in a certain situation — send the call somewhere else." That other place can be a mobile, a colleague, a group or a voicemail box. This is what lets a person not be tied to their desk.
"Follow me" (sometimes Find me) is a more advanced version: instead of one alternative destination, you set up a list. First the office phone, after a few seconds the mobile too, and if there's still no answer — voicemail. The call "follows" the person in the order they set.
Both concepts come from the same need: the caller wants to reach a person, not a device. In the past, when every line was a wire attached to a desk, that simply wasn't possible. In a cloud PBX the extension is an account, not a device, so you can decide where it rings.
Types of forwarding
- Always — all calls go straight to another destination, and the extension doesn't ring at all. Good for a vacation, reserve duty, or a day of working from home.
- No answer — the extension rings for the number of seconds you set, and only then does the call move on. This is the most common type of forwarding.
- Busy — when you're already on a call, the new call goes to a colleague or to voicemail, instead of ringing over and over or getting a busy tone.
- Not connected — the phone is off, the office internet is down, or there's no power. The cloud PBX sees that the device isn't registered and sends the call to the alternative destination.
The last type is the easiest to forget and the most important. Without forwarding for the "not connected" state, a day of internet trouble at the office is a day when no call reaches anyone.
How it works behind the scenes
- A call reaches the extension — directly, from a menu or from a queue.
- The PBX checks the state of the extension: Is there an "Always" forwarding? Is the device registered? Is it on a call?
- If everything is normal — the extension rings, and a clock starts: the ring time you set.
- If the time runs out with no answer — the call moves to the next destination on the list.
- At the end of the list — usually voicemail, so the caller can always leave a message.
Forwarding to a mobile is really an outgoing call from the PBX to your mobile. This has two consequences. First: the caller hears ringing the whole time and doesn't know the call was forwarded. Second: if the mobile is off, the mobile's voicemail may "catch" the call before the PBX moves it to the next destination. That's why the ring time on the mobile should be shorter than the time it takes for the mobile's voicemail to pick up.
Forwarding, follow me or simultaneous ring?
There are three ways to make a call reach you even when you're not at your desk, and it's worth telling them apart:
| Method | What happens | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | One alternative destination, by state (always, no answer, busy, not connected) | Vacation, working from home, backup for an outage |
| Follow me | An ordered list: office, then mobile, then voicemail | Someone who moves a lot between the office and the field |
| Simultaneous ring | The extension rings on several devices at once, and whoever answers first takes the call | Someone who has a desk phone and an app too |
When it's several people rather than several devices of the same person, the right tool is a hunt group or a queue, not forwarding. Forwarding from person to person suits backup, not sharing the workload.
Real-life examples
A business owner out in the field. An office extension rings for ten seconds, and then the mobile too. If there's no answer there either — voicemail, with the message sent to email. The customer doesn't know whether they reached you at the office or on site.
A yeshiva. The mashgiach doesn't sit in the office. His extension is forwarded to a SIM extension on his kosher mobile — no app and no data — so parents reach him even when he's in the beit midrash.
An office that lost power. All the extensions are set to forward in the "not connected" state to one employee's mobile or to another branch. The cloud PBX keeps working, and calls don't disappear.
An employee on vacation. An "Always" forwarding to a colleague, along with an updated greeting on the voicemail. When she comes back, you cancel the forwarding.
Common mistakes
- A forgotten forwarding — someone forwarded to their mobile before a vacation, came back, and forgot to cancel. A month later they're still getting every call on their mobile and don't understand why the office phone is quiet.
- The mobile voicemail swallows calls — the PBX forwards to the mobile, the mobile is off, and the message stays in the mobile carrier's mailbox, not in the organization's. Shorten the ring time on the mobile.
- A loop — extension A forwards to B, and B forwards back to A. The call goes around in circles. When you set up forwarding between colleagues, check that there's no circle.
- Ring time too long — thirty seconds at the office and another thirty on the mobile. The caller hangs up before reaching voicemail.
- No forwarding in the not-connected state — and you find out on exactly the day of the outage.
Practical tips
- A reasonable ring time for the first step: 10–20 seconds. After that the caller starts to think nobody is there.
- The last step is always voicemail, with a greeting that explains when you'll call back.
- Set up forwarding for the "not connected" state in advance for every important extension, even if it seems unnecessary.
- If the mobile is a permanent destination, consider a SIM extension or an app instead of forwarding: that way outgoing calls from the mobile also go out with the business number.
The forwarding types at a glance
The four forwarding types look similar in the settings, but they behave differently from the caller's point of view and in terms of risk. The table summarizes what triggers each type, what the caller hears, and what's most important to check in it.
| Type | What triggers it | What the caller hears | Typical destination | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Always | Every call, immediately | Normal ringing, without knowing it was forwarded | Colleague, mobile, voicemail | Note in a log when you cancel it |
| No answer | The set ring time has passed | A longer ring, then an answer somewhere else | Mobile, group, voicemail | Keep the total ring time under half a minute |
| Busy | The extension is already on a call | Ringing, instead of a busy tone | A colleague in the same department | That the colleague really answers and doesn't forward back |
| Not connected | The device isn't registered with the PBX | Normal ringing | Mobile, branch, voicemail | Set it up before there's an outage, not after |
Note the third column: in all four cases the caller hears normal ringing. They don't know the call was forwarded, and they don't need to. As far as they're concerned, they called the office and someone from the office answered. That's exactly the advantage, and it's also why someone answering on a mobile should answer the way they would at the office, with the organization's name, and not with the "hello" of a personal call.
Three full examples, from setup to the call
A tax consultant who works alone. One extension, a desk phone at the office and an app on the mobile. The setup: the extension rings for 12 seconds on the desk phone and the app together (simultaneous ring), and if he doesn't answer, another 15 seconds on his personal mobile through forwarding, and then voicemail that goes to his email. On a regular day he answers from his desk. When he's at a client, the app rings and he answers with the office number. When he's in a meeting and silences everything, the caller reaches voicemail in under half a minute and hears a greeting that promises a call back by the end of the day. In total: 27 seconds of ringing, and no call disappears.
An on-call technician at an air-conditioning company. The service line reaches a virtual extension called "On-call". The extension itself isn't connected to any device; it's set to "Always" forwarding to the mobile of this week's on-call technician. Every Sunday morning the secretary changes only the destination number, and the rest of the route stays the same. If the on-call technician doesn't answer within 20 seconds, the next forwarding leads to the service manager's mobile, and only after that to voicemail. So it won't be forgotten, the route is combined with time-based routing: during the day calls reach the office, and only in the evening and on Shabbat does the on-call chain kick in.
A manager in an organization with a secretary's office. Here the forwarding goes the other way: the manager's extension rings for only 8 seconds, and then goes to the secretary, not to the mobile. The secretary answers, finds out who is calling, and if needed transfers to the manager's mobile with a supervised transfer. That way the manager doesn't get every call directly on the mobile, but also doesn't miss the people who matter. A "Busy" forwarding is set to the same secretary, so a second caller doesn't hear a busy tone while the manager is on a call.
The mobile voicemail trap: why it happens and how to get out of it
This is the most common problem with forwarding to a mobile, and it's worth understanding fully. When the PBX forwards a call to a mobile, it dials it like any other caller, and waits for one of two things: an answer, or the end of the ring time you set. The problem: the mobile carrier's voicemail also counts as an "answer". When the mobile is off, has no signal or simply isn't answered, the carrier sends the call to its voicemail after a fixed number of seconds, and as far as the PBX is concerned, the call was answered. It stops going down the list, doesn't reach the colleague or the organization's voicemail, and the message stays in a private mailbox that nobody at the office hears.
The result is misleading twice over: in the call history the call looks as if it was answered, so an alert about a missed call won't be sent either. An organization can lose messages for weeks without knowing it.
- Shorten the ring time on the mobile so it's shorter than the time it takes the carrier's voicemail to pick up. That time varies between carriers and settings, so test it in practice: turn off the mobile, call the office, and see where the call ends up.
- Cancel the mobile voicemail with the carrier, if the mobile is used mainly for work. Then there's nothing to "answer" in place of the PBX.
- Replace the forwarding with an extension: an app or a SIM extension is an extension of the PBX, not an external number, so the carrier's voicemail doesn't get involved.
- Answer confirmation: in many systems you can require the person answering on the mobile to press a key before the call is connected. Voicemail doesn't press a key, so the PBX keeps going. Check with us whether this suits your route.
A simple testing rule: after every change to forwarding to a mobile, make three test calls — mobile on and answering, mobile on and not answering, mobile off — and make sure that in each one the call reached the place you planned.
When it doesn't work: symptom, cause, fix
| What happens | The common cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The office phone has been quiet for a week | A forgotten "Always" forwarding | Check the extension's forwarding and cancel it; note a cancellation date in the log for every temporary forwarding |
| The caller hears long ringing and then a disconnect | The end of the list has no voicemail, or voicemail with no greeting | End every chain with voicemail that has a recorded greeting |
| Messages arrive in the mobile's mailbox | The carrier's voicemail answered before the PBX moved on | Shorten the ring time on the mobile or cancel the carrier's voicemail |
| The call "goes around" and disconnects | A loop: A forwards to B and B back to A | Draw the department's forwarding chain and make sure it ends at a final destination |
| The mobile rings, but it shows the office number and not the customer's | The caller ID setting in the forwarding | Check which ID is set for the forwarded call; sometimes the office number is preferred, so you know it's a work call |
| The forwarding works during the day and not in the evening | Time-based routing overrides the forwarding | Check in the call route which rule is active at each hour |
Most problems here are discovered not in a test but in a customer's complaint, and that's too late. A good habit: once a month, call the office from a personal mobile, during business hours and outside them, and go through the chain like a regular caller.
How it works with us at Kesher
For each extension at Kesher you set how long it rings and where an unanswered call goes — a colleague, a hunt group, a mobile or voicemail. One extension can also ring on several devices at once, for example on the office phone and on the app on your mobile.
In the control panel you see next to each extension whether it's registered and from which device. That way you know right away if a phone at the office has disconnected, before a customer complains.
When the office has no power or no internet, the cloud PBX keeps working and forwards calls to a mobile, to another branch or to voicemail — according to what you set up in advance. Our servers are deployed at several sites, with backup and redundancy at every layer, so the PBX itself doesn't depend on your office.
For someone whose mobile is their main tool, there's a SIM extension — no app and no data, suitable for a kosher mobile too — or an app. With both, outgoing calls go out with the business number. Want us to set up the forwarding for you? Send us what should happen in each situation, and we'll build it.
FAQ
What's the difference between call forwarding and follow me?
Forwarding sends to one alternative destination. Follow me goes through a list in order — office, mobile, voicemail — until someone answers.
Does the caller know the call was forwarded to a mobile?
Usually not. They hear normal ringing, and the call reaches you as if you had answered at the office.
What happens when the office internet goes down?
The cloud PBX sees that the phone isn't connected, and forwards the call to the alternative destination you set — a mobile, a branch or voicemail.
Why do messages reach the mobile's voicemail and not the office's?
Because the mobile was off or didn't answer, and the carrier's voicemail picked up before the PBX moved the call on. Shorten the ring time on the mobile.
Does forwarding to a mobile cost money?
Forwarding to a mobile is an outgoing call from the PBX to the mobile, so it's billed like an outgoing call under your plan. A SIM extension or an app on the mobile are extensions of the PBX, not an outgoing call.
Can I forward only certain callers?
Yes, but not through the extension's forwarding; through caller-based routing: numbers you define get their own route, for example straight to the manager's mobile, and everyone else continues on the regular route.
How do I check that forwarding works without disturbing customers?
Call the extension's number from a personal mobile, in three states: the office phone answers, doesn't answer, and is disconnected. In each state make sure the call reached the destination you planned, and that at the end there's voicemail.