If your team’s all over the map, getting calls where they need to go shouldn’t be a headache. That’s where call forwarding in Dialpad comes in handy. This guide is for anyone wrangling a remote crew who needs a no-nonsense walkthrough for setting up and actually using call forwarding—without the fluff.
We’ll cover what’s worth knowing, what’s just noise, and how to avoid tripping over the same issues everyone else does. Whether you’re managing a distributed sales team or just want calls to follow you when you’re not glued to your desk, this is for you.
Why Call Forwarding Matters for Remote Teams
Let’s be real: remote work is messy. People spread across time zones, some at home, some at coffee shops, others on the road. The last thing you want is missed calls or customers sent to voicemail purgatory.
Call forwarding lets you:
- Route calls to your mobile or another device (or even a colleague) when you’re away from your desk.
- Keep your “real” number private — important if you don’t want clients or customers calling your personal cell directly.
- Spin up coverage when someone’s out sick or on vacation, without rewriting your whole phone setup.
But don’t expect miracles. Call forwarding can solve a lot, but it won’t magically fix a messy team structure or replace a real process for handling after-hours calls.
Step 1: Understand How Dialpad Handles Call Forwarding
Before you start clicking buttons, here’s what you should know:
- Personal forwarding: Each user can forward their own calls to up to 5 external numbers (cell, home, another office line, etc.).
- Department or main line forwarding: Admins can set forwarding rules for entire departments or company main lines. Useful for coverage when the whole team is remote or during off-hours.
- Simultaneous vs. sequential: Dialpad lets you ring multiple devices at once, or in a specific order. Figure out what fits your workflow (and your tolerance for chaos).
- Voicemail fallback: Calls go to voicemail if nobody picks up. You can tweak how long Dialpad rings before that happens.
Pro tip: Forwarding to international numbers? Double-check costs. Dialpad isn’t free for forwarding to every country, and charges can add up fast.
Step 2: Set Up Personal Call Forwarding
Here’s how to forward your own calls in Dialpad. You’ll need admin rights for team-wide changes, but any user can forward their own calls.
- Log in to Dialpad on desktop or mobile.
- Click your profile picture (top right), then “Your Settings.”
- Find the “Your Devices” or “Call Handling & Forwarding” section.
- Click “Add a forwarding number.”
- Enter your cell, home, or any number you want calls to reach.
- You’ll get a quick verification call or text to confirm you own the number.
- Choose if you want calls to ring your devices all at once (simultaneous) or in order (sequential).
- Set ring timeouts — how long each device should ring before moving on or going to voicemail.
- Save changes.
What works: This setup is fast, and you can swap numbers in and out as life changes.
What doesn’t: If you’re juggling five forwarding numbers, expect confusion. Keep it simple—one or two is usually enough.
Step 3: Set Up Team or Department Call Forwarding
If you’re an admin, you’ll want to forward calls for an entire main line or department. Here’s how:
- Go to Admin Settings (you’ll need admin access).
- Click “Office” or “Departments,” then pick the department or main line you want to edit.
- Find “Call Routing” or “Business Hours & Call Handling.”
- Under “Call Forwarding,” add external numbers or users.
- You can forward to external numbers, other Dialpad users, or even another department.
- Decide if calls should ring everyone at once or follow a specific order.
- Set up after-hours rules if you want calls to forward differently outside business hours.
- Save everything.
What works: This keeps your team covered, even if folks are out or working odd hours.
What doesn’t: Don’t try to forward to a list of random cell numbers in hopes that “someone” will pick up. You’ll just end up with dropped calls and annoyed customers.
Step 4: Tweak Advanced Settings (If You Need To)
Dialpad has more advanced options, but don’t overcomplicate things unless you have a clear reason.
- Ring groups: Choose if calls ring everyone at once, or round-robin through your team. If you have a big team, simultaneous ringing gets old fast.
- Custom voicemail greetings: Set these up for after-hours or when nobody answers, so callers know what’s going on.
- Call screening: Make Dialpad announce who’s calling before you answer. Good for filtering spam, but slows things down.
- Spam filtering: Turn it on if you’re getting a lot of junk calls. Just check for false positives now and then.
Ignore unless you have a real use case: - Complicated call trees or endless forwarding loops. More rules = more support headaches. - Forwarding to unreliable numbers (bad cell service, rarely-checked landlines).
Step 5: Test Before You Trust It
Don’t assume it works just because you set it up. Test, test, and test again:
- Call your main line and see where it rings.
- Try after-hours to check if forwarding changes as it should.
- Use different devices and numbers to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
Get a teammate to call too—sometimes calls behave differently from inside vs. outside your organization.
Step 6: Communicate Changes to Your Team
Nothing’s worse than missing calls because nobody knew the rules changed. Once you set up or tweak forwarding:
- Send a quick message (Slack, email, whatever you use) explaining what’s new and what to expect.
- Share who’s covering calls after hours, or if call routing will change during vacations.
- Remind folks how to update their own forwarding if needed.
Pro tip: Document your setup somewhere obvious. That way, if you leave or get hit by a bus (it happens!), someone else can pick up where you left off.
Step 7: Monitor and Adjust
You won’t get it perfect on the first try. Check in after a week or two:
- Are calls being answered quickly?
- Any complaints about missed calls or confusion?
- Are voicemails piling up?
If something’s not working, tweak your forwarding rules and try again. Don’t just set it and forget it.
What to Watch Out For (Lessons from the Field)
Here’s where people usually run into trouble:
- Too many forwarding numbers: Just because Dialpad lets you add five doesn’t mean you should. More numbers = more places for calls to get lost.
- International surprises: Forwarding to numbers outside your home country can rack up charges. Check your plan and usage.
- Unclear after-hours rules: Make sure you know (and communicate) what happens to calls outside of business hours. Voicemail may not be enough if customers expect a live person.
- Device issues: If you forward to a cell with spotty service, expect missed calls. Forward to devices you actually use.
Quick Reference: Dialpad Call Forwarding Pros and Cons
Pros: - Easy to set up, even for non-techies. - Flexible — you can change rules as your team changes. - Lets remote teams cover calls without being chained to a desk.
Cons: - Multi-step chains get confusing fast. - Not a replacement for real scheduling or shared calendars. - International forwarding costs can bite you.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Don’t overthink it. Start with the basics, test it, and get feedback from your team. Call forwarding in Dialpad is powerful, but it’s only as good as the process you wrap around it. Keep things simple at first, and adjust as your team’s needs change. Most of the headaches come from trying to do too much out of the gate.
Need more? Dialpad’s help docs are fine, but real-world testing will teach you more than any manual. Start small, and you’ll spend less time fixing problems later.