Forward your existing business number to Bookweld
The end-to-end forwarding setup. What to have in front of you, dial codes for Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, the day-one tests, and what to tell frequent callers during the cutover.
Before you start
Have these in front of you.
Forwarding is a five-minute task on each major US carrier. You will need a quiet room, the phone that holds your business line, and a second phone (your cell is fine) to test with.
You will need
- Access to your carrier account (login or a bill-printout with your account number; no password is needed).
- A second phone to test with. Your cell is fine, anything except the line you are forwarding.
- the Bookweld forwarding number. We'll email it to you after step 03 of the walkthrough. Look for the subject line "Your Bookweld forwarding number." It is a US number that doesn't change.
Three things not to do
- Don't port your number to Bookweld. Forwarding keeps your number with your carrier and gives you a one-minute rollback.
- Don't share your carrier account password with us. We don't need it. You flip the forwarding on; you can flip it off in sixty seconds.
- Don't disable your existing voicemail greeting yet. We use it as the safety net for week one.
Pick your carrier
The exact dial codes, by carrier.
Read the matching section out loud to whoever is on the line with you. Most owners call their carrier together with a tech or a friend on the second phone. You do not need an engineer for any of these.
Carrier 01 of 03
Verizon
Business line · *72 unconditional forward
- 1
Pick up the handset on the line you want to forward (not your cell; the desk phone or ATA itself).
- 2
Dial *72 (star-seven-two). Wait for the stutter tone or second dial tone.
- 3
When you hear the second dial tone, dial the Bookweld forwarding number.
- 4
Wait for Bookweld to pick up. When our greeting answers, hang up; activation is recorded.
- 5
Test from another phone: dial your business number once from outside. You should hear Bookweld answer in about one ring.
Heads-up: Verizon charges per forwarded minute on most business plans, the same rate as outgoing voice: budget for it like an outgoing call.
Carrier 02 of 03
AT&T
Business line · *21* unconditional forward
- 1
Pick up the handset on your business line.
- 2
Dial *21* (star-two-one-star). Wait for the second dial tone.
- 3
Without pausing, dial the Bookweld forwarding number, then # (pound).
- 4
You should hear a confirmation tone. If you hear a busy signal or fast beeps, hang up and try again from the start.
- 5
Test from another phone, dial your business number, and confirm Bookweld picks up after the first ring.
Heads-up: AT&T Small Business lines generally use *21* (not *72*) for unconditional forward. Confirm with your account rep if you are on a legacy Centrex trunk.
Carrier 03 of 03
T-Mobile
Business line · ##21# toggle
- 1
On the phone that holds your business line, open the dialer.
- 2
Type ##21#the Bookweld forwarding number# and tap call. No second handset step needed.
- 3
A confirmation screen will pop up showing your forward-to number. Tap Enable.
- 4
If your phone does not recognise the code, go to Settings → Call → Call forwarding → Always forward, and set the forward-to number there.
- 5
Test from a different phone. Call your business number and confirm you hear Bookweld after about one ring.
Heads-up: T-Mobile's *21# codes work on most business SIMs. If you are on an older Sprint-flavoured plan, dial *72 instead; the menu is in Settings > Call forwarding once forwarding is on.
What to test
The five day-one checks.
Run through this list once after you arm forwarding. It takes about three minutes, and it catches eight out of ten setup mistakes before your first real caller hits the new line.
Call your business number from a different phone (cell or a neighbour line). You should hear Bookweld answer after about one ring.
Call again from a second number to confirm the forwarding is unconditional, not per-line.
Test during business hours, after hours, and on a weekend. Pickup rate should match across all three.
Make sure the line does NOT ring to your existing voicemail first. If it does, dial *73 from your business phone to disable voicemail.
If you ever enabled SMS on your business number, text your business number from a friend. Confirm the SMS reaches Bookweld and books into your calendar.
During the cutover
What to tell customers that week.
The first seven days of forwarding are the only week where your existing voicemail greeting is doing real work. Use it to brief callers on the change.
Talk track
Week-one voicemail greeting
Update your existing voicemail to say "Hi, you've reached [Shop Name]. Your call is being routed to our answering team right now. If you need to leave a message, please do. Otherwise, please stay on the line."
Talk track
Tell the frequent-callers
Your top five after-hours callers (the property managers down the hall, the repeat HVAC referrals) need a one-line heads-up: "Same number, new answering team. You will not need to dial a new number."
Talk track
If a caller says "the number changed"
They did not redial. The forwarding activated. Reassure them the number is the same; Bookweld is the new answering team. If they want to confirm, ask them to call once and listen for the greeting.
Troubleshooting
If the line misbehaves on day one.
Most day-one issues come from a half-completed *72 sequence or a forwarded route set to "no answer" instead of unconditional. Here is the four-issue shortlist, with the matching one-line fix.
| What you saw | What to do |
|---|---|
| Your phone rings twice, then the call drops. | The forwarding is conditional (no-answer), not unconditional. Redial *72 (or *21*) and follow the activation confirmation tone. |
| A caller hears their own voicemail greeting. | Forwarding is not active on that line. Re-dial the forwarding sequence and confirm the second dial tone, then test the line again. |
| A caller complains they "can't reach you." | Reply with the new forwarding instructions. There is no separate number to give them. If it persists, dial *73 from your business phone, then re-arm *72 to refresh the forwarded route. |
| After-hours calls ring forever on the desk phone. | The forwarding is set to "forward on no answer" only. Switch to unconditional forwarding (the *72 / *21# codes) so every call routes immediately. |
Still stuck?
Talk to a Bookweld owner.
One fifteen-minute call. We will walk through the activation on your line, check the dial-code sequence, or read through the day-one checklist with you, all without a signup.