The agent isn’t answering forwarded calls

You forwarded your business line, called it, and the agent did not pick up. Troubleshooting DispatchLine not answering forwarded calls means looking in three places: the portal, the carrier rule and the phone system. Work through the checks in order; the first three rule out causes no carrier setting can fix. The call answering feature page describes the four forwarding modes.

Start from what you heard

1. Has the test call been made?

A new DispatchLine number does not answer incoming calls until you press Test call in the portal and the agent phones you, and the forwarding steps stay locked until then. A forward set earlier points at a number that is not answering yet. Make the test call, then try again.

2. Is the account active?

The dashboard shows a status line at the top. “Past due” or “suspended” means the agent is paused; fix billing and it resumes within a minute, unless the trial was canceled (see below). Two more states look like a forwarding fault and are not:

• Trial minutes used up: once the 150 trial minutes are gone, the agent answers with a short message saying the line is paused.
• Plan canceled: on a paid plan the agent stops answering at the end of the period you have paid for. Canceling during the free trial ends the trial at once, so the agent stops answering right away; to undo it, resume the subscription from Billing → Manage subscription & invoices before the original trial end date.

A paused message means the forward works, because the call reached DispatchLine.

3. Call the DispatchLine number directly

Dial the DispatchLine number itself, shown at the top of the portal and under Integrations. If the agent answers, the fault is in the carrier rule, so carry on. If it does not, and checks 1 and 2 are clear, contact support with the time of the call.

4. Is forwarding on, and pointed at the right number?

AT&T and T-Mobile: dial the status codes from the business phone and read what the network returns: *#21# for always-forward, *#61# for no answer, *#67# for busy and *#62# for unreachable. AT&T’s support page notes that forwarding can only be changed from the wireless phone itself, not online.

Verizon: Verizon’s call forwarding FAQ gives *72 plus the 10-digit number to forward every call, *71 plus the number for calls you do not answer, and *73 to turn forwarding off. It lists no code that reads the setting back, and re-dialing *71 sets forwarding rather than reporting it, so test by calling from another phone or ask Verizon what is set.

VoIP: confirm the call-handling or answering rule is enabled and forwards to an external number.

Then compare the forwarded-to number with the one in the portal, digit by digit. One wrong digit sends your calls to a stranger. If you do not know what an AT&T or T-Mobile line has set, ##002# erases every forwarding rule; set the ones you want again straight after.

5. Is voicemail answering first?

AT&T’s page says call forwarding overrides wireless voicemail, so on an AT&T cell line, hearing your old voicemail points to a slot that is not set: see checks 4 and 7. On a desk phone, VoIP system or landline with its own voicemail, the timers race, and if the forward waits longer than voicemail, voicemail wins. Set the forward to 15 to 20 seconds, about 3 to 4 rings, or make voicemail wait longer. On AT&T and T-Mobile, add **SS before the final #, where SS is 5 to 30 seconds: **61*NUMBER**20# forwards after about 20 seconds.

6. Isolate the rule with always-forward

For one test, turn on always-forward (*72NUMBER on Verizon, **21*NUMBER# on AT&T and T-Mobile) and call the business number from another phone. If the agent answers, the fault is in the conditional setup: the delay or a missing slot. If it still fails, the carrier is not forwarding; ask whether forwarding is active on your plan. Then turn always-forward off (*73 on Verizon, ##21# on T-Mobile, ##002# on AT&T) and set conditional forwarding again.

7. Set the busy and unreachable slots

A line with only the no-answer slot passes a bench test with full bars and still loses calls that arrive while you are on another call or in a basement. On AT&T and T-Mobile add **67*NUMBER# for busy and **62*NUMBER# for unreachable, or set all three with **004*NUMBER# where supported. Then test each slot: let a call ring out, call from a third phone while you are on a call, and call with the business phone in airplane mode.

8. VoIP rules, desk phones and landlines

• A forward rule attached to business hours does nothing at 9 PM, and an after-hours rule does nothing at noon.
• If voicemail comes before the external forward in the rule, the forward never runs.
• Landlines mostly use *72NUMBER to forward all calls and *73 to stop. Conditional forwarding there is usually a paid feature; ask the carrier.

When the agent answers but something is off

• It hung up on a real caller within seconds. Spam screening ends calls that open with silence or a recording; see spam and robocalls.
• The portal shows the caller’s number, not yours. That is correct: a forwarded call keeps the original caller ID.
• A long call ended on its own. A call can run up to 8 minutes.

Prove it, then ask for help

Test from a phone other than the business line, let it ring past your delay and listen for your greeting. The call should appear in the portal within about a minute. Repeat after every change. Forwarded calls landing in voicemail goes deeper on the voicemail causes, conditional forwarding explains the three conditions, and the forwarding guide has the codes by carrier.

If calls still do not arrive, email support@getdispatchline.com or open a ticket under Support, with the time and time zone of each test call, the number you called from, your carrier, the forwarding type and what the status codes returned. A person replies within one business day.