Setting up call divert for your business: a plain-English guide for UK trades

You don't need a new number to use AllCalls. You keep the number your customers already have, and set up a call divert so it only rings through to your AI receptionist under the conditions you choose: when you're busy, when you don't answer, when your phone's unreachable, or all the time.

First, a quick check. This guide covers mobile networks and landlines, where you set the divert by dialling a code. If you answer your business calls in an app rather than the normal phone dialler, or your number was set up online rather than by a phone company, you are probably on a cloud phone system and these codes won't reach it. Read call divert on a cloud phone system instead.

There are four types of divert worth knowing about:

• Busy: calls divert only when you're already on another call.
• No answer: calls divert if you don't pick up within a set number of rings.
• Unreachable: calls divert when your phone's off or out of signal.
• Unconditional (every call): everything diverts, all the time, useful if you want your AI receptionist to be the first point of contact rather than a backup.

You can usually set more than one of these at once, for example "busy" and "no answer" together, so calls only divert when you genuinely can't take them.

Mobile networks: the standard codes

Most UK mobile networks use the same underlying GSM standard codes, which you dial directly on your keypad like a phone number. Vodafone publishes these clearly on its own support pages:

Replace [number] with the full number you're diverting to, including the country code with a leading +44 instead of the first 0 (so 07700 900123 becomes +447700900123).

EE

EE's own help pages don't publish these codes directly. Instead, EE points customers to the My EE app, or to dialling 150 from your EE mobile and following the menu (call handling options, then divert options). The standard codes above are generally understood to work on EE too, but if they don't, the app or 150 is EE's own recommended route.

O2

O2's guidance points customers to the My O2 app (Call settings, then Call forwarding) as the main way to set this up, rather than publishing a code table. ##002# is confirmed as the code to cancel every divert at once. The standard GSM codes above generally work on O2 as well, but the app avoids any guesswork if they don't.

Three

Three's own community support notes that the standard divert codes should work, but some customers have reported them failing on Three specifically. If a code doesn't take, use the My3 app or contact Three's support directly rather than assuming the divert is on when it isn't.

Landlines: BT and Virgin Media

Landline call diversion works a little differently to mobile, and the codes vary by provider.

BT uses single-star codes rather than the double-star mobile ones:

You'll need a phone set to tone dialling for these to work, and BT notes that these star codes are being phased out as landlines move to digital (VoIP) connections, so check BT's own page if yours doesn't respond as expected.

Virgin Media's codes depend on which network area your line is in (Virgin groups areas into colour-coded zones). In most areas, you dial *21*, wait for a tone, then enter the full number and finish with #; some older "Red" areas use a different code (*70) instead. Given the variation, it's worth checking Virgin Media's own page for your specific area before setting this up, rather than assuming one code fits everyone.

A few things worth knowing before you set this up

• Test it. Set the divert, then call your own number from another phone to check it's actually going where you expect, before you rely on it for real customers.
• Check for call charges. Diverted calls are usually charged as an outgoing call from your line to the divert destination, on top of whatever the caller's paying, so it's worth knowing your tariff before diverting everything, all the time.
• You can combine divert types. Busy and no-answer together is a common setup: it means a straightforward missed call goes through, without diverting every single call regardless of whether you'd have answered it anyway.
• Cancelling is quick. Every network has a way to switch every divert off at once (commonly ##002# on mobile), so you're never stuck with it on if you change your mind.

If none of the above matches your setup, you may be on a cloud phone system, where the divert lives in the provider's own app or portal: see call divert on a cloud phone system.

Once your divert is set up, see exactly what happens next on How it works, or check the FAQ for more on getting started.