Setup guide
Call forwarding
How to send the calls your front desk misses to your Recepta Desk number, so Recepta Desk texts the caller back and books them over SMS. Start here, then open the guide for your phone company.
Getting started
How forwarding missed calls to Recepta Desk works
What do I set up on my phone so the calls I miss reach Recepta Desk?
When a patient calls and your front desk does not pick up, your phone company can hand that call to your Recepta Desk number. Recepta Desk then texts the caller back within seconds and handles the booking over SMS. You set this up once, on your phone company's side. The setting you want is conditional forwarding: forward when there is no answer, and forward when busy if your provider offers it. Your team still answers every call they can, and Recepta Desk catches the rest.
- 1Find your Recepta Desk number in your dashboard. That is the number you forward to.
- 2Open the guide for your phone company from this list.
- 3Turn on forward when there is no answer, pointed at your Recepta Desk number. Add forward when busy if your provider has it.
- 4Place a test call from another phone and let it ring out. You should get a text back from Recepta Desk within a few seconds.
Good to know
- Use conditional forwarding, not forward all. Forward all sends every call to Recepta Desk and your front desk stops ringing.
- Recepta Desk reads the caller's own number to text them back, so leave caller ID passthrough on if your provider has that setting.
Choose the right kind of forwarding
What is the difference between forward all and forward on no answer?
Forward all, often the *72 code on a landline, sends every incoming call straight to the forwarding number, so your phone never rings. That is not what you want. Forward on no answer rings your phone first and only passes the call along when nobody picks up after a few rings. Forward on busy passes the call when your line is already in use. Set no answer, and busy too if your provider supports it. Your team keeps answering live calls, and Recepta Desk picks up the ones they miss.
- 1Avoid the forward all setting, often *72 on a landline.
- 2Turn on forward on no answer so your phone rings first.
- 3Add forward on busy so calls that arrive while you are on the line also reach Recepta Desk.
Good to know
- Some carriers combine no answer and busy into one setting. Verizon mobile is one example: a single code covers both.
Troubleshooting
Test that forwarding reaches Recepta Desk
How do I know forwarding is working?
Place a real call and let it go unanswered. If forwarding is set, Recepta Desk texts the caller back within a few seconds. Test the busy path too if your provider forwards on busy.
- 1From a different phone, call your clinic's main number.
- 2Let it ring without answering until it stops.
- 3Within a few seconds you should get a text from your Recepta Desk number.
- 4To test busy forwarding, get on a call on the clinic line, then call again from another phone and let it go.
Good to know
- No text? Check that you forwarded to your Recepta Desk number exactly, with no spaces or dashes, and that you chose no answer rather than send to voicemail.
- On a landline, the number of rings before a call forwards is usually set by your carrier and may not be adjustable from the phone.
The forwarding codes do nothing
I dialed the forwarding code and nothing happened. Why?
On many older copper landlines, busy and no-answer forwarding is turned on by the phone company, not from your phone. The star codes do nothing because the feature is set on their end, with the forward-to number stored on your account. This is common on traditional AT&T and CenturyLink landlines. If your codes do nothing, call your phone company and ask them to forward your unanswered and busy calls to your Recepta Desk number.
- 1Confirm you have the right code for your provider. Open the guide for your phone company in this list.
- 2Check that the feature is turned on for your line. Some accounts need it added before a code works.
- 3If the code still does nothing, call your phone company and ask them to set forwarding on no answer (and busy) to your Recepta Desk number.
- 4Have your Recepta Desk number ready from your dashboard when you call.
Good to know
- This mostly affects traditional copper landlines. Mobile phones and internet-based business phones almost always let you set forwarding yourself.
- Once your phone company sets the destination, changing it later may mean calling them again.
Make sure Recepta Desk sees the caller's number
Recepta Desk texted our clinic line instead of the patient. Why?
Recepta Desk reads the caller's number off the forwarded call to text them back. Most phone lines pass the original caller's number through, so this works on its own. Some business phone systems instead show your own number on a forwarded call, and a few have a setting that controls it. If Recepta Desk is texting your clinic line instead of the patient, the caller's number is not coming through.
- 1Place a test call from an outside phone you control, and let it go unanswered.
- 2Check which number Recepta Desk texts. It should text the outside phone you called from.
- 3If it texts your clinic line instead, open your provider's guide and set the forwarded caller ID to show the original caller.
- 4Forward on the phone line itself, not through a 'remote office' or 'be anywhere' feature. Those place a fresh call that shows your number instead of the caller's.
Good to know
- RingCentral, Ooma, Vonage, Grasshopper, and Dialpad have a setting for this. Check your provider's guide for the exact name.
- If the patient blocked their own caller ID, no number comes through and Recepta Desk cannot text back. That is the same for any direct call.
Sources
- https://www.nanpa.com/numbering/vertical-service-codes
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_service_code
Last updated 2026-06-09.