To complete the tasks in this article, you’ll need to be an administrator. Learn more about Teams administrator permissions.
Call forwarding lets you redirect incoming Operator Connect calls to another number or service when your normal call route isn’t available or needs to change. This is managed inside Auto Attendants (AA) or Call Queues (CQ).
You might use call forwarding for:
- Out of hours routing
- Overflow handling
- Holiday or emergency closures
- Sending calls to external services (e.g., answering services, mobiles)
- Failover when no agents are available
You can forward calls to:
- An external phone number (mobile, landline, answering service)
- Another Auto Attendant or Call Queue
- Voicemail
- A Teams user
- A SIP trunk or PSTN endpoint (depending on your setup)
Configuring Call Forwarding
Call forwarding is set up inside the Auto Attendants or Call Queues linked to your Operator Connect number.
For full configuration guidance, see:
To set up call forwarding, see Microsoft’s guidance on configuring call routing in Auto Attendants and Call Queues.
Forwarding to an External Number
If you are forwarding calls to an external number:
- Make sure your organisation has enough calling plan or Operator Connect minutes
- Enter the number in E.164 format (e.g., +44 20 1234 5678)
- Check that external forwarding is allowed by your Teams voice policies
Forwarding During Out of Hours
Out of hours forwarding is controlled by AA/CQ schedules. See our guidance on Managing business hours and time scheduling.