Setting up call forwarding — VoiceHelden Help centre

Forwarding is the last step before your assistant starts answering. It takes two minutes. Android, iPhone and landlines each work slightly differently, and with two carriers it works entirely differently.

What you are switching on

You are not forwarding every call. You forward what you do not answer yourself: when you are on another call, when you do not pick up within fifteen seconds, or when your phone is off. If you answer, the assistant never notices.

On Android

The app gives you a code to enter in the dialler, such as *004*+31851234567**15#. You can copy it or tap the button in the app, which opens the dialler with the code already in it. Call it, and you are done — your carrier confirms it.

If your carrier returns an error, flip the “other spelling of the code” switch in the app: the code then starts with two asterisks instead of one. Some handsets only accept that form. That is a difference in the standard, not something we invented.

On iPhone

An iPhone cannot dial this kind of code from a link — iOS does not allow it. You switch it on in Settings instead:

Settings → Apps → Phone → Call Forwarding
Turn the switch on
Under “Forward To”, enter your 085 number (it is in the app, with a copy button)

Nothing under Call Forwarding? Then your carrier does not offer it through Settings. Call your carrier, or use the manual test below.

On a landline

A fixed-line phone has no app and no copy button: you key the code into the handset itself and press call. With KPN and Ziggo that works on most handsets. Two differences from a mobile:

You enter your 085 number in national format (085…), not with +31. An analogue or DECT handset has no + key.
There is no ring timer in the code. Your carrier decides after how many rings it forwards; you cannot pass that in here.

Our test call rings the mobile number you signed up with, not your landline. On a landline you always test it yourself, with the steps further down.

The codes, if you would rather set them yourself

These are standard codes from the GSM specification (3GPP TS 22.030), not VoiceHelden codes. They work on any network that supports the feature. Replace the number with your own 085 number: on a mobile as +3185…, on a landline as 085….

Codes for your mobile

*21*+3185…# — always. Every call goes straight to your assistant; your phone does not ring.
*004*+3185…**15# — only when you do not answer yourself: busy, no reply after 15 seconds, or unreachable. This is what the app sets. The 15 is the number of seconds; 5 to 30 is allowed.
*61*+3185…**15# — no reply only.
*67*+3185…# — only when you are on another call.
*62*+3185…# — only when your phone is off or has no signal.

If your handset refuses a code, try it with two asterisks in front: **21*+3185…#. That is the same instruction in the explicit spelling from the same standard.

Codes for a landline

*21*085…# — always.
*61*085…# — only when you do not answer.
*67*085…# — only when you are on another call.

Switching it off again

#21# — turns off “always forward”.
##004# — erases the whole “only when you do not answer” group in one go.
#61#, #67#, #62# — turn off that one form.
##002# — erases all forwarding, including your carrier’s own. This is what the app does when you pause your assistant.
*#002# — asks what is currently set, without changing anything.

Where codes do not work

With Hollandsnieuwe and Lebara these codes do nothing. There you switch forwarding on in your carrier’s app or My account, pointing at your 085 number. The rest of this page still applies; only the dialling drops away.

On other networks a carrier may have disabled a single code. If you get an error that will not go away, not even with the other spelling, call your carrier and ask for forwarding on no reply to your 085 number.

Testing without our test call

The app can call you to check that it works. If that fails, you can just as easily do it yourself:

Take another handset, or ask someone next to you.
Call your own mobile number.
Do not answer. Let it ring for fifteen seconds, wait for your assistant to pick up, and hang up.

As soon as that call ends, the app moves on by itself. You do not have to refresh anything.

Abroad

Forwarding is set at your carrier, not on your handset. So it keeps working when you are abroad. Your carrier may charge roaming for the forwarded leg; that is a question for them.