Call forwarding in the UK: how to divert mobile calls

To forward calls you do not answer, dial **61*number# from your mobile keypad, replacing number with the destination. To check it, dial *#61#. To cancel it, dial ##61#.

That covers missed calls without touching calls you answer. It is different from forwarding every call immediately, which is set with **21*number# and usually is not what a working business mobile wants.

If you are setting this up to avoid voicemail, remember that voicemail is just the network's default destination. You are replacing that destination with one of your own.

UK networks and handset menus use all three phrases. O2 and Vodafone often talk about call forwarding, EE and older help pages often use call divert, and some Android handsets call it call diversion. For practical purposes they are the same family of settings.

The important distinction is not the wording. It is whether the divert is unconditional or conditional. Unconditional forwarding sends every call away before your phone rings. Conditional forwarding waits for a condition: no answer, busy, or unreachable.

For missed-call handling, conditional forwarding is the one that matters. You keep answering normally when you can, and the fallback only runs when the call would otherwise have gone to voicemail.

Use **61*number# for calls you do not answer. Use *#61# to check where those calls go. Use ##61# to cancel the no-answer divert and let the line fall back to its default, normally voicemail.

Use **004*number# if you want to set the same destination for no answer, busy and unreachable in one go. Use ##004# to cancel those three conditional diverts together.

Use ##002# only when you want to clear every divert on the line, including any all-calls forwarding. It is the clean reset when you are not sure what has been set.

The most common failure is the optional ring-time version of the code. If **61*number**20# is rejected, try **61*number# without the seconds on the end before assuming forwarding is unavailable.

The second common failure is plan restriction. Some pay-as-you-go and virtual-network plans allow forwarding to voicemail but not to an external UK number. If the setting appears to save but real calls still go to voicemail, ask the network whether external call divert is provisioned on the line.

The third is using the wrong SIM on a dual-SIM handset. If your phone has two lines, make sure the forwarding rule is saved against the number your customers actually call.

TextTheCaller uses unanswered-call forwarding as the trigger. Your mobile rings as normal. If you do not answer, your network forwards that unanswered call to us, we reject it immediately, and the caller gets your text.

That design matters because the call is not answered by a receptionist, bot or voicemail system. The caller does not sit in a queue, you do not change your number, and calls you answer are untouched.

Forwarding is only the delivery mechanism. The thing the caller sees is the text from your business name, with the callback promise, booking link or emergency instruction you wrote.