Keeping your number, or taking another one
You do not have to change your number to get your calls answered. Here are the three ways to plug Zenvox into your line, and what each one changes for your customers.
Do you have to change your number to use a receptionist?
No. In the vast majority of cases you keep the number your customers know and your Google profile shows, and you ask your carrier to forward calls to Zenvox — either all of them, or only the ones you do not pick up.
Call forwarding is a carrier feature, not a Zenvox one. With most Quebec carriers it is set by dialling a short code on your phone; with others it is set in the app or the customer portal. Your base also includes a local number, which you can use as well as yours or instead of it.
Where you probably are
You have one number, often your mobile, and it serves your customers, your suppliers and your family. It is on your truck, on your Google profile and on your cards. Changing it would cost you calls for months.
What you want is not a new number: it is for that one to stop ringing into the void while you are busy. The three setups below answer that, and you pick between them based on how much you want to keep answering yourself.
Setup 1 — conditional forwarding
Your phone rings as usual. If it rings unanswered, if your line is busy, or if your handset is off or out of range, the call moves to Zenvox instead of going to voicemail.
This is the gentlest setup: you keep control of the calls you want to take, and the net only closes when you do not answer. It is also the best replacement for a voicemail box nobody listens to.
With Quebec carriers that publish codes, these are three separate codes — one per condition. Setup hands you the ones for your carrier, with the date they were checked on its official page.
Setup 2 — permanent forwarding
Every call goes straight to Zenvox. Your phone stops ringing. You get the written summary of each call and you call back whoever you want, whenever you want.
This is the setup for trades where picking up is unsafe or impossible: at height, under a vehicle, hands in a drain, or in a room with a patient. It is also the setup for peak periods, when answering yourself breaks the day.
You can cancel it with a code, or from your portal, as easily as you set it.
Setup 3 — an extra local number
Your base includes a local number. You can use it for a new ad, a second city, or a separate service line — and keep your current number for long-standing customers.
It helps you see where calls come from: one number per source tells you what pays, without guessing. Several numbers are possible depending on what you are building.
Nothing forces you to choose one setup for good: many start conditional, then move to permanent once trust is built.
What Zenvox does not do for you
Call forwarding belongs to your carrier. Zenvox hands you the codes or the exact path in its app, but cannot change your line for you.
Moving your number to another carrier — porting — is a different operation from forwarding, longer, and it touches your contract. It is not needed to get your calls answered.
If your carrier publishes no dialable codes, setup invents none: it points you to its official support page.
What goes with it
The pages that cover the rest of the setup.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to port our number to you?
No, and that is not what we recommend to begin with. Forwarding leaves your number where it is, with your current carrier, and it comes off in one step from your own handset. Porting is a heavy procedure, hard to reverse, and it brings nothing while forwarding does the job.
What is the difference between conditional and permanent forwarding?
Conditional forwarding sends only the calls nobody answers, or those arriving on a busy line: your team keeps priority. Permanent forwarding sends everything, which suits a business with nobody dedicated to the phone. You can start conditional and change your mind: the same step, in the other direction.
Does forwarding cost anything with our carrier?
That depends on your plan, and it is a question to put to your carrier before switching on. Some include forwarding, others bill it per minute like an outgoing call. We cannot answer in your place: the answer is in your contract, and it differs from one carrier to the next.
What if our line is a mobile?
All three setups work on a mobile too, using your carrier's forwarding codes. The practical difference is that a mobile follows its owner, so conditional forwarding also triggers when it is out of coverage or in a meeting, which is often exactly what you want.
What is the local number included in a base for?
Three things: receiving text messages when your current line cannot, giving an advertising campaign its own number so you know what makes the phone ring, and acting as a second door for a branch. It runs alongside your usual number, not instead of it.
Do our customers see a different number on the display?
On a forward, an inbound call stays yours from the caller's point of view: they dialled your number. An outbound callback goes out from the number you chose to display, and that choice sits in your settings. Better to settle it before the first callback than after.
What happens if we remove the forwarding?
Your calls return to your line, immediately, without telling us and with no processing delay. That is the important point of this setup: control stays on your handset. Your files, transcripts and requests stay readable and exportable from your workspace.
Should we warn our carrier before switching on?
It is not required in order to set a forward, but it is worth checking two things with them: that your plan allows forwarding, and that your line receives text messages if you plan to use that channel. Those two checks head off the surprises that usually turn up in the first days.
How long does switching on a forward take?
With most carriers, forwarding is set by a short code dialled from the handset, and it takes effect immediately. Some require a visit to the online account, or a call to the business desk. What the three have in common: the step is reversible, and you take it yourself.
Does a forward change anything for our Google listing?
No. Your listing keeps showing your number, and that is precisely the point of this setup: nobody has to update a directory, a truck, a business card or a sign. An extra local number does not belong on the listing — it serves elsewhere, in an advertisement for instance.
What if we have several lines or several locations?
Each line is forwarded separately, and the requests land in the same place with the origin noted. That is what lets you know which location received what, and give each one its own hours and its own person to alert, while keeping a single service configuration.