Phone setup & forwarding
You keep your existing phone number. Your phone system forwards the calls you choose (overflow, after-hours, or all of them) to a dedicated AI number we provision. No number change, no downtime, and reversible in minutes.
At a glance
- Your number stays yours. Forwarding is a setting in your phone system, not a migration.
- You choose the coverage: overflow only, after-hours only, or full coverage.
- Your front desk keeps answering whenever they can; the AI catches what they cannot.
- Reversible in minutes. An optional number port is available later with zero downtime.
How forwarding works
Every business phone system can forward a call it would otherwise drop. We give you a dedicated AI number, and you point your forwarding at it. When a call meets the condition you set, no one picks up, it is outside business hours, or all your lines are busy, your carrier routes it to the AI receptionist instead of sending the caller to voicemail or a dead ring.
- Caller dialsyour existing number
- Forward rule triggersno answer, after-hours, or busy
- Answered in your namethe AI receptionist
- Booked or callbackin your dashboard
The receptionist answers, handles the conversation, and everything it captures lands in your dashboard. During your founder-led launch we set the forward with you and prove it end-to-end with a real test call before any customer uses it.
Setting it up
Forwarding is set once, together, during your launch. Here is the whole path: who does each part and when you know it worked.
Choose your coverage
Led by YouTypical time: One decisionDecide which calls forward: overflow only, after-hours only, or full coverage. Most businesses start narrow and expand once they trust it. The comparison below helps you pick.
We provision your AI number
Led by SpiderLabsTypical time: Same dayYou get a dedicated receptionist number for your business. Nothing about your existing number or listings changes. This new number only receives the calls you forward to it.
Point the forward at it
Led by You or your phone providerTypical time: Minutes to a dayYour phone administrator or carrier sets the forwarding rule, no answer, after-hours, or busy, to the AI number. The change itself takes minutes; scheduling it with your provider can take up to a day.
Prove it with a real call
Led by SpiderLabs, with you watchingTypical time: Same sessionWe place a test call from outside your network, watch it forward, and confirm it lands in your dashboard. Only then does the forward carry real customer calls.
You are done when- A call from outside your network reached the AI receptionist under your coverage rule.
- The call appeared in your dashboard with a transcript.
Coverage modes
You decide how much of your call flow the receptionist covers. Most businesses start narrow and expand once they trust it.
| Mode | When calls forward | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Overflow | Only when your team does not pick up within a set number of rings, or all lines are busy. | Keeping your front desk first in line while never missing a busy-hour call. |
| After-hours | Only outside your business hours, on weekends, and on holidays. | Capturing evenings and weekends without changing your daytime workflow. |
| Full coverage | Every inbound call goes to the receptionist first. | A small or fully booked team that wants every call answered instantly. |
You can change coverage any time
No number change (and an optional port)
You do not port or give up your number to get started. You keep it, your printed materials and listings stay correct, and your patients or customers dial the same number they always have. Forwarding does the rest.
Later, if you would rather we host the number directly, porting is an optional step we handle with your carrier and schedule for zero downtime. Most businesses keep forwarding; both paths work, and neither one interrupts your calls.
What your staff experience
Day to day, very little changes for your front desk. That is the point.
- They keep answering the phone exactly as they do now.
- Calls they miss no longer vanish. Each one shows up in the dashboard with a transcript and summary, and anything needing follow-up becomes a callback in the queue.
- They work the callback queue instead of chasing voicemails, a shorter, clearer list of who to call back and why.
Reversible in minutes
Turn it off and on at will
Once forwarding is set and proven, continue with Channels to see how voice fits alongside web chat, or Your dashboard to see where every call lands.
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