Conditional Call Forwarding: Verizon, AT&T & T-Mobile Codes (2026 Cheat Sheet)

Conditional call forwarding is the most underused feature on a business phone. Unlike full forwarding, it only kicks in when you DON'T answer — busy, declined, or ringing out. Your phone works exactly as before; the calls you miss go somewhere useful instead of voicemail. Setup is one dial code, once.

Verizon

• Activate: dial *71 followed by the 10-digit forwarding number (e.g. *71 555 123 4567), then press call. This forwards busy + no-answer calls.
• Deactivate: dial *73.

AT&T

• Activate no-answer forwarding: dial **61*1 followed by the 10-digit number, then # (e.g. **61*15551234567#), and press call.
• Activate busy forwarding: same pattern with **67* instead.
• Deactivate: ##61# and ##67#.

T-Mobile

• Activate no-answer forwarding: **61*1 + number + # — same GSM code as AT&T. You can also set the ring delay: **61*1 + number + **30# gives callers 30 seconds before forwarding.
• Activate busy forwarding: **67*1 + number + #.
• Deactivate: ##61#, ##67# — or ##004# to clear all conditional forwarding.

Prepaid plans and MVNOs (Cricket, Metro, Visible…) usually support the same codes as their parent network, but some block forwarding entirely — if a code errors out, that's why. When in doubt, your carrier's support page for 'conditional call forwarding' has the current codes.

The real question: forward to WHAT?

The code is ten seconds. The decision that matters is the destination:

• A spouse or partner's phone — free, works, and burns out the marriage during storm season.
• An answering service — a human takes a message for [$200–350 a month](/blog/how-much-does-an-answering-service-cost).
• An AI receptionist — answers instantly in your business name, collects the caller's problem, address and urgency, and sends you a structured lead with a transcript. Flat $49/month.

That last one is CallEmBack — it's exactly this setup: you dial one of the codes above with your dedicated AI number, and every call you miss gets answered instead of voicemailed. Our setup wizard walks you through your specific carrier in about two minutes.

Voicemail is also a forwarding destination. It's just the one where 85% of callers hang up.

If you're weighing whether any of this is worth doing, start with the size of the leak: what missed calls cost in your trade, or run your own numbers.