How to Set Up Call Forwarding with Vonage (2026)

Vonage Business Communications gives you four distinct ways to route incoming calls: forward everything immediately, forward only when nobody picks up, forward automatically after hours and on weekends, or forward during specific windows like lunch breaks and holidays. This guide covers all of them, in order, plus how to turn forwarding off when you no longer need it.

Before you start, log in to the Vonage Admin Portal at admin.vonage.com and have the forwarding number ready — your answering service line, mobile number, or on-call destination. Most of these settings require Super User or Account Administrator access; regular users only see a limited version under their own account settings.

How to forward all calls with Vonage

This setting redirects every incoming call to an external number the moment it arrives. Use it when you are traveling, out of office for the day, or want a live answering service to handle everything without exception.

There are two ways to turn it on — the Admin Portal gives you full control over any extension on the account, and individual users can set it from their own online account.

Option A — Admin Portal (any extension on the account)

1. Sign in to admin.vonage.com.
2. In the left menu, click Phone System, then click Extensions.
3. Hover over the extension you want to forward and click the Pencil icon.
4. Click Call Forwarding and toggle Forward Calls to enabled.
5. Select Send To Ext. or Number and enter the 10-digit forwarding number.
6. Under Caller ID, select Use Caller ID so the recipient sees the original caller’s number rather than your company line. For answering services, this is the right choice so the operator knows who is calling.
7. Click Save.

Option B — Your online account (individual users)

1. Sign in to your Vonage online account.
2. Click your Avatar, then click Settings.
3. Click Call Forwarding and select Forward All Calls.
4. Enter the forwarding number and click Save.

How to set up overflow call forwarding with Vonage (Follow Me)

Overflow forwarding means your phones ring first, and calls only forward when nobody picks up in time. When you are free, calls reach you normally. This is the right setup if you handle most calls yourself but want a live backup for the moments you cannot get to the phone — a client meeting, a deposition, a busy front desk.

Vonage handles this with the Follow Me feature, which rings a sequence of numbers in the order you choose.

Set up Follow Me

1. In the Admin Portal, go to Phone System, then Extensions, and edit the extension.
2. Click Call Forwarding, enable it, and choose Follow Me.
3. Add your desk phone or team extensions first, then add the overflow destination — your answering service number — as the next step. Follow Me supports up to five numbers in sequence.
4. Set the ring time before the call moves on. Vonage lets you choose anywhere from 2 rings (about 10 seconds) up to 12 rings (about 60 seconds). We recommend 2 to 3 rings — enough time for your team to grab the call if they are free, but fast enough that the caller reaches a live person before they consider hanging up.
5. Click Save.

Alternative — Simultaneous Ring

Simultaneous Ring calls your office line and the forwarding number at the same time instead of in sequence. It works, but for overflow to an answering service, Follow Me is usually cleaner: your team always gets first shot at the call, and the answering service only picks up what your office genuinely misses. You will find Simultaneous Ring in the same Call Forwarding menu on the extension.

How to set up after-hours and weekend call forwarding with Vonage

After-hours forwarding in Vonage is time-based and fully automatic. You define your business hours once, and Vonage switches call routing on its own every day — no manual toggling when you leave the office on Friday evening.

This works through the Virtual Receptionist (Vonage’s auto attendant) and its schedule settings, not through the basic extension forwarding covered above. Only a Super User or Account Administrator can configure it, and it cannot be created or modified from the Vonage mobile app.

Step 1 — Open or create your Virtual Receptionist

1. Sign in to the Admin Portal and go to Phone System, then Virtual Receptionist.
2. Hover over your existing Virtual Receptionist and click the Pencil icon. If you do not have one, click Add New and choose an Advanced VR — only the Advanced version supports business hours and after-hours schedules.
3. Make sure your main company number is assigned to the Virtual Receptionist under its direct dial numbers.

Step 2 — Define your business hours

1. Open the Schedules and Call Flows tab.
2. Set your Business Hours schedule with the days and times your office is open. Leave weekends out entirely if you are closed — Vonage treats any time outside business hours as after-hours automatically.
3. Double-check the account time zone. A wrong time zone shifts your entire after-hours window, and it is the most common reason schedules seem to fire at the wrong time.

Step 3 — Set the After Hours call flow to forward calls

1. Find the After Hours Schedule in the left pane, click the three dots (…), then click Edit.
2. Under Call Handling, select Forward calls to external number and enter the after-hours destination.
3. Set the caller ID dropdown to Originating Caller ID so the answering team sees the client’s number, not your office line.
4. Optionally add a short greeting before the transfer. Keep it brief — after-hours callers want to reach someone, not hear a long message.
5. Click Done, then Save.

From this point on, calls route to your phones during business hours and forward to the external number the moment your schedule flips to after-hours — every evening and every weekend, automatically.

How to forward Vonage calls during specific times (lunch, court days, holidays)

Beyond business hours and after-hours, the Virtual Receptionist supports custom schedules, so you can forward calls only during defined windows: the lunch hour, court days, staff meetings, or holiday closures.

1. In your Virtual Receptionist, open Schedules and Call Flows and click Add New.
2. Name the schedule (for example, “Lunch” or “Court Wednesdays”) and define the time frame.
3. Choose whether it repeats daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Holidays work well as recurring yearly events.
4. Mark the Always in Front checkbox so this schedule overrides your normal business-hours flow during its window.
5. Click Next, select Forward calls to external number as the call flow, enter the destination, click Done, then Save.

Schedule priority matters: a schedule marked Always in Front wins over everything else during its time frame, and if two conflict, the most recently created one takes priority. This is also how you plan a forwarding override ahead of time — set it up before a firm retreat or long weekend and it activates on its own, with nothing to remember that morning.

How to turn off call forwarding on Vonage

Disabling forwarding takes the same amount of time as enabling it. Use the method that matches how you turned it on.

Turn off extension forwarding (all calls, Follow Me, Simultaneous Ring)

1. Sign in to the Admin Portal.
2. Click Extensions, hover over the forwarded extension, and click the Pencil icon.
3. Click Call Forwarding and toggle Forward Calls to disabled.
4. Click Save. Calls return to ringing your Vonage devices immediately.

Turn off after-hours or scheduled forwarding

Go back to the Virtual Receptionist’s Schedules and Call Flows tab and either change the schedule’s call flow to a different action — such as voicemail or a call group — or delete the custom schedule entirely. Deleting a lunch or holiday schedule returns those windows to your normal business-hours routing.

Forwarded calls not connecting? Check these first

• Verify the number. Confirm the destination was entered correctly, including area code.
• Check device registration. If forwarding to another Vonage extension, make sure the phones on that extension are registered with Vonage. Unregistered devices are the most common cause of failed forwarding.
• Review schedule priority. A forgotten “Always in Front” schedule can silently override your normal call flow. Open Schedules and Call Flows and confirm what is actually at the front.
• Confirm the time zone. If after-hours forwarding fires at the wrong time, the account time zone is almost always the culprit.
• Check the routing path. Schedule rules only apply to calls that reach the Virtual Receptionist. Numbers assigned directly to extensions bypass it.

Vonage’s full documentation lives in their Call Forwarding support article and Virtual Receptionist guide.

Frequently asked questions