How to activate call forwarding, also via app

Call transfer is one of the most ancient functions of mobile phones, born above all for the need of those who changed operators and telephone numbers, in order to receive calls on the old number anyway. This function was also widely used by those who had a company number and wanted, after the offices closed, to remain traceable on their home number or mobile phone. Today, with number portability, call forwarding is certainly a less used function, which can still come in handy if we have a company and we always want to be traceable. For example, if we have two cell phones, we can keep one at home and divert calls to the other, or we can divert calls to the work number on a colleague's cell phone or to the office phone.
In this guide we will show you in detail how to activate call forwarding on modern smartphones, also acting via app if necessary.
READ ALSO: Receive calls even if the cell phone does not pick up, unreachable and without signal

How to activate call forwarding

As you can see, there are several methods that we can use to activate call forwarding, we just have to choose the one that best suits our needs (considering that in one case the diversion provides an additional cost).

Activate call forwarding at the operator level

If we intend to activate call forwarding directly on our telephone number, we must incur an additional cost . Almost all operators (except Telecom Italia which charges the service for two Euros), there are no costs for activating call forwarding. The cost is instead in the phone call that is automatically forwarded.
Those who receive calls on number 1 and activate the transfer on number 2 pay, from the SIM card of number 1, as if they were calling number 2. This is, unfortunately, inevitable and there is no way to transfer calls without doing it (different is the speech related to SMS messages which, as we will see later, it is possible to divert without costs).
To transfer calls from a mobile phone, a code must be entered on the telephone keypad:

• * 21 * + 39 NUMBER # to transfer all calls.
• ** 61 * + 39 NUMBER # to transfer unanswered calls that you don't want or can't answer.
• ** 62 * + 39 NUMBER # to transfer calls when the phone is not reachable.
• ** 67 * + 39 NUMBER # to transfer calls to busy phone.
• # 21 # disable call forwarding

To transfer the calls received on a landline phone, the codes are:

• * 21 * NUMBER # to transfer all calls.
• * 22 * ​​NUMBER # only transfers busy calls.
• * 23 * NUMBER # transfers unanswered calls.

If we want to investigate the costs of call forwarding and any new codes to be used to activate it, we invite you to read the help pages of all the main Italian telephone operators, which we have collected in the list below:

1. TIM (fixed line)
2. TIM (mobile line)
3. Vodafone
4. Wind 3
5. 3 Italy
6. Fastweb

If the operator we use is not among those listed, we can check on Google if it provides the call transfer service or try one of the generic codes described above.

Activate call forwarding from smartphone

If, on the other hand, we want to activate call transfer directly from our smartphone, just activate the right option in the general settings.
On Android smartphones you can activate or deactivate call forwarding directly from the options of the numeric keypad (or Phone app). Once the keypad is open, we tap on the three dots at the top right, go to Settings and look for the item Call forwarding, Call forwarding or Call forwarding settings .

Once this menu is open, we select the Forward always item, then we indicate which number to start the call forwarding to (the answering machine should be present, but we can configure any number or choose the number assigned to transfer to the operator). In addition to forwarding all calls, we can also choose whether to use specific diversions, using the items If busy, If I do not answer and If you are not reachable .
If we have an Android Dual SIM smartphone, we will have to choose which of the two lines to apply the call transfer (the choice is available only if there are actually two SIMs in the phone).
If we use an iPhone we can activate call forwarding by opening the Settings app, going to the Phone -> Call forwarding menu and activating the Call forwarding item.

Now just choose the new number on which to apply the call forwarding; if we have an iPhone Dual SIM, we will also have to choose on which line to activate the transfer (provided that there are two SIM).

Call transfer app

For Android and for iPhone we can use free applications to automate the transfer of calls or to activate it remotely when necessary, without having to pay anything to the operator.
The best call transfer apps for Android are:

1. Call Divert instead allows you to activate remote call diversion via SMS, useful when you forget your mobile phone at home.
2. Call forward allows you to divert incoming calls. The application supports remote activation with a series of commands to be sent via SMS to the phone to be transferred.
3. Call forwarding instead activates call forwarding only when the mobile phone does not pick up.
4. Call Forwarding (Buddy): another excellent app to forward incoming calls to another phone number.
5. Forward My Calls: app a bit old but still fully functional, able to divert any type of call to the new phone number.

The best iPhone call transfer apps are:

1. Call transfer: excellent app with which you can choose specific (not all) phone numbers the calls of which must be diverted to another number.
2. Call Forwarding Lite to choose in which cases to activate call forwarding: if busy / unanswered / no signal.
3. Voipfone Mobile can be used to transfer calls based on where you are.

Using these apps is very simple: just install the one that convinces us most, enter the new phone number in the app settings and activate the call transfer managed by the app.

Conclusions

Activating call forwarding is quite simple on modern smartphones, although the most effective methods remain those provided directly by the telephone operator (who will want to be paid for this auxiliary service).
If we are looking for a free solution to divert SMS received on another mobile phone that is turned off or left at home, we recommend you read our dedicated guide How to divert SMS to another phone .
If, on the other hand, we wish to be notified of calls received in our absence, we recommend that you read our article on the Apps to receive the free call waiting with the phone off or unreachable .