Definition
Call forwarding is a telephone service that redirects an incoming call from the number that was dialed to a different destination number.
How it works
When someone dials a forwarded number, the carrier that holds the number places a second call to the destination and joins the two. The caller hears one continuous call. The destination can be a desk phone, a mobile phone or a phone system. Forwarding can be set on a number itself at the carrier, or inside a phone system or app that answers first and then passes the call along.
The difference is where the decision lives. When the carrier forwards, the call does not depend on any other software being up.
Forwarding in call tracking
A tracking number has no phone of its own. It exists to be dialed, counted, and forwarded to a line you already answer. VereTel forwards at the carrier, so its web app is not in the call path, and each number forwards to one line. It does not offer menus, whisper messages or time-of-day routing.
Forwarded calls have two legs: the caller to the tracking number, and the tracking number to your line. That is why the desk’s call detail can show each leg.
Why an agency should care
Forwarding is what lets you add tracking without new phones or a new phone system. The details of setup are in call forwarding.