Send calls anywhere.
Forward Kelir calls to your personal cell, a colleague, an answering service, a paging service. Unconditional ("always forward to this number") or conditional ("only forward when I'm on a call", "only after hours", "only for callers in my VIP list"). Layered on top of working hours and DND. Configurable from the mobile app or admin portal.
Call forwarding on Kelir.
Call forwarding redirects an inbound call from your Kelir number to a different number — your personal cell, a colleague, an answering service, a paging service. The classic "I'm at the doctor, send my work calls to the office manager" use case, plus all the more nuanced versions of it.
Two modes are available. Unconditional: every inbound call forwards immediately to the destination — useful when you're unavailable for an extended period and want a colleague to handle the line. Conditional: forward only when specific conditions are met — when you're busy on another Kelir call, when working hours are out, when the caller is in a specific group. Conditional forwarding is the day-to-day mode for most users; unconditional is for vacation-style use.
Forwarding rules layer cleanly with the rest of the routing surface. Working-hours routing happens first (out-of-hours might already route to voicemail). DND happens next (DND-active sends to voicemail unless the caller is in your VIP allow-list). Forwarding evaluates last (if you're still going to ring, forward kicks in based on conditions). The result is predictable: configure each layer separately, the system composes them in order.
On Team plans, forwarding is also useful for departmental fallbacks — the support hunt group's catcher voicemail can be replaced with a forward to an external answering service when the team is fully booked. The IVR menu's no-input fallback can be a forward to an operator's personal cell. Per-department forwarding rules let admins configure each business unit independently.
RingCentral, Dialpad, 8x8, Vonage Business, and Nextiva all ship comparable forwarding. The differences are: forwarding rules are configurable from the Kelir mobile app (not just the web portal), forwarded calls leave the Kelir cellular line and ring on whatever number is downstream (so they take on that number's behavior), and external destinations are first-class — the forwarding target doesn't have to be another Kelir line.
Setup walkthrough.
Configured from Mobile app. The setup below assumes a working Kelir account and an active eSIM.
- 1
Open the Kelir mobile app and tap Settings → Call forwarding.
- 2
Pick the mode: Off (no forwarding), Unconditional (always forward), or Conditional (forward only when conditions are met).
- 3
Enter the destination number — any US or international number with country code.
- 4
For Conditional, select the condition(s): Busy (forward when you're on another Kelir call), No-answer (forward after the configured ring timeout), After-hours (forward outside your working-hours schedule), DND-active (forward when DND is on), or Caller-specific (forward calls from specific contacts or groups).
- 5
Set the ring-before-forward timeout if applicable (default 25 seconds for the no-answer condition).
- 6
Optionally enable forwarding announcement — a brief TTS message plays to the caller before the forward ("Connecting you now…") so they know they're being routed.
- 7
Save. The next inbound call evaluates the rules.
- 8
On Team plans, admins can configure department-level forwarding rules from the admin portal — the support team's overflow forwards to an external answering service, the sales department's main forwards to a colleague during the lead's absence.
Where call forwarding earns its keep.
Solo professional, vacation week
Unconditional forwarding to a colleague's number for the week. Greeting still plays ("Sarah is out this week — connecting you to Alex who's covering"). Returns to normal at the configured end date.
Conditional — busy line
Configured: "Forward to my office manager when I'm on another call." Active call rings through normally; if a second call comes in while busy, it forwards instead of going to voicemail. Useful for solo realtors who can't miss a lead.
After-hours forward to answering service
Conditional: outside working hours, forward to a 24/7 answering-service number that takes messages and pages out for true emergencies. Replaces standard voicemail with a human-staffed alternative for high-stakes practices.
VIP forward for specific clients
Conditional: "Forward calls from my top 5 clients to my personal cell at all times." Other callers ring normally during work hours, voicemail outside. VIP clients always reach a real person regardless of schedule.
Department-level overflow on Team
Support hunt group catcher: "When all 4 support agents are busy, forward to an external 24/7 support service." Configured by admin in the portal; activates automatically when the team is at capacity.
The same feature.A real cellular line.
Call forwarding is a basic UCaaS feature. Differences are in configuration surface, condition richness, and what happens to the call on the receiving end.
- Configure from the Kelir mobile app — change forwarding when you're walking out the door, no laptop required.
- External destinations (non-Kelir numbers) are first-class. Most softphone UCaaS treats external forwarding as a basic carrier-level feature; Kelir treats it the same as in-network forwarding.
- Conditional rules layer cleanly with working-hours and DND — the routing engine evaluates them in order, predictable behavior.
- Caller-specific forwarding (forward calls from specific contacts) gives the VIP-allow-list pattern without DND-based hacks.
- Forwarded calls leave the Kelir cellular line and ring on the downstream number's actual delivery — if you forward to a personal cell, it rings on cellular too; if you forward to a softphone UCaaS line, it rings there with that vendor's behavior.
- Per-department forwarding rules on Team plans — overflow handling without piling everything on individual users.
Common questions
Yes — any number with a country code. Forwarded calls follow Kelir's standard outbound rate to that country (international rates published in the pricing FAQ). Useful for users traveling overseas or for businesses with international fallbacks.
By default, the forwarded call takes on the destination's behavior — if your personal cell goes to voicemail, the forwarded call goes to your personal voicemail. Optionally, configure a fallback: "if forward fails, route back to Kelir voicemail." Useful for keeping voicemails in one place.
The caller still sees your Kelir number on their inbound — the forward happens after the call is established with Kelir. The destination sees your Kelir number too (so they know who's forwarding). Useful for keeping caller-context clear: a colleague who answers a forwarded call sees "Kelir line: Sarah's business" on their dialer.
Yes. Conditional forwarding supports caller-specific rules — forward calls from a list of contacts (or all calls except a list) to a specific destination. Useful for VIP allow-lists where critical clients should always reach a real person.
On Team plans, hunt groups have their own routing — sequential cascade, simultaneous, round-robin. A user inside a hunt group with personal forwarding configured: when the hunt group rings them and the call would forward to an external number, the cascade typically skips them and proceeds to the next member. Configured per group and per user.
Yes — the unconditional voicemail forward sends every inbound straight to your Kelir voicemail without ringing the line. Useful when you want messages but don't want the audible ring. Pairs well with custom voicemail greetings explaining when you'll return calls.