Call forwarding

Every tracking number forwards incoming calls to an existing forwarding number (the phone line your team, voicemail, or answering service already answers). Never set a forwarding number to point back at another NMC tracking number.

NMC supports US and Canadian local and mobile forwarding numbers. Toll-free, premium-rate, and special-service numbers aren’t supported. Forwarding calls to Alaska (907) or northern Canada (867) carries a higher per-minute usage rate, which NMC displays next to the forwarding number before you save (caller area codes and tracking number area codes don’t change the per-minute rate).

Verify a forwarding number

1. While setting up a tracking source (or under Forwarding numbers), choose an existing verified number or add a new one.
2. In Verify a forwarding number, enter the phone number and an optional label (up to 120 characters) to help your team recognize it.
3. Under Send the code by, pick Text message or Phone call.
4. Enter the verification code you receive to finish verifying the number.
5. Select that verified forwarding number for your tracking source.

Verifying a forwarding number is free and doesn’t deduct from your balance (resend cooldowns and attempt limits apply across your account).

Note that NMC’s 14-day free trial is reserved for businesses new to NMC: if a phone number was previously verified on another NMC account, your plan starts without a free trial, and verifying a previously used phone during an active trial ends the trial immediately until your first plan payment. See Trial.

Once your tracking number is live, call it from a separate phone to confirm your team or answering service picks up as expected.

If the verification code doesn’t arrive

Double-check the digits you entered in the active verification prompt, and wait for the resend countdown before requesting a new code. If the code expires, start a fresh verification. For landlines or office systems that can’t receive texts, choose Phone call instead of Text message.

Change where calls forward

To route calls to a different phone line, verify the new forwarding number, select it inside the tracking source’s Settings card (Calls), choose Save, and place a test call. Repeat for any other tracking sources that should ring the new phone.

If a previously verified forwarding number later becomes unsupported, its name and digits stay visible while the tracking source’s Settings card explains why it can’t receive calls. Pick another supported forwarding number there and choose Save to resume call forwarding and text alerts (earlier calls and incoming texts remain in NMC).

If callers hear a busy signal despite a valid forwarding number, check your plan and balance.

Text alerts on forwarding numbers

Under Forwarding numbers, you can also turn on Text alerts for any forwarding number verified by text (off by default on new numbers). Each alert uses one text segment from NMC’s alerts number and includes the sender’s phone number, the start of their text, and a link to view the full message and attachments after signing in to NMC. Turning text alerts off stops notification texts to that phone while still recording all incoming customer texts in NMC. See stopping text alerts.

Remove a forwarding number

Under Forwarding numbers, open the number’s menu and choose Remove. A forwarding number can’t be removed while any active tracking source still routes calls to it; switch those tracking sources to another forwarding number first. If a removed tracking source still has numbers scheduled for release, calls keep forwarding to that phone until those numbers finish releasing, after which NMC detaches the forwarding number automatically.