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How do I send missed Grasshopper calls to an answering line?

Grasshopper is a virtual number: every call to an extension is forwarded to the numbers you list, and if nobody answers within the ring time, the call goes to Grasshopper voicemail or the next number. To send missed calls to an answering line, add it as a forwarding number after your own phone, ringing “In order, just once”.

Ring time is set per forwarding number, 25 seconds by default (the lowest Grasshopper recommends). Grasshopper’s Call Announce plays a prompt before connecting, which an automated answering line may not get past, and the pages read on 31 Oct 2026 do not say whether forwarded calls use minutes. Never forward to the Grasshopper number itself: it loops.

Updated Oct 31, 2026

How it works

  1. Add the answering line as a forwarding number

    Current Admin Portal: Call management, Extensions, edit icon, Call forwarding numbers, Add call forwarding. Enter the number in “Forward incoming calls to”, set Status to Active, and choose the Working hours and Call handling. Legacy portal: Extensions, Edit, Add a forwarding number, choose how Grasshopper handles calls, set the schedule, Add this number.

  2. Ring your phone first

    With several numbers, choose “In order, just once”, with your own phone ahead of the answering line. The other options are “Indefinitely, until someone picks up” and “Simultaneously” (which needs call blasting and would ring the answering line at the same time).

  3. Set the ring time

    Extensions, edit, then edit next to each forwarding number, Ring duration, Save (legacy portal: “Ring for”). The default is 25 seconds; above 50 seconds, voicemails land in your personal voicemail.

  4. Mind Call Announce and your own voicemail

    With direct connect, unanswered calls go to your personal phone’s voicemail, not Grasshopper’s, so your cell’s voicemail can take the call before it moves on. Call Announce or asking the caller’s name keeps calls in Grasshopper, but Call Announce plays a prompt the answering line may not handle. Test both ways.

  5. Test it before you rely on it

    Call your business number from another phone and let it ring without answering. The call should reach the answering line after the ring time. If you set busy forwarding, call again while the line is in use, and if you set unreachable, try once with the phone switched off.

What it costs to run

Grasshopper’s pages read on 31 Oct 2026 do not say whether forwarded calls use minutes. Forwarding to international, offshore, Alaska or Hawaii numbers needs international calling switched on (it is off by default); those fees are in a separate article we did not read.

When it is not worth it

  • If your forwarding hours and office hours leave a gap, calls in the gap go to voicemail; line them up before relying on forwarding.
  • On the True Solo plan, an extension takes 1 forwarding number, so there is no room for your phone and the answering line in order; other accounts allow up to 15.

Questions

How do I turn forwarding off?

Set the forwarding number to Off or remove it. With no forwarding number active, calls go straight to voicemail.

How long should it ring with Call Announce on?

Grasshopper’s pages differ: the ring-time article says 30 to 35 seconds, the forwarding article says 30 to 40.

Can I forward to my Grasshopper number?

No. Never forward to the Grasshopper number itself: the call loops.

Sources

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