Forward calls to a phone

Ring your own phone on every call to a Skysay number, with no AI agent and no AI charge.

A Skysay number can forward its calls to a phone you choose, such as an office line or a mobile, instead of answering with an AI agent. Every call to the number rings that phone. No AI agent joins the call, so there is no recording, transcript, summary or AI charge. Skysay charges the two carrier legs of the call and nothing else; on your own SIP trunk it charges a flat per-minute fee instead.

To send calls to your phone only when the AI agent cannot take them, use Phone backup instead. To bring calls from a number you already have to a Skysay AI line, see Keep your number.

A call to your Skysay number passes Skysay's checks, then Skysay dials your phone once: it rings for up to 30 seconds, shows your Skysay number, and the caller hears silence for about five seconds, then a ring every five seconds. Answered, the call connects for up to 30 minutes; busy, unanswered, hung up or refused, it ends with no retry or voicemail, and no AI joins it. Caller calls your Skysay number Skysay checks the forwarding rule, holds funds, checks your limits Your phone dialled once, rings ≤ 30 s shows your Skysay number caller hears a ring every 5 s Connected, up to 30 min a check refuses Not forwarded listed in Calls with its reason Busy, no answer or hang-up the call ends: no retry, no voicemail No AI joins a forwarded call: no recording, transcript or AI charge. Every call to a forwarding number rings your own phone once, with no AI agent. The caller's call is connected, and can be billed, from when your phone starts ringing.

Set it up in the workspace

  1. Open Numbers and select the number.
  2. Under When someone calls this number, choose Forward to a phone number.
  3. Enter the phone that should ring, starting with + and the country code, then select Save routing.

The phone must be:

  • In international format, such as +15550142.
  • Outside Skysay. A number on Skysay, in any workspace, cannot be a forwarding destination, and a number cannot forward to itself. To have another of your Skysay numbers' AI agents answer, route this number to that agent directly.
  • Not forwarding back to this number. For example, a business line that your provider already forwards to this Skysay number is refused, because the call would go round in a loop.

A destination that breaks one of these rules is refused when you save, and nothing changes: a number that is not in international format or is on Skysay with 400, a destination that would loop back with 409.

Set it up with the API

Use update_number_rules or PATCH /v1/phone-numbers/{number_id}/number-rules (numbers:write) with:

{
  "incoming": {
    "when_called": "forward_to_phone_number",
    "phone_number": "+15550142"
  }
}

Send phone_number every time you switch a number to forwarding. A rule keeps only the fields its current when_called action uses, so a number that forwarded before and has answered with an AI agent since has no saved phone to go back to: switching it to forward_to_phone_number without a phone_number is refused with 400, and nothing changes. While the rule is already forwarding, a request that leaves phone_number out keeps the saved one.

Read the saved rule back with get_number_rules (numbers:read). The generated API reference lists the exact fields. Saving the rule places no call and reserves no money.

What happens on a forwarded call

  1. Someone calls your Skysay number.
  2. Skysay checks the number's rule, your funds and your workspace's calling rules, and holds funds for the call (see Pricing).
  3. Skysay dials your phone once. Your phone shows your Skysay number as the caller, not the original caller's number. From this moment the caller's call is connected to Skysay. The caller hears silence for about the first five seconds, then a ring every five seconds until you answer or the call ends.
  4. If you answer, the two of you are connected until either side hangs up or the call reaches 30 minutes.

Your phone rings for at most about 30 seconds, counted from when the call arrived. If it is busy or nobody answers, the call ends: Skysay does not retry, try another number, play a message or take a voicemail.

In Calls

A forwarded call appears in Calls like any other incoming call, with no agent, recording or transcript. Its status says how it went:

StatusMeaning
CompletedYour phone answered and the call was connected.
No answerYour phone rang until the ringing time ran out.
BusyYour phone line was busy.
CanceledThe caller hung up while your phone was ringing.
FailedThe call could not be connected, or a check before dialing refused it.

A refused call, for example because your available funds cannot cover the hold, is listed with its reason; see Why calls fail.

Limits

  • 30 seconds of ringing at your phone, and 30 minutes of call.
  • One dial per call. There is no automatic second attempt.
  • Workspace limits still apply. A forwarded call counts toward your workspace's concurrent-call limit, and the call to your phone follows your workspace's outbound calling rules, such as its allowed destination countries.

Pricing

A forwarded call has two carrier legs, each billed by the started minute:

  • The incoming leg, the caller's call into your Skysay number, at that number's incoming-call price.
  • The forwarded leg, Skysay's call to your phone, at the outgoing price for that destination.

The incoming leg is billed from when Skysay starts ringing your phone, because the caller's call is connected at that moment. A call your phone does not answer is therefore billed one started minute of the incoming leg and nothing for the forwarded leg. The caller's own carrier also treats their call as answered from that moment, so it may bill the caller for the call even when your phone does not answer. There is no AI, voice or recording charge. Prices differ by number and destination, and the call's detail shows the price of each leg.

Before dialing, Skysay holds funds for both legs for the longest a forwarded call can run: 30 minutes plus ringing time and a short margin, shown on the call as 33 minutes for each leg. A hold sets money aside; it is not a charge. After the call ends, Skysay settles each leg from its own record and returns the unused part. If your available funds cannot cover the hold, the call is not forwarded.

On your own SIP trunk

A number that reaches Skysay over your own SIP trunk forwards through that trunk: the call to your phone leaves through your connection, presenting your number, and your carrier bills both legs. Skysay's carrier charge is zero, and the call costs the flat own-trunk fee of $0.05 per minute instead, in full minutes, counted from when the caller's call is connected. The fee is its own line on the call's charges. Before dialing, Skysay holds the fee for 33 minutes, the longest the call can run, and returns the unused part when the call ends. Because the caller's call is connected while your phone rings, a call your phone does not answer costs one minute of the fee.

The connection must be able to place outgoing calls: the number's ownership check must be confirmed and the connection must have its outgoing settings. Until then, saving the forwarding rule is refused with 400 and the connection's reason.

Phone backup

Connect callers to your own team phone when the AI cannot take the call, billed as carrier minutes with no AI charge.

Who speaks first

On outbound calls the agent lets the person say hello first, then replies. How long it waits, what it says first, and which calls this applies to.