Call Forwarding to Answer Service - External Contact External Number Promblem

[FJC1]

Hi Everyone

I am trying to set up call forwarding to my answering service AnswerConnect to an External Number +1866414****

I went to https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360021325712-Changing-phone-settings-web-portal-   and scrolled to How to forward to an external phone number and the answer was not helpful because my Setting will not allow me to Add an External Phone number. See no. 1 attached.

So, I entered AnswerConnect to an as an External Contact using  +1866414****. See no. 2 attached.

Then, I attempted to edit Call Handling using AnswerConnect as the External Contact and when I pressed enter, I get an error message of “International Calling Policy for current extension does not permit routing to the selected country.”  See no. 3 attached.  This makes no sense because the External Contact is entered as a US number (+1) and my calling plan is a US plan.

I need this problem solved so that I can forward all my calls automatically to my answering service.

FJC

[sachinzoom]

hello there,

Two things:

1.  Make sure the user you are forwarding from has a DID assigned. I am assuming it is.

2. Under Account management -> Billing -> Zoom phone, go to View/Edit Countries and enable the countries and this includes US.  Something like shown in screenshot below

If this response helps, please accept the answer as an accepted solution, so others can benefit as well.

[FJC1]

Thank you for the feed back.  I am  assuming the the user has a DID assigned and I am double checking.

In the meantime, I checking under account management.  All countries are selected including the US.  Still doesn't work.  Still getting the error message of “International Calling Policy for current extension does not permit routing to the selected country.”

If you have other suggestions that would be appreciated.

FJC

[sachinzoom]

Please let me know if the user has the DID assigned.

Second, is Can you turn on International calling for this user ?

If this response helps, please accept the answer as an accepted solution, so others can benefit as well.

[FJC1]

There is no place in the External Contact to turn on international calling for the user.  See no. 4 attached.

I have entered +1 because my number with Zoom is a US number and the user I want to forward my calls to (my answering service), is a US number.   I don't want my calls forwarding internationally because I don't want to pay international rates. 

Any other ideas?

[sachinzoom]

Try this workaround 

Go to Account management -> Billing -> Phone -> View/ Edit countries

Deselect United States and then select it again, Save

Wait for a few minutes and then try forwarding again. 

On a side note, to enable International calling you need to enable at user's policy level ( if you are an admin. First try the workaround I mentioned above, which basically does a resync of your account and may fix the issue.

Background: This was an issue in the past. If this workaround does not help and if you dont want to enable International calling ( which will not charge you for international calling since you are forwarding to a US number ), then you will need to open a support ticket so the issue can be resolved.

If this response helps, please accept the answer as an accepted solution, so others can benefit as well.

[FJC1]

I just confirmed the user has DID assigned.   So, that's not a problem.

[FJC1]

Hi. The work around didn't work.   I have a ticket.   Thanks for trying.

[sachinzoom]

Thats good. Meanwhile, You can intermittently enable International calling as a workaround for the user, which will allow you to add the toll free number as an external contact, if the ask is urgent

[enielsen]

1 - just to be clear - are you located in the US?

2- if the number used is not a toll-free number, does the behaviour change?

3 - can the user manually call the number from their zoom app/phone? If not, perhaps something not set correctly at the site or group level - not just the account level...

[FJC1]

1. Yes. I am located in the US in Woodland, California

2.  I tried using a user number that is not a toll free number.   No change.  Problem persists.

3.  I tried calling the 866 number for my answering service as well as multiple non800 numbers from my Zoom app.  No calls work.  I get this message " Sorry the requested service is not available in your calling plan."

One problem that occurs to me is that my number that I plan to use for my Zoom account has not been ported over yet from my existing carrier (Astound) to Zoom.   

I have a Zoom Basic Account and I have activated it.  I am waiting to for the Zoom porting team to contact me.

However, I am very concerned about porting over if the call forwarding won't work once ported.

[sachinzoom]

Hi Thats explains it. You will not be able to make outbound calls until porting happens. Hope you have submitted for porting ? 

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360021333732-Requesting-a-number-port-for-US-Canada-or-Pue...

Meanwhile, While you are waiting for porting, you can procure a Zoom based number and perform outbound testing as well

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360020808292-Managing-phone-numbers#h_007ec8c2-0914-4265-8...

Once porting happens, you can delete this number. You will need a phone number license though.

However, The issue you are facing, as long as you have a license, you should be able to pre configure the forwarding. The support ticket should fix that for your account.

[FJC1]

Yes. I have made the request to port.  I am scheduled for a porting appointment on February 9th.

Hopefully, the ticket will help me set up things ahead of the porting appointment. 

[enielsen]

Can you get a temporary number from Zoom to use for testing?

[FJC1]

Good idea.  I will ask when they respond to my ticket. 

[sachinzoom]

hello, You can procure a temp number yourself. See the link in my post above

[FJC1]

Thanks Sachin.  I tried procuring a temp number and it said my license didn't allow it.  Is there a way to have a temp number at minimal cost that I can later discontinue once I do the necessary testing?

[sachinzoom]

Hi,

You can procure an “Additional phone number” from the zoom phone pricing link and assign it to the user.

[sachinzoom]

https://zoom.us/pricing/zoom-phone

[FJC1 · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone.  A test number at $120 to $180 is not an option.  Fortunately, Kyle at customer help provided me with info that eventually solved the problem. See request (#16488051) .  One barrier to setting up call forwarding is that it cannot be done until your phone number ports over.  The second barrier is that your phone number will not work once ported until you assign the number in the system.  I have attached the instructions for Assigning a number.   Zoom needs to seriously improve onboarding for Zoom phone and communication during the porting process.  I spent 2 hours (probably more) figuring out the conversion and call forwarding. F