Call Forwarding and Voicemail
Forward calls from your business number to a mobile or landline, set business hours and record your voicemail greeting
Call Forwarding and Voicemail
Your CoolEdge business number now answers calls, not just texts.
- Forward every call to up to five mobiles or landlines, forward only during business hours or send every call to voicemail
- Answer confirmation stops the forwarded phone's own voicemail stealing the message
- Type a greeting or upload your own recording
- Voicemails land in Messages with an AI summary and a full transcript
- Text a caller back automatically when you miss them and turn missed calls into leads
Your dedicated CoolEdge number used to be for SMS only. Now you decide what happens when someone rings it. Set it up in Settings → Phone Numbers.
What You Need
- A dedicated business number already set up. If you do not have one yet, see Registering Your SMS Number.
- Call routing switched on for your business. If it is not, the Phone Numbers page tells you so and there is nothing to configure yet.
- Owner or admin access. Team members do not see the page.
1. The Phone Numbers Page
Go to Settings → Phone Numbers, under CLIENT COMMUNICATION in the settings menu.
You get one card per active number showing:
- The number itself, formatted the way you would dial it
- What kind of number it is (Mobile, Local or Toll free)
- An SMS and calls chip when the number handles both
- Your label for the number, if you have set one
- A plain-English summary of what happens when it rings, for example Voicemail only or Forward to 0412 345 678, Mon to Fri 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (Sydney), voicemail outside those hours
Click Edit Routing to change any of it. The editor opens as Routing for your number and it only shows the sections that apply: the forwarding fields appear once you pick a forwarding mode and the business hours fields appear only for Forward during business hours.
Note: Numbers are provisioned for you. There is no Add Number button on this page. If you need another number, contact support.
2. Labelling the Number
The first field in the routing editor is Where is this number used?
Give the number a short label such as Google Ads, Website or Van signage, up to 40 characters. The label shows on Call History and on any lead created from a missed call, so you can see which number brings the work in.
Leave it blank if you only have one number.
Lead channel
Under the label is Lead channel. Pick the channel this number belongs to and every lead created from a missed call to it is saved with that channel, so the calls show up beside your other channels in your lead reports instead of all landing in Direct.
The list is the same one you use when you add a lead by hand. Change it under Settings → Leads.
Leave it on No channel if you are not sure. A number with no channel shows as Direct in lead reports.
Leads you already have keep the channel they were saved with. Setting or changing a channel here only affects leads created from that point on.
3. Choosing What Happens When Someone Calls
Three modes, one at a time:
| Mode | What callers get |
|---|---|
| Voicemail only | Every call goes straight to your voicemail greeting. |
| Always forward | Your numbers ring every time, with voicemail as the fallback. |
| Forward during business hours | Your numbers ring in the hours you set, voicemail outside them. |
Pick either forwarding mode and CoolEdge shows you the cost of forwarding right there, based on your current plan and add-on settings. See Voice Minutes and Billing for the full picture.
Forward calls to
Enter up to five numbers to ring. Each must be an Australian mobile or landline. When a call comes in, every number rings at the same time and the first to answer takes the call. Use Add another number to add a row and the cross beside a row to remove it.
Ring for
How many seconds to ring your numbers before the caller is sent to voicemail. Anything from 5 to 60 seconds. Twenty seconds suits most businesses.
Answer confirmation
Leave this on. It is on by default and it exists to solve one specific problem.
When a call is forwarded, the forwarded phone rings. If you do not pick up, that phone's own carrier voicemail eventually answers. As far as the phone network is concerned, that counts as answered, so the caller ends up leaving a message on your personal voicemail. You never see it in CoolEdge and the minutes are still billed.
With answer confirmation on, whoever answers presses any key to take the call. A carrier voicemail cannot press a key, so that call comes back to your CoolEdge business voicemail instead and you get the message, the summary and the transcript like any other.
If you do switch it off, keep Ring for short. The editor warns you when the ring time is over 20 seconds with answer confirmation off, because a long ring is exactly what gives the forwarded phone's voicemail time to answer first.
4. Business Hours
These fields apply when the mode is Forward during business hours.
- Start and end time. Prefilled from your business hours and the editor says so. Change them here and they apply to this number only, not to the rest of CoolEdge.
- Days. Tick the days calls should be forwarded. Monday to Friday by default.
- Timezone. Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Canberra share one option. Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth have their own.
Outside those hours and days, callers hear your voicemail greeting.
Hours cannot cross midnight and the end time has to be after the start time.
5. Your Voicemail Greeting
Two ways to do it. Choose Type text or Upload recording.
Type text
Write up to 500 characters. Callers hear it read out before the beep. Keep it short and say what you want them to leave, for example the job address and the best number to call back on.
Upload recording
Upload your own mp3 or wav, up to 5 MB. Once it uploads you get a player right there so you can check it before you save. That preview plays exactly what callers will hear.
Keep the typed greeting filled in even when you upload a recording. It is what callers hear whenever no recording is set. It does not take over on its own if a recording stops playing, so if that happens switch the greeting back to Type text in the editor.
Transcribe voicemails
On by default. Every voicemail gets an AI summary and a full transcript in Messages, so you can read a message in a couple of seconds instead of playing it. Switch it off if you would rather only have the recording.
Maximum message length
How long a caller can talk for, from 30 to 300 seconds. Two minutes is the default.
6. Missed Calls
Text back after a missed call
Switch this on and CoolEdge sends one SMS from your business number when a call is not answered. You write the message.
Things worth knowing:
- SMS credits depend on the length of the message, the same as any other message you send. The editor shows a live estimate under the template as you type.
- It only goes to mobiles. Callers from landlines and private numbers are not texted.
- It is one message per missed call, not a conversation starter that keeps going.
- The message is the same whether or not the caller left a voicemail, so write it to work either way. Something like Thanks for calling, sorry we could not pick up. Reply here and we will get back to you shortly. Do not promise the caller you have listened to their message.
If your SMS credits run out, whether this text still sends depends on your SMS overage setting, not your voice settings. The two are separate. See Voice Minutes and Billing.
Create leads from missed calls
Switch this on and a missed call from a number you do not have on file is added to your Leads pipeline automatically, tagged with the number's label. A repeat caller is linked to the lead they already have rather than creating a second one.
7. Where Voicemails Turn Up
A voicemail becomes a message like any other:
- In the portal, in your Messages inbox, with the recording, the AI summary and the transcript
- In the CoolEdge app, in Messages, with a Play button, the summary and the transcript
- In Call History, where you can expand the row and listen without leaving the report. See Call History.
Push notifications for voicemails go to owner and admin phones. Team members do not get the push, but they still see every voicemail in Messages.
8. Saving Your Changes
Click Save routing in the editor. If you are uploading a recording, wait for the upload to finish first. Save routing stays disabled until it does, so the correct file is the one that gets saved.
Common messages when a save is refused:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Forwarding numbers must be Australian numbers | Only Australian mobiles and landlines can be forwarded to. |
| Add a number to forward calls to | A forwarding mode needs at least one number. |
| Set the hours calls should be forwarded | Business hours mode needs a start and an end time. |
| Business hours must end after they start and cannot cross midnight | Split an overnight window or use Always forward. |
| Pick at least one day | Business hours mode needs at least one day ticked. |
| Enter a greeting | The typed greeting cannot be empty, even when you upload a recording. |
| Upload a recording or switch the greeting back to text | You chose Upload recording but no file has been uploaded yet. |
| Keep the label to 40 characters | Shorten the label. |
9. Troubleshooting
Calls are going to voicemail when they should be forwarding
Check three things in order:
- The mode. Voicemail only does exactly what it says.
- The hours. In business hours mode, a call outside the window or on an unticked day goes to voicemail by design.
- Your billing. If the voice add-on is off and voice overage is off, calls are never forwarded. See Voice Minutes and Billing.
The caller left a message on my personal voicemail
Answer confirmation is off. Switch it back on in the routing editor and shorten Ring for while you are there.
My uploaded greeting does not play
Play it in the preview player in the editor. If it does not play there it will not play for callers either. Switch the greeting back to Type text while you sort it out, so callers hear your typed greeting rather than a recording that will not play. Then re-export it as a standard mp3 or wav under 5 MB and upload it again.
No transcript on a voicemail
A transcript takes a moment to arrive, so a brand-new voicemail can show Transcription pending. If it says Transcription unavailable, the audio could not be transcribed, usually because it is very short or very noisy. The recording itself is always there.
The number is not listed on the Phone Numbers page
Only active numbers are listed. If you have not finished SMS registration yet, complete that first: Registering Your SMS Number.
Next Steps: See every call in Call History or check what forwarding costs in Voice Minutes and Billing
Need help? Email us at support@cooledge.com.au
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