Conditional Vs Unconditional Call Forwarding – Purpose and Benefits

You may have often heard about ‘call forwarding’, but have you ever wondered what it means and how it helps you? Let’s delve deep into this concept and find out! Whether you are a professional or an entrepreneur, call forwarding can change the course of your communication with your clients or family members.

We’ve tried to unveil answers to various doubts and questions about conditional vs unconditional call forwarding in the simplest manner! So, here you go.

What Does Call Forwarding Means?

Call forwarding is a unique feature in your phone that allows you to forward your incoming calls to an alternate phone number within a snap of a finger! When you choose this feature, your phone will not ring instead, the call will straightaway go to the number you choose for call forwarding. This proves beneficial as you will be able to attend all work calls even if you are out of the office or in a low-network area. Also, if you are on vacation with your family, your work will not suffer as you can forward work-related calls to someone else.

Call forwarding increases human interaction as you can avoid answering machines and forward the call to someone who can resolve your queries or communicate with you in detail. Also, immediate availability and quick response would strengthen your customer relationship without losing money on important projects. It also helps multitasking and allows you to manage different offices simultaneously without feeling overwhelmed!

Let’s understand more about different types of call forwarding.

Unconditional Call Forwarding

Unconditional Call Forwarding (UCF) is a simple way to automatically forward all your incoming calls to an alternate number without ringing on your phone. Call Forwarding Unconditional means whether your phone is busy, switched off, or out of the network area, your call will be forwarded to the other number. At times, when you are not fully available, the unconditional call-forwarding feature is the best option. However, some service providers may charge additional for this feature, depending on your plan.

Conditional Call Forwarding

Unlike unconditional call forwarding, the conditional call forwarding feature redirects your calls to the alternate number when you set up certain conditions or criteria. For instance,

• If your phone is busy, the call can be forwarded to another number.
• If your phone went unanswered, the conditional call forwarding within a specific time or a certain number of rings, the call will be redirected.
• If your phone is unreachable, out of coverage area, or switched off, the call will be forwarded.
• If your phone goes unanswered, your call would be forwarded to the alternate number instead of a voicemail.

Purpose of Call Forwarding

Call forwarding is an excellent feature for people multitasking or those on a break who don’t want to miss out on a potential opportunity. To make it clear, here are different reasons for call forwarding-

• High Availability: The purpose of call forwarding is to remain available even if you are busy doing other tasks so that you can manage your time without letting go of any important calls. High availability increases your chances of maintaining great personal and professional relationships.
• Human Interaction: The feature of call forwarding allows you to have a higher scope of human interaction as voice mail is replaced by a real human who can interact with you and can attend to and resolve your queries.
• Better Network: In case you are out of the network area, it is difficult to have a seamless conversation. Hence, you can divert your call to the other number, which might offer good coverage so that the work doesn’t hamper even if you are unavailable.
• Multitasking: This feature is a boon for people involved in many tasks and would like to ensure no call goes unattended or gets missed.

Setting Up Call Forwarding

It is easy to set up call forwarding on both Android and IOS. However, you must follow simple steps to activate conditioned and unconditioned call forwarding.

On iOS

To set up Apple unconditional call forwarding on your iPhone, follow these simple steps and forward your calls.

Go to your iPhone’s ‘Settings’.

Select ‘Phone’.

Tap ‘Call Forwarding’.

Now choose ‘Forward to’ and mention the number that you would want all your calls to be forwarded.

Once call forwarding is selected, an icon representing the same will be flashed on the bar. However, before choosing call forwarding on your iPhone, ensure that you don’t forward calls to a busy number. Inquire whether the service provider charges for every forwarded call or not.

You can disable call forwarding any time you want by simply choosing the ‘disable forwarding option’. You can do this by navigating to –

Settings > Phone > Call Forwarding (Disable Forwarding) and clearly entered the number.

On Android

Android unconditional call forwarding is easy.

Go to your ‘Phone’ and choose the ‘three-dot menu’.

Select ‘Settings’.

Choose ‘Calling Accounts’.

Tap on your SIM and select ‘Call Forwarding’.

Here, you will see multiple options, which allow you to choose the one that suits your requirements. This Android conditional call forwarding is applicable if you choose one or more options from the following –

Always forward: This is Android unconditional call forwarding, which means that you would always like the call to be forwarded.

When Busy: The call is forwarded to the alternate number only when the line is busy. By choosing the option, you can ensure that no call is missed, even if your line is busy.

When unanswered: If the call is unanswered, they will automatically get redirected to the other number.

Once you choose any of these options, you can go ahead and mention the forwarding number.

Tap ‘Enable’ and ‘Turn On’.

Difference Between Conditional and Unconditional Call Forwarding

Although the purpose of call forwarding is the same whether it is unconditional or conditional, there is a slight difference between them.

Source: Krispcall

Factors to Consider When Choosing Between Conditional Vs Unconditional Call Forwarding

Call forwarding is a smart choice if you want to remain available even while managing other chores. However, if you have to choose between conditional and unconditional call forwarding, answer specific questions before moving ahead-

Do you want to forward your call directly to a different number?

Or do you want the enable call forwarding only when the phone is busy, unanswered, or inaccessible?

Do you want to take a break without missing any important calls?

The answer to these questions would make it clear about your choice so that you can make the best use of this feature in your Android or iPhone.

Benefits of Call Forwarding

There are immense benefits of call forwarding. To make it clear, here are a few of them-

Improved Productivity

If you are a workaholic and want to keep your game on top, it is important not to miss even a single call from your client. The option of call forwarding would allow you to stay in touch with your clients even if you are on the move!

Greater Flexibility

By opting for unconditional or conditional call forwarding, you can enjoy and balance work and professional life. There is greater flexibility that helps you manage both without any issues.

Improve Credibility

If you are in a profession that requires you to be in touch with your clients, call forwarding is a practical solution. You cannot only cater to their need by clarifying their doubts whenever they are stuck without compromising your personal time. By forwarding their call, you can make sure that they are well attended by a reliable professional.

High Availability

Whether you are working from home or travelling across the globe, call forwarding allows you to complete your work commitments by ensuring that someone is always available for your clients, even if you are not there personally.

Problems with Call Forwarding

Despite having immense benefits, call forwarding can cause some problems if not used properly.

Missing Calls on Landline Numbers

If you use your landline number for all business calls, it might be difficult for you to redirect the calls to a mobile phone number. For this, you have to contact your network provider and confirm whether they redirect calls or not!

Lack of Knowledge About the Rules

Before enabling the call forwarding option on your phone, make sure that you are well aware of the charges, rules, and regulations about this service offered by your network provider.

Not Giving Importance to Call Recordings

If you have a business pertaining to customer service, every call and feedback matters. Hence, if you forget to enable the call recording option, you will miss out on important information on your client’s issues. Therefore, it would be challenging to tackle the issue or devise measures that eliminate the problem. Therefore, don’t forget to go back to your call recordings.

Conclusion

Call forwarding is an important feature that allows you to stay at the top of the game without missing even a single opportunity to interact with your clients. However, it is imperative to have complete knowledge about the feature can make the most of it! There are two different types of call forwarding, i.e., conditional call forwarding and unconditional call forwarding. Make sure that understand the same well about the same and know when to use each one of them to enhance productivity and credibility and be available to your clients all the time without putting the burden on yourself.

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