How can I forward calls to an external number from Zendesk Talk?

Question

I want to transition traffic from my Zendesk Talk number to a new phone number. How can I forward calls to an external number from Zendesk Talk?

Answer

To forward calls made to a phone number in Talk, use a combination of group routing and call overflow:

Create a new group. The group needs to be empty, so don't assign any agents to this group.

Tip: Use a descriptive name for this group, so you can easily identify it in your settings later on.

Route calls to the group you created before, and select the option Always route calls.

Tip: If you don't see the new group, reload the Talk settings page.

Disable voicemail for your Talk phone number.

Enable overflow calls, and insert the phone number where you wish to route calls to. It cannot be a number in Talk.

Note: A toll-free number cannot forward calls to an external number. To learn more check this article: Can I forward calls from my current toll-free number to my Talk toll-free number?

Note: If your account has omnichannel routing enabled, every incoming call assigned to the group you created in step 1 will generate a new open ticket, even if you forward the call to an external number. To automatically close these tickets, you can set up a trigger to set them as solved.