Cox How to Forward Calls: Easy Setup Guide (2026)

By SalesCaptain Team · Updated September 2, 2026

You’re searching “cox how to forward calls” because you’re facing a real problem: calls land on one line, but they need to reach someone else. Another person. Another device. Another location. Maybe you’re heading out early. Maybe your receptionist called in sick. Maybe you just need coverage after hours. Whatever the reason, getting call forwarding right on your Cox Business phone system can mean the difference between landing a customer and losing them to voicemail. Sound familiar?

Cox call forwarding reroutes incoming calls from your business number to another phone—cell, home, office, or answering service—without the caller knowing. Set it up through your Cox Business voice service to ensure calls reach you or your team, regardless of location or time of day.

What Is Call Forwarding on Cox Business?

Call forwarding reroutes incoming calls from one number to another. Simple as that. On Cox Business phone lines, it lets you send calls to a cell phone, a second office line, a home number, or even an answering service. The caller dials your main business number and has no idea the call got redirected behind the scenes.

Cox offers this through their voice service packages. The setup process varies depending on whether you’re using a traditional Cox Business VoIP line or a digital phone through their residential service. You need to know which one you’ve got before you start dialing feature codes—the steps differ. Most small businesses on Cox run their VoIP product, so that’s where we’ll focus.

How to Forward Calls on Cox Business Phone Systems

The most common method uses star codes dialed straight from your Cox phone handset. No online portal. No app to download. Here’s how it works.

Activating Call Forwarding

• Pick up your Cox phone handset and listen for a dial tone.
• Dial *72 followed immediately by the 10-digit number you want calls forwarded to. For example, *72-555-867-5309.
• Wait for a confirmation tone or for the forwarded number to ring. If someone answers at the destination number, the feature is now active. If nobody answers, hang up and repeat the process. Some Cox lines require two attempts before the feature locks in.
• Hang up. All incoming calls to your Cox line will now route to the number you entered.

Deactivating Call Forwarding

• Pick up your handset and listen for a dial tone.
• Dial *73 and wait for a confirmation tone (usually a stutter tone or two short beeps).
• Hang up. Calls will now ring your Cox phone normally again.

Here’s the catch: while call forwarding is active, your Cox phone won’t ring at all. Every single call goes straight to the forwarded number. That works great if you’re truly away from the office. But it creates a blind spot if you’re still there and want calls to try your desk first.

Other Forwarding Options Cox May Offer

Depending on your Cox Business plan and what features you’ve got provisioned, you might also have access to these options:

• Call Forwarding Busy (*90 to activate, *91 to deactivate): Only forwards calls when your line is already in use.
• Call Forwarding No Answer (*92 to activate, *93 to deactivate): Forwards calls only after a set number of rings go unanswered. This is more practical for most businesses because it lets the phone ring at your desk first.
• Selective Call Forwarding: Routes only certain callers to another number. Not all Cox plans include this, so you’d need to check with your account rep.

If these star codes don’t work on your line, contact Cox Business support. Some accounts need features enabled at the provisioning level before star codes respond.

Why Call Forwarding Alone Falls Short for Most Businesses

Here’s where it gets real. Call forwarding solves one narrow problem: routing a call from Point A to Point B. But for service businesses handling dozens of calls a day? It creates new headaches almost as fast as it solves old ones.

First, basic call forwarding is binary. On or off. There’s no intelligence behind it. You can’t set rules like “forward after 5 PM” or “only forward if it’s a new lead.” Every call gets the same treatment. Spam robocalls land on your personal cell right alongside high-value customer inquiries. What does that look like in practice? Wasted time sorting through noise.

Second, whoever answers the forwarded call has no context. They don’t know the caller’s history. They don’t know if they’ve called before. They don’t know what service they need. Research on the cost of missed calls for SMBs shows that even when calls are answered, a poor experience can cost you the customer just as easily as a missed call would.

Third, there’s no fallback if the forwarded number also goes unanswered. The call drops into voicemail. And that’s it. Data from the SBA’s small business profiles makes clear how thin-staffed most small businesses actually are. You probably don’t have someone monitoring voicemail in real time.

The Bigger Picture for Service Businesses

If you’re a plumber, a dental practice, or a landscaping company, call forwarding is just a bandage. On a structural problem. What you actually need is a system that answers every call, qualifies the caller, books appointments when appropriate, and texts back when you can’t pick up. Basic star-code forwarding on Cox wasn’t built for that. It was built for an older era.

Best Practices for Managing Call Forwarding

If you’re using Cox’s call forwarding, use it strategically. A few ground rules will keep you from losing calls unnecessarily.

• Use “No Answer” forwarding instead of blanket forwarding. Dialing *92 lets your office phone ring first, giving on-site staff a chance to pick up before the call gets rerouted. That’s almost always better than *72.
• Set calendar reminders to deactivate forwarding. It’s surprisingly common for business owners to turn on forwarding for a weekend and forget to turn it off Monday morning. Calls end up going to a personal cell for days.
• Test it from another phone after activation. Don’t assume it’s working. Call your own business number from a cell phone and confirm the forward goes through.
• Keep a log of forwarding changes. If multiple people have access to the phone system, conflicting forwarding rules create chaos. One person activates it. Another deactivates it. Nobody knows where calls are actually landing.
• Pair forwarding with a text-back option. Even the best forwarding setup can’t guarantee every call gets answered. Having an automated text sent to callers ensures they hear from you quickly.

A Cox Business survey on small businesses and AI found growing interest in using technology to maintain staffing capacity without adding headcount. Call forwarding is the most basic version of that concept. But modern tools have moved far beyond it.

How SalesCaptain Helps

When star codes and basic forwarding aren’t enough, SalesCaptain picks up where Cox’s phone features leave off. Instead of just routing a call to another number and hoping someone answers, SalesCaptain’s AI Phone Agent answers the call itself. It sounds natural. Qualifies the caller. Answers FAQs specific to your business. Books appointments directly into your calendar.

For businesses already on Cox, SalesCaptain works alongside your existing number. You can forward your Cox line to SalesCaptain. The AI agent handles everything from there. That means after-hours calls, overflow during busy periods, and lunch-break coverage all get handled without hiring additional staff.

Beyond voice, SalesCaptain’s Unified Inbox pulls calls, texts, webchat, and social media messages into one view. Your team doesn’t toggle between platforms. Cox’s own research found that nearly two out of three small business employees believe AI can help increase or retain headcount. SalesCaptain is purpose-built for exactly that scenario, giving service businesses AI-powered communication without the complexity of enterprise platforms. The Call Flows feature replaces guesswork with a visual drag-and-drop builder: you design exactly how each call should be routed, when the AI agent should step in, and what happens if nobody’s available.

Key Takeaways

Forwarding calls on Cox Business is straightforward: *72 to activate, *73 to deactivate, with variations like *92 for no-answer forwarding. But knowing the star codes is only half the battle. For service businesses handling real volume, basic call forwarding leaves too many gaps. No caller context. No intelligent routing. No fallback when the forwarded number also goes unanswered.

The smartest approach pairs your Cox phone system with a tool that adds intelligence. AI-powered phone agents. Automated text-back. Unified communication platforms. These aren’t “nice to have” anymore for growing businesses. As recent coverage of AI answering services makes clear, this category is rapidly becoming standard for SMBs that can’t afford to miss calls. Whatever you do, don’t let a simple forwarding setup be the ceiling of your phone strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What star code do I dial to forward calls on Cox Business?

Dial *72 followed by the 10-digit destination number. Wait for a confirmation tone or for someone to answer at the destination. To turn it off, dial *73. If you only want calls forwarded when nobody answers your desk phone, use *92 instead.

Can I forward my Cox Business calls to a cell phone?

Yes. The destination number can be any phone that accepts incoming calls. Cell phones. Landlines. VoIP numbers. Just enter the full 10-digit number after the *72 code.

Why isn’t *72 working on my Cox phone?

Call forwarding may not be provisioned on your specific account or plan. Contact Cox Business support and ask them to confirm that the call forwarding feature is active on your line. Some plans require it to be explicitly enabled before star codes will respond.

Does Cox charge extra for call forwarding?

Call forwarding is typically included in Cox Business voice plans. But feature availability depends on your specific package. Check your service agreement or call Cox directly to verify whether it’s included at no extra charge or requires an add-on.

Can I set Cox call forwarding to only activate after business hours?

Cox’s basic star-code forwarding doesn’t support time-based rules. You’d need to manually activate it (*72) when you leave and deactivate it (*73) when you return. For automated time-based routing, you’d need a platform with a call flow builder that handles scheduling logic for you, like SalesCaptain’s visual drag-and-drop call flow tool.