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Best practices for forwarding VO calls during emergencies

Updated: 08/15/2025

Objective

To be able to easily forward calls to external / 3rd party destinations in times of emergency.

Applies To

  • 8x8 Work / Virtual Office
  • Admin Console
  • Auto Attendants
  • Ring Groups
  • Call Queues

Procedure

The most common places to configure either a fail over rule or an easy way to enable call forwarding are within the Auto Attendant, Ring Groups, and Call Queues located within the Admin Console. Below are recommendations on how to configure each of these. 
 
Configuring call forwarding for a Ring Group Opt. 1
  1. Select the Ring Group of your choice
  2. Click the 'edit' icon (pencil) next to this ring group
  3. Under the 'Call Forwarding' options, configure the option 'when internet option is down' is configured to forward out to an external DID. 
Configuring call forwarding for a Ring Group Opt. 2
  1. Select the Ring Group of your choice
  2. Click the 'edit' icon (pencil) next to this ring group
  3. Under the 'Call Forwarding' options, enable and configure the option 'Forward all calls' is configured to forward out to an external DID. 
 
Configuring call forwarding for a Call Queue Opt. 1
  1. Select the Call Queue of your choice
  2. Click the 'edit' icon (pencil) next to this ring group
  3. Under the 'Call Forwarding' options, configure the option 'when internet option is down' is configured to forward out to an external DID. 
Configuring call forwarding for a Call Queue Opt. 2
  1. Select the Call Queue of your choice
  2. Click the 'edit' icon (pencil) next to this ring group
  3. Under the 'Call Forwarding' options, enable and configure the option 'Forward all calls' is configured to forward out to an external DID. 
 
Auto Attendant - Alternative menue set to forward call calls. 
  • Utilizing the steps below, you will configure an alternative menu within your Auto Attendant and set all calls to automatically forward to your desired external DID: 
  1. Click Auto Attendants.
  2. Click Edit (pencil icon) to the right of the Auto Attendant you wish to edit.
  3. Under Details, toggle Apply Alternate Menu ON. 
  4. Go to Call Handling Menus.
  5. Select Alternate > Alternate hours menu to begin setting up your Alternate Menu options.
  6. Under Main Menu select edit settings
  7. Set the following:
    1. Allow callser to dial an extension at any point - disabled
    2. Number of seconds the system should wait before taking next action - 1
    3. If user inputs no key, replay menu - 0
    4. And then - Route call to
    5. Target - Enter your 3rd party external DID using the format of +1xxxxxxxxxx (ext. +15555555555)

Additional Information 

You can find additional KB's to assist with your configuration here:
 
  • Configuring call forwarding in a Ring Group or Auto Attendant:
    • https://support-portal.8x8.com/helpcenter/viewArticle.html?d=9aaad2c3-4d22-4722-a839-854703e8e253&q=Ring%20group&hl=en&c=1_40_42_49_139_266_
 
  • Configuring Alternative AA  options:
    • https://support-portal.8x8.com/helpcenter/viewArticle.html?d=3a613d74-33cd-4799-953d-9dbb49ec97b6