Missed-call text-back does one thing: when you cannot pick up, the caller hears you are on the tools and gets a text from you within seconds, and you get their number. The only part you do yourself is telling your carrier where to send the calls you miss. That is three short codes, keyed into your phone like a phone number. This guide walks through them, explains the one setting most people get wrong, and ends with the test that proves it works.
You will need your BizEdge number. It is shown in big type on your setup page once you have signed up, with a copy button next to each code below already filled in.
Step 1: the three codes
Key each one into the phone app, exactly as written, and press call. Your phone shows a short confirmation for each. Do this once, on the mobile your customers ring.
- When you don't pick up (this is the one that matters):
**61*<your BizEdge number>**10# - When you're already on a call:
**67*<your BizEdge number># - When your phone is off or out of range:
**62*<your BizEdge number>#
Write the number without spaces and with the leading zero, the way you would dial it. To check the first one took, dial *#61#: your phone should say "forwards to" your BizEdge number, with the 10-second delay.
Step 2: understand the 10 seconds
The 10 in the first code is the ring delay in seconds, and it is 10 on purpose. Carrier voicemail answers an unanswered call after a set time, usually 15 seconds by default, and a divert only catches the call if it fires before that. We tested this on a real Telstra mobile, twelve calls in a row: a 5 or 10-second delay sends the call to BizEdge and the caller has a text within two seconds; 15 ties with voicemail and loses; 20 and 25 lose every time. Optus and Vodafone publish similar defaults; we have not measured them yet, so if 10 does not work on your line, tell us at hello@bizedge.com.au and we will work through it with you.
One thing nobody tells you: your carrier treats a diverted call like a call you made to an Australian mobile. On most plans with unlimited national calls it costs nothing extra. On prepaid or a work account, check your plan, and keep credit on the service, because if it runs out the divert stops and calls go back to voicemail.
Ten seconds is about seven seconds of audible ringing, because the first few are the network connecting. If that is too short for how you work, you can have a longer ring, but only with voicemail switched off first. Two things before you do: with voicemail off, nobody can leave you a message, family included; and on a work phone, check with whoever manages the account before changing it.
- Telstra: on an Upfront plan, open the My Telstra app, choose your service, then Manage your MessageBank, and turn it off. Other plans: ask Telstra chat. A work or fleet-managed number usually cannot switch it off, so stay at 10 seconds.
- Vodafone: dial
1210to turn voicemail off (1211turns it back on). Call Catcher is managed on 121 600 and needs to be off too. - Optus: turn voicemail off in the My Optus app, or ask Optus support.
- iPhone, any carrier: Settings, Phone, Live Voicemail, off. Otherwise the handset itself can answer the call.
With voicemail off, re-key the first code with 20 instead of 10 and run the test in step 3 again. If voicemail still wins, go back to 10: that is the setting that worked on every line we have tested.
Step 3: the test
Ring your own mobile from another phone and let it ring out. Do not pick up, do not decline. Within seconds the other phone should get your text, and your setup page shows the call within a minute. That first text-back is what switches your account on and starts billing.
If the other phone got voicemail instead, the divert lost the race. Dial *#61# and check the delay reads 10. If it says 20, re-key the first code. If it is already 10 and voicemail still wins, follow the voicemail-off steps above for your carrier and test again.
Switching it off
One code, ##002#, cancels every divert at once and your phone goes back to exactly how it was. The subscription is month to month and cancelled from Settings; you do not need us for either.
What happens to a missed call once it is on
The caller hears a short message that you are on the tools and a text is on its way. They get the text you approved on your setup page, in your name, from your BizEdge number. You get an alert with their number, and if they reply, that reply comes to you too. Every missed call is listed on your setup page: who rang, when, and whether they got their text.