Does STRAIGHT-TALK have CALL-FOWARDING or not...???

[BigDaveinNJ]

I've seen some places that say yes, and others say that it doesn't. From some people here that have the service... does ST indeed offer call-fowarding?

Thanks

~ david ~

[analog_pl]

I don't have ST, but ST is on my short list. Call forwarding is one of my must-have features as well and according to this link below, it supposedly does.

http://207.210.82.131/showthread.php?t=1621729

[bassplayer929]

nope! at least when i had it, it didn't! i switched though, couldn't stand all the service issues and dropped calls...

[Jack_Indabaux]

Yes, forwarding works with on ST.
See the thread 'analog_pl' linked to for more details.

[scottderrick]

It has all the standard features that a regular Verizon account has. I had Verizon and setting up ST and dealing with my ST account, ie. voice mail, forwarding, call waiting etc. is identical.

[analog_pl]

Excellent. Definitely at the top of my short list now if I need to jump from PP.

[HiThere321]

I know this post is from 2010 and this information is a bit late to the party, but maybe it will help those that Google it.

The reason that some of the people posting are having luck with *72 and some are not is that the */# sequences used to make call feature modifications are sent to the cellular carrier's phone switch and have very little to do with the phone itself. Now here's the catch. There are 4 major carriers in the US that own the majority of the cellular towers, switches, and infrastructure that make up the 2 predominant networks. Verizon and Sprint own the majority of the CDMA network, and AT&T and T-Mobile own the majority of the GSM network. Most of the other smaller carriers like SmartTalk, TracFone, Net10, Virgin, etc... all lease their services from the big 4 and use their switches. Most of them DO NOT have their own towers and switches providing service. They are resellers. Several of them lease service from any or all 4 of the providers which enables them to tailor their packages and offer more types of phones. So the model of StraightTalk phone you choose will determine the network that you land on. This is why 2 people with different model phones from the same carrier can have wildly different coverage areas and the key to setting special phone switch features like call forwarding. It's also why the outside of the SmartTalk packaging says "Coverage on one of Americas Best networks". The SmartTalk packaging currently in stores even says either GSM or CDMA in the front lower corner of the package giving you a hint to which "Best Network" it's on ;-) And lastly, this is why you see mixed responses in the forums of some people saying *72 worked for them, but not for others. They are most likely on different networks from each other. You may even run into scenarios like this with the big 4 themselves. Verizon, for instance, dabbled in GSM during their takeover of Unicel and a few others and must continue to provide GSM service to customers that purchased phones when Verizon was offering service over GSM, so Verizon leases service from AT&T for those customers.

You need to figure out what network your phone uses and use the call forwarding codes that are understood by the phone switches on that major carrier's network. If your goal is to add Google Voice then look at the Google Voice portal. Once you add your phone Google voice will actually tell you which network you are on and what the */# code is to activate conditional forwarding on that network is.

Here are the couple I know of or was able to Google:

CDMA Network - Verizon
*71+TenDigitNumber - Activates Call Forwarding (Busy/No Answer/Unreachable) - Your phone still rings but will Forward in lieu of going to VM
*72+TenDigitNumber - Activates Call Forwarding (Immediate)
*73 - Disables all forwarding features

CDMA Network - Sprint
*28+TenDigitNumber - Activates Call Forwarding (Busy/No Answer/Unreachable)
*38 - Disables Call Forwarding (Busy/No Answer/Unreachable)
*72+TenDigitNumber - Activates Call Forwarding (Immediate)
*73 - Disables Call Forwarding (Immediate)

GSM Network - AT&T or T-Mobile
*004*1+TenDigitNumber# - Activates Call Forwarding (Busy/No Answer/Unreachable)
**21*1+TenDigitNumber# - Activates Call Forwarding (Immediate) - This did not work on StraightTalk so they may be actively blocking it in the switch
*67*1+TenDigitNumber# - Activates Call Forwarding (Busy)
*61*1+TenDigitNumber# - Activates Call Forwarding (No Answer)
*62*1+TenDigitNumber# - Activates Call Forwarding (Unreachable) - If your goal is to forward everything then use this or *004* and turn off the phone :-)
##004# OR #002# - Disables all forwarding features

*Note - my SmartTalk phone is on the GSM network and carried by AT&T through TracFone which does much of the customer service for SmartTalk (Walmart doesn't fare well in the customer service industry so they farm that out too). I used the AT&T codes above to activate conditional call forwarding to my Google Voice number. Because TracFone has stripped the call forwarding functionality out of the phone hardware itself I got an error after dialing the sequence, however my calls did forward as expected. Don't believe every error message your phone spits out at you. The only way to be sure is to test it.

**BEWARE** Check with your service provider as to how these features are billed. Some providers charge for all minutes used through forwarding, while others charge for Call Forwarding Immediate, but do not charge for Call Forwarding Busy/No Answer/Unreachable. If your intent is simply to stop using a particular phone, but still get the calls to that number then conditional call forwarding may be cheaper or free compared to full immediate call forwarding. You may want to set the Call Forwarding (Unreachable) and simply turn off the phone. Providers also often have "That little slip of paper you threw out of your bill was our notification" policies that allow them to change the nature of the service with the only warning being a blurb buried in your bill somewhere. Be careful if you intend to forward using a live line long term - they could decide to start billing you for it at a moments notice!!!

[ndtv88]

Old thread, but Hithere321, appreciate all the info being posted in one place.

[Ciberpine]

Hithere321, thank you very much for taking the time to post the information. It is very helpful.

[msim12]

Hithere321, thank you very much for taking the time to post the information. It is very helpful.

Indeed thanks HiThere321!

I hope that these still work.

[Shawn744]

Way to bring back a super old thread...that was his only post so I doubt he even read that.

Would be curious if it's been brought back to working now in 2012

[Ciberpine]

No need to be curious any longer, call forwarding works fine on Straight Talk in 2012.

[evercleardoc]

It works on att SIM cards but not on T-Mobile SIM cards.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[petem42]

Yes it does
ATT service: *004*xxxxxxxxxx# forward calls. To cancel. ##004#
Verizon service: *72 xxxxxxxxxx. Forward calls. To cancel: *73

Sent from my Nexus 7 using HowardForums

[silentjudge]

It works on att SIM cards but not on T-Mobile SIM cards.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

+1

So it all depends.

Sent from my LG Nitro HD