How many times your phone rings first

When you forward on no-answer, your own phone rings a few times before the call rolls to your assistant. You choose how many — from 1–2 rings (quick handoff) up to 5–6 rings (give yourself time to grab it). The recommended setting is 2–3 rings.

Where: under Send your calls to your assistant — on the go-live screen, and on Home until a forwarded call comes through. Choose Ring me first, then your assistant and pick your carrier; How many times should your phone ring first? appears under Dial this code, above the code itself. Pick your ring count, and the exact code to dial updates right there. (Every carrier's codes are also in forwarding your existing number.)

How it works: the ring timer lives on your carrier, not on us — so we can't flip it for you, but we hand you the precise code to dial once. Change your mind later and we show the new code; dial the new one and your ring count updates.

Verizon is the exception: Verizon doesn't let anyone change this — your phone rings for about 30 seconds (about 5 rings) before your assistant picks up, so instead of a selector the screen says so, with the two ways around it: ask Verizon to shorten your line's no-answer timer, or choose Send every call. Everything else (AT&T, T-Mobile, and the carriers that ride their networks) supports the ring choice.

Forward-all (every call) has no ring timer at all — every call goes straight to your assistant, so there's nothing to choose.