You must be an Owner, Admin, Manager, or Campaign Coordinator to set up call forwarding.
You will learn
Get step-by-step instructions for setting up call forwarding for your US toll-free number. Implementing call forwarding is a best practice for businesses sending SMS messages to the United States, as some states’ telemarketing laws can be interpreted to require SMS recipients to be able to call the number you are using to send text messages.
This information is intended solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as legal advice. The content provided is general in nature and may not reflect the most up-to-date information. Klaviyo strongly advises consulting with a qualified legal counsel to ensure your compliance with applicable laws and regulations in connection with your use of our services.
About call-forwarding
There has been an uptick in litigation in some states, including Florida and Oklahoma. They claim that under those states’ telemarketing laws, if a phone number is displayed during a telephonic sales call, the recipient must be able to call that number and reach the solicitor.
In other words, say a business calls you to try to sell you something. If you can see the number that called you, you should be able to call that number and reach that business.
How this affects SMS marketingHow this affects SMS marketing
Text messaging presents its own set of challenges under these telemarketing law. Text messaging is often included under the same telemarketing laws that apply to phone calls, but the laws don’t always clearly apply to SMS marketing.
For instance:
- Short codes don’t support phone calls at all.
- Toll-free numbers present a gray area, as many are registered only for SMS, not for phone calls.
In general, there has been an overall lack of clarity in whether and how these telemarketing laws apply to businesses running SMS programs in these states.
The bottom line is that while there are gray areas, the best practice is to forward calls from your US toll-free number to your primary customer support or main business line.
Before you beginBefore you begin
Please note:
- You can only forward calls from US toll-free numbers, and the forwarding number must also be a US number.
- It’s recommended to set up call forwarding while your toll-free number is being verified.
- You can edit or delete the call forwarding number at any time.
- Most consumers do not try to call phone numbers used for text message marketing, so there will likely be a low volume of incoming calls.
Based on the current legal requirements, call forwarding is not available for US short codes or for non-US numbers. However, Klaviyo monitors global SMS legislation and will expand this if there are any new laws or updates.
What happens if I use a toll-free number for both the US and Canada?
Klaviyo checks the area code for any inbound call before forwarding it. If it’s a United States area code, the call is forwarded; if it’s a Canadian area code, the call is not forwarded and the line will ring until the caller hangs up.
Set up call forwarding in Klaviyo
To forward calls from your US toll-free number:
- Select your account name in the lower left corner.
- Navigate to Settings > SMS > Sender preferences.
- Scroll down to the Call Forwarding section.
- Select Set up.
- In the modal that appears, type in the number you want to forward calls to under Forwarding number.
- Select Save.
Once you save, anyone in the US who tries to call your toll-free number will be forwarded to the number you inputted. If you ever need to change this number, go to the Call Forwarding section and click Edit.