A: It depends on how your restaurant’s phone system is set up. We’ve outlined two common methods below:
1. Traditional landline/analogue or simple mobile forwarding
If your restaurant uses a standard phone line (landline) or mobile number, diverting to DineLine is simple:
• Dial *21 <your-DineLine-number>#.
• Example: *21 0444 111 222#
• This will forward all incoming calls to your DineLine virtual number (0444 111 222 in this example).
• Once the divert is successful, DineLine will answer those calls and begin taking orders automatically.
• You can reverse the divert any time by dialing the provider’s code to cancel call forwarding (often #21# or similar depending on your carrier).
2. Using a virtual phone system (VoIP / cloud PBX / virtual PBX)
If your restaurant uses a more advanced phone-system — for example a cloud phone service, VoIP system, or a hosted PBX (sometimes called a “virtual phone system”, “hosted PBX”, “cloud telephone system”, “virtual PBX”) — the forwarding process is slightly different:
• In a virtual phone system you usually have an online dashboard or control panel for your number. These systems allow features such as call-forwarding, routing, call-divert, extensions and virtual numbers. ereceptionist.co.uk+3talkroute.com+3voipfone.co.uk+3(https://talkroute.com/call-forwarding/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• To divert to DineLine:
1. Log in to your phone-system control panel.
2. Locate the setting for “call forwarding” or “incoming call routing” (or similar).
3. Enter your DineLine virtual number (e.g., 0444 111 222) as the destination number for all inbound calls.
• If your provider uses international or country-code format, you may need to add the country code (e.g., +61 444 111 222 for Australia) or drop the leading 0.
1. Save/apply the change.
2. Test by calling your main restaurant number — the call should now be answered by DineLine.
• Some systems also allow “conditional forwarding” (forward only when no one is answered, when busy/unreachable) or scheduled forwards (day vs night). ereceptionist.co.uk+1(https://www.ereceptionist.co.uk/call-forwarding?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• If unsure how to do it, speak with your phone-system provider and ask: “How do I forward all inbound calls to another number or route them via my cloud PBX?” They’ll know this under terms like “call forwarding”, “diverting incoming calls”, “call routing”, or “virtual phone number redirect”.
Tip: After you divert your number to DineLine, make one test call to ensure:
• Your greeting is correct
• The call path into DineLine works
• Orders are being captured and sent to your kitchen as expected
If you run into any issues (for example if calls still ring your old phone, or your provider applies extra charges), reach out to DineLine support and we’ll help you troubleshoot.