LARA

Conditional call forwarding from your carrier

Send only the calls your team didn't pick up to LARA. Your real number stays the one customers see. LARA just catches the drops.

Colin LawlessCo-founder, CTO4 min readUpdated Apr 22, 2026

On this page

Why conditional forwarding
Get your LARA number
Carrier-specific codes
Test the forward
Troubleshooting

Why conditional forwarding

Conditional forwarding sends calls to LARA only when (a) you don't answer after N rings, (b) your line is busy, or (c) the phone is unreachable. Your team still answers everything they pick up. LARA only sees the drops.

Beats unconditional

Don't use Call Forwarding (Always). It routes everything to LARA and your team never gets a chance to pick up. Always pick conditional or No-Answer forwarding.

Get your LARA number

Open Settings → LARA → Phone numbers.
Buy a fresh number you'll forward to. Pick any area code: the number stays hidden from callers.
Copy the number. You'll need it for the carrier codes below.

Carrier-specific codes

Each carrier uses a slightly different dial code. The pattern is consistent: a star or pound prefix, the LARA number, and a confirmation tone.

text

Verizon Wireless
  No-answer forward:  *71<LARA-NUMBER>
  Cancel:             *73

AT&T Wireless
  No-answer forward:  *61*<LARA-NUMBER>#
  Cancel:             ##61#

T-Mobile
  No-answer forward:  **61*<LARA-NUMBER>**30#  (30 = ring time in seconds)
  Cancel:             ##61#

Most VoIP / business lines
  Configure in your provider's web admin under "Call Routing" → "No Answer".

Ring count matters

Set the ring count to 4 (≈20 seconds). Less than that and your team won't have time to grab the phone. More than that and callers hang up before LARA gets the call.

Test the forward

From a different phone, call your real business number.
Let it ring 5+ times without picking up.
LARA should answer. If it doesn't, the forwarding rule didn't take.
Check /lara/calls: the call should appear with the original caller's number, not LARA's.

Troubleshooting

Carrier doesn't honor the code: call your carrier's business support; some prepaid plans block forwarding entirely.
Calls forward immediately: you set unconditional forwarding by mistake. Cancel and re-set with the no-answer code.
Caller ID shows your own number: LARA is configured correctly; the carrier is rewriting CLI. Switch your LARA number's CLI mode to "original caller" in Settings → LARA → Phone numbers.