Your receptionist can pass a caller straight to you inside the SkipCalls app, on iPhone or Android. Your phone rings like a normal call, even on the lock screen. This also works when your cell forwards every call to SkipCalls, where a normal transfer to that same cell would just come back to the receptionist.
You need the latest SkipCalls app: from the App Store on iPhone, from Google Play on Android.
Set it up
Do this on the phone that should ring.
Update SkipCalls from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android).
Open SkipCalls → Settings → Call Transfer.
Under Transfer to device, tap Add this phone.
Allow Notifications and Microphone. On Android we also recommend Full-screen calls (the call shows over the lock screen) and Battery (your phone won't put SkipCalls to sleep). On iPhone there is nothing else to turn on. Tap Done.
Your phone now shows in the list as This phone. Tap it to choose:
Label: the name your receptionist uses for you.
When to transfer: for example, "caller asks for Mike or it's urgent".
Limit Transfer Hours: ring this phone only during the hours you set. Leave it off to ring any time.
Tap Test ring, then lock your phone. It rings in about 10 seconds, like a real call. Answer to finish the test.
Teammates add their own phones the same way, each from their own phone. iPhones and Android phones can be on the same list. When several phones ring, the first one to answer gets the call.
Your phone numbers stay under Transfer to number. You can use both: your receptionist picks each one based on what you wrote for it.
Is your transfer number your own cell? If your cell forwards calls to SkipCalls, a transfer to it comes straight back. The app shows Ring through the app instead? on the Call Transfer screen. Tap Fix and that transfer rings this phone in the app instead.
When a call comes in
Your phone rings for about 25 seconds. You see who is calling and what it's about. On iPhone it uses the normal iPhone call screen.
Tap Answer to talk to the caller.
Tap Decline and your receptionist takes a message.
Want to send a quick reply, like "I'll call back in 10 minutes" or "I'm on a job right now"? On Android, tap Message on the ring screen. On iPhone, tap Decline, then pick a reply in the notification that appears, or write your own. Your receptionist tells the caller.
Don't answer, and your receptionist takes a message as usual.
If the caller hangs up, your call ends too.
The call stays in your call history with its transcript and summary.
If the test ring doesn't work
Your phone says "Needs setup": tap it and allow everything on the list.
Your iPhone says "Coming soon": update SkipCalls from the App Store, then open Call Transfer again.
"Nothing came in 20 seconds": check that the phone has mobile data or Wi-Fi and that notifications are on. On Samsung, open Settings → Battery → Background usage limits and remove SkipCalls from Sleeping apps and Deep sleeping apps. Then try again with the phone locked.
It rang only as a notification (Android): turn on Full-screen calls.
The caller can't hear you: allow the Microphone and check you're not on mute.
The call keeps breaking up: the connection is weak. Next time, let it ring out and your receptionist will take a message.