Nextiva | ElevenLabs Documentation

Nextiva has no direct connection to Reception.ai, so you connect it with call forwarding. Your receptionist answers on its own Reception.ai number, and Nextiva forwards calls to it. Callers keep dialing your Nextiva number.

First, go to Receptionists, select the Phone tile, and get a number. See Phone numbers.

Then pick one of the setups below. Menu names differ between Nextiva’s platforms, so follow the one your account uses.

Setup	What happens
Forward a user’s calls	Calls to a user go to the receptionist always, or when unanswered, busy, or unreachable.
Route a call flow	Your main number’s call flow sends after-hours calls, or a menu option, to the receptionist.

Forward a user’s calls

Open the user’s forwarding settings

In the Nextiva voice portal, select Users, hover over the user, and choose Actions → Voice Settings → Forwarding. In Nextiva NEXT, open the user with Edit user and go to Calling → Forwarding.

Choose when the receptionist answers

Turn on one or more rules and enter your receptionist’s number:

Rule	When it forwards
Always (Forward all calls in NEXT)	Every direct call. It overrides the other rules.
Call forwarding (unanswered)	After the number of rings you pick.
Busy	When the user is on a call with call waiting off, or has Do Not Disturb on.
Not reachable	When the user’s devices are offline, for example during an internet outage.

Save

Select Save.

User forwarding rules apply only to calls made directly to the user. Calls the user gets from a call center or call group aren’t forwarded.

Route a call flow

Open the call flow

Select Voice, open the Call Flows tab, and open the call flow on your main number (or select Create New Call Flow → Start From Scratch).

Add business hours

Add a Schedules node with your hours and holidays. Calls outside your hours follow the closed branch.

Send calls to the receptionist

On the closed branch, add a Transfer Out node and enter your receptionist’s 10-digit number. To send callers who choose a menu option instead, add Transfer Out to that option of a Phone Menu node.

Go live

Every branch must end in a terminating node, such as Transfer Out or voicemail. Select Go Live and confirm.

What to know

Caller ID: By default, Nextiva shows the original caller’s number on blind transfers to outside numbers, and Nextiva Support can change this on request. Nextiva doesn’t document caller ID for forwarded calls, so check it in your test call. If the receptionist sees your Nextiva number instead of the caller’s, every call looks like it comes from the same number, and your receptionist can’t recognize returning callers by their number.
US and Canada: Transfer Out takes a 10-digit number, so use a US or Canadian receptionist number.

Test it

Call your Nextiva number from another phone at a time when the routing you set applies. Check that your receptionist answers, then open Inbox and confirm the conversation shows your phone’s number. See Testing.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
The unanswered or busy rule doesn’t forward	Turn off the always rule, which overrides the others, and check that no selective forwarding rules are active.
Calls from a call group or call center aren’t forwarded	User forwarding rules don’t apply to those calls. Route them with a call flow instead.
The call flow won’t go live	Every branch needs a terminating node. Transfer Out can’t point at the call flow’s own number or extension.
Callers are asked to press a key before the receptionist answers	Spam protection asks callers whose number isn’t verified to press a key. Forwarded calls can arrive unverified. Turn it off if this affects real callers.