Inventory the current route
Start with the carrier or hosted phone provider, the account owner and the person authorized to edit routing. Record whether incoming calls go to a desk phone, a ring group, an automated menu or another service. Identify voicemail and after-hours behavior. Keep account numbers, passwords and authentication information out of public worksheets.
Check whether the restaurant shares a number with another function. A line used for alarms, fax, emergency calling or other safety-critical services requires separate expert review. Do not include such dependencies in a guest-call experiment without the appropriate provider and responsible personnel.
Forwarding is provider-specific
Some providers support unconditional forwarding, conditional forwarding or rules in a hosted management portal. Availability, charges, caller-ID behavior and transfer handling vary. A code found online is not a safe universal instruction. Ask your provider for the supported procedure for your exact service and how to undo it.
Before a pilot, test from an outside line. Verify that the AI destination receives the call, that a return transfer reaches the intended staff endpoint and that the route does not loop back into itself. A forwarding destination and a staff fallback should be distinct routes where the architecture requires it.
PBX and hosted-phone routing need an owner
A PBX may have a menu, ring groups, extensions, business-hours schedules and fallback rules. Changing one route can affect more than the public call path. Have the phone administrator map dependencies and preserve the existing configuration before edits. Avoid changing several variables at once.
For a controlled launch, name the exact entry point being changed and the exact restoration procedure. If the administrator cannot describe how to return to the prior route, the change is not ready. This is particularly important when multiple locations share a central phone service.
A number port is a separate migration
Porting changes which provider serves a number. It is not the same as forwarding calls for a limited test. Ask the receiving and current providers about eligibility, required authorization, timing, service continuity and rollback limits. Do not cancel the current service based on an assumed port date.
This guide does not submit port requests or promise a port can be reversed immediately. The planner adds a hold point requiring a provider-approved port and continuity plan. If a reversible pilot is possible, use it to establish workflow fit before making the separate porting decision.
Where Loman fits
Loman documents guided setup and forwarding an existing restaurant number, alongside 24/7 AI answering. That supports evaluating a software layer without assuming a handset replacement. It does not establish your carrier's forwarding features or fees. Confirm the details with both the phone provider and Loman.
Once the route is documented, use the launch test sheet and recovery guide. The final test should include restoration of the prior route, not just a successful first call.
A routing-change record without account secrets
Record the current route, proposed route, authorized operator, approved test window, receiving staff endpoint and restoration check. Keep account access and actual routing configuration in the phone administrator’s approved system, not in this public planning tool.
Confirm the phone workflow purchased from Loman’s current plans. An order connection such as Toast does not prove carrier forwarding, transfer behavior or porting support. Obtain those answers from the responsible provider.