Use Follow Me for an extension-owned answer sequence
Follow Me is attached to an extension: it can ring the primary extension for an initial interval, then try a defined list and finally send the caller to a no-answer destination. A ring group instead owns a shared fixed membership, while unconditional, busy and unavailable forwarding select other call-handling paths. Choose one owner before enabling overlapping controls.
Sangoma's public documentation says that in PBX GUI 13 and later the detailed Find Me/Follow Me settings moved into the extension, while the separate Follow Me module provides an overview and enable or disable control. That documentation does not establish the exact current FreePBX 17 screen. Record the installed Core and Follow Me module versions and use their loaded interface as the source of truth.
Separate saved policy from active state
Preserve the extension, enabled state, initial ring time, strategy, ordered list, list ring time, announcements, caller treatment, confirmation controls and no-answer destination as one versioned policy. Submit, Apply Config, generated dialplan, loaded dialplan and one completed call are separate acceptance stages. A row visible in the Follow Me overview can retain settings while the feature is disabled.
Feature codes, UCP and supported phone applications may let a user change enabled state or permitted settings. Decide which roles may do so, record the effective feature code rather than assuming a default, and define how support distinguishes an authorized user change from configuration drift. Do not infer current state from a button label or BLF alone.
Calculate the sequence from strategy and timers
Initial Ring Time controls how long the primary extension rings before the list begins. The documented ringallv2 behavior can continue ringing the primary while list members ring; ringall stops the initial attempt before the list; hunt and memory-hunt variants create ordered iterations. A -prim strategy adds special behavior for the primary extension's busy, DND and unconditional-forwarding state.
Write the intended timeline before setting seconds. For hunt-style strategies, list Ring Time can apply to each iteration, so total caller delay can exceed one field. Include prompt duration, carrier setup time and the upstream route's own timeout. Accept the desk-answer, list-answer, cancellation-after-another-answer and no-answer paths separately.
Mark external destinations and govern the added call leg
Sangoma documents a trailing # in the Follow-Me List to mark an external number. The marker belongs to this list; it is not part of the public number sent to the carrier. Preserve the stored entry, digits delivered to outbound routing, matching route, extension-scoped route permission, selected trunk and caller identity separately.
An external attempt consumes an outbound call leg and can create carrier charges, fraud exposure, channel use and regulatory obligations. Extension Routing or Class of Service can block the extension's Follow Me leg even when another extension can dial the number. Do not add a catch-all route or copy the incoming caller's identity until the carrier's allowed identity, destination format and account policy are known.
Require human acceptance where mobile voicemail must not win
An external phone can answer into its own voicemail before the intended person acts. Sangoma documents Confirm Calls for external list entries on ring-all variants: the remote party must press 1 before FreePBX bridges the original caller. Remote Announce explains that action; Too-Late Announce covers an answer after another destination accepted or the attempt expired.
Treat alerting, channel answer, prompt playback, DTMF receipt, confirmation acceptance, caller bridge and usable two-way audio as different evidence. Confirmation can protect the intended mailbox path, but it adds media and digit dependencies. Test it through the exact carrier and destination rather than assuming a handset keypad or internal extension test represents the external leg.
Accept every terminal path and retain rollback
With an authorized test number, exercise primary answer, external human answer, external rejection, external unreachable, another destination answering first and complete no answer. Confirm caller treatment, identity, selected route, prompt and digit behavior, final mailbox or destination, hangup and any billable extra leg. Avoid live emergency destinations and redact personal calling data from retained captures.
Keep the prior enabled state, list, strategy, timers, confirmation fields, caller-ID mode and final destination. Roll back if unrelated extension calling, emergency identity, voicemail ownership or no-answer routing changes. No live FreePBX 17 instance or call path was tested for this guide.
Sources & applicability
Primary references for the technical details above. Operational examples and planning checklists are VoIP.info editorial guidance.
- Sangoma FreePBX Follow Me user guide ↗
- Sangoma FreePBX Follow Me module overview ↗
- Sangoma FreePBX extension Find Me/Follow Me fields ↗
- Sangoma FreePBX outbound routes ↗
- Sangoma FreePBX Extension Routing ↗
- Sangoma FreePBX feature codes ↗
Examples require adaptation to your topology. No live PBX or hardware testing is claimed.