Mobile has long been an integral part of life, and losing important calls can be a serious inconvenience, especially when you are out of reach or engaged in another conversation. Owners of the popular Xiaomi Redmi 8 smartphone often face the need to redirect incoming calls to another number, but do not always know where exactly the necessary settings in the MIUI shell are hiding.
This feature, known as call forwarding, allows you to flexibly manage incoming traffic by redirecting it to voicemail, a secretary or another mobile phone. In this article, we will detail all the ways you can activate this option on your device so that you never miss a critical call.
The setup process is quite simple, but requires careful input, since telecom operators can charge redirected calls according to special conditions. USSD-codes that work even when interface problems are involved.
The main types of redirects to Redmi 8
Before you start setting up, it’s important to understand that Android and carriers offer multiple call forwarding scenarios. On your Xiaomi Redmi 8 menu, you’ll find four main options, each serving a different purpose. Understanding the difference between the two will help you choose the most appropriate strategy for your current situation.
The first type is redirecting all incoming calls, and when you activate this mode, absolutely all calls will be immediately redirected to the number, even if your phone is on and online, which is useful when you're going on vacation and want a colleague to take calls, or if the SIM card is installed on the device.
The second and third types depend on the subscriber's condition: busy forwarding will redirect the call if you're already talking to someone; unavailable forwarding will work if the phone is off or out of range; these settings are often used to set up voicemail.
The fourth option is a no-answer redirect, which works if you just don't pick up the phone after a certain number of beeps, and it's the perfect way to keep the call from going away from the phone, but you want to try to answer yourself first.
- 📞 Always: Calls are transferred instantly without letting your phone ring.
- ⏳ Occupied: only works during active conversation.
- 🚫 Unavailable: activated when the phone is turned off or no signal is available.
- ⏰ Unanswered: Enabled if you did not respond within a given time (usually 15-30 seconds).
Importantly, the combination of these settings allows you to create a flexible call filtering system, for example, you can set up a voicemail translation when unavailable, and make urgent calls during business hours to a personal number using Always mode only at certain hours.
Setup through the standard phone menu
The easiest and most visually understandable way to manage calls on Xiaomi Redmi 8 is to use the phonebook’s built-in interface, which doesn’t require memorizing complex codes and allows you to see the current status of all features. To start, open the standard Phone app, which usually has a green or blue phone icon.
In the window that opens, look at the three dots in the top right corner or the gear icon that represents the settings menu, and clicking on it will lead you to the list of options where you need to find Accounts and Imports or Call Settings. Depending on the version of MIUI, the path may vary slightly, but the logic remains the same.
Inside the Call Settings menu, you will be interested in the Call Forwarding section. The system will try to download the current settings from your carrier, which can take a few seconds. If the download is successful, you will see four items corresponding to the types of forwarding described above.
⚠️ Attention: To change the settings through the menu, you need a stable signal from the cellular network. If you are in a bad reception zone, the phone may not be able to update the parameters from the operator.
Select the type you want, like "During Employment," and enter the phone number you're going to be calling. After you type in, click "Enable." The system will send a request to the operator's server, and in a couple of seconds, the status will change to "On" with the number.
☑️ Checking before setting up
To turn off the function, just go back to the same menu item and click "Disable"; this action also requires confirmation from the network, so do not turn off the phone when you change your settings.
Use of the USSD-call-management
If the phone menu is not available for some reason or works incorrectly, help comes to the rescue. USSD-These are special commands that are sent directly to the operator’s server, bypassing the complex interfaces of the smartphone. For Xiaomi Redmi 8, this method is universal and works on all versions of Android.
To use this method, open the Phone app and go to the dial tab. Enter the appropriate code, where instead of characters, you need to substitute the number for the phone to be redirected. For example, to translate all calls to 89001234567, the command will look a certain way.
There is a basic set of codes that are standardized for most of the world. GSM-They allow you not only to turn on, but also to disable or check the status of redirects. Below is a table with the basic commands that you can use on your device.
| Action. | Team code | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Insert (all) | **21*number# | Redirects all incoming |
| Turn off (all) | ##21# | Takes the redirects off everyone. |
| Check status. | *#21# | Shows where the calls are going |
| Dumping everyone | ##002# | Cancels all types of forwarding |
Once you have entered the command, press the call button, and a pop-up message from the operator will appear on the screen confirming the operation or describing the error, which is especially convenient because it works even when the touch screen is late.
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Save #002# in your notes – this is a universal command for emergency cancellation of all redirects if you forget where your calls are going.
Management through the application of the operator
Modern mobile operators (the Big Four in Russia and many others in the CIS) offer their own service management applications. On Xiaomi Redmi 8 you can install your operator’s application (for example, My MTS, My Beeline, My Tele2 or My Megaphone), which often has more functionality than standard phone settings.
The advantage of this approach is that the settings are stored in the user’s personal account, not in the phone’s memory, which means that even if you pull the SIM card out of Redmi 8 and paste it into another device, the redirect will continue to work according to the last parameters set.
The application interface usually has a "Services" or "Calling Settings" section, where the switches are implemented in the form of convenient switches, and there you can often configure the schedule: for example, automatic forwarding to the output number from 18:00 to 09:00.
In addition, operators’ apps often provide detailed information about charging redirected calls, which helps to control costs, especially if you’re on roaming, where conditions may differ from home calls.
- 📱 Interface: more friendly and understandable than USSD-code.
- 🕒 Schedule: the possibility of automation by time of day.
- 💰 Control: Instant display of service cost.
Remember that the application requires an active Internet connection (Wi-Fi or mobile Internet) if the network is not available, the changes will not be able to sync with the operator’s server.
Redirection for two SIM cards
The Xiaomi Redmi 8 comes with a dual-SIM card slot, which gives the user flexibility but also adds complexity to the redirect setting. Android allows you to customize settings independently for each SIM card, which requires careful choice of number to translate.
When you go into call settings, the phone will prompt you to choose which SIM card (SIM 1 or SIM 2) you want to change settings for, and this separation is critical because the pricing conditions and services available from operators can vary.
For example, on the main SIM card (SIM 1), you can turn on the forwarding of all calls to the working number, and on the second (SIM 2), which is used only for the Internet, turn off voice functions at all or redirect them to the answering machine.
When adjusting through USSD-Some codes apply to the active default SIM card for voice calls. To avoid confusion, it is better to use the settings menu where the choice of the SIM card is explicit).
⚠️ Warning: Make sure that the SIM card that is configuring the redirect is enabled with the “Waiting for a Call” feature, if it is disabled, the redirect during employment may not work correctly.
Also, you should be aware of the cost: if you redirect calls from one SIM card to another operator's number, it can be considered an outgoing call from the first SIM card and charged accordingly.
Possible problems and solutions
Despite the simplicity of the procedure, users of Xiaomi Redmi 8 can encounter errors in the configuration, most often the problem lies not in the phone itself, but in network settings or operator services, and understanding the causes of errors will help to quickly fix them.
One of the common mistakes is “Connection error” or “Can’t execute the request”, which may mean that the forwarding service is not connected on the tariff plan or blocked by the operator, in some cases, pre-activation of the service through the personal account is required.
Another common problem is that calls are not forwarded, although the status shows "On" and it is worth checking whether the number is entered correctly. Sometimes you need to enter the number in an international format (for example, +7900... instead of 8900...), especially when roaming.
What do you do if nothing helps?
There may also be conflicts with third-party calling apps, and if you have installed alternative callers from Google Play, try temporarily removing them and using the standard MIUI Dialer app.
- 🔍 Check the balance: if the balance is negative, some services may be blocked.
- 📶 Change the network: try to switch to "Only" mode 3G» or «2G/3G», occasionally 4G/LTE There are delays in the alarm.
- 🔄 Reboot: a banal, but effective way to update your online registration.
In rare cases, the problem may be related to a software failure of the MIUI shell itself. In this situation, cleaning the cache of the Phone application through the system settings (Applications → All Applications → Phone → Memory → Clean) will help.
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Most redirect errors are solved by checking the balance, correctness of the number format and rebooting the device.