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How Do I Buy a Phone Number?

To get started with smrtPhone, you need a phone number!

Georgiana Mirita avatar
Written by Georgiana Mirita
Updated over a week ago

Buying a Phone Number is the first thing to do when starting up with smrtPhone.

Get Yourself a Phone Number

Head to smrtPhone Dashboard > Admin > Phone Numbers and click on ➕ Get a Number.

get a phone number

From here you can start looking for a number that will work for your business.

Choose between Local, Mobile, or Toll-Free Numbers, and ensure that the number you choose has all the capabilities you need: Voice, SMS and/or MMS. Use filters to narrow the search to find the best fit.

filter

  • Country / State - The country or state the number will belong to (be aware of Non-US number legislation)

  • Number Type - Local / Toll-Free / Mobile

  • Capabilities - Voice, SMS, MMS (depending on area)

  • Area code / Region - Further accuracy of region, or to select specific area codes

Details available for the available numbers:

  • Number - this is the Phone Number you'd be buying!

  • Region - the general area that the number is associated with

  • Capabilities - the capabilities available for number (not all numbers provide all 3: Voice, SMS, MMS)

  • Price - how much the phone number will cost

Once you've found the perfect number for your business, select Buy Number.

Bulk buy

You can choose to buy multiple phone numbers at once - up to 10 at a time. Select the ones that you want and then click on the green button Buy all.

Even if you want to buy one, two, or more phone numbers, the process is the same, from the step one up until the end.


Call Flow Setup is Mandatory

Next, you need to add a Friendly Name to your Phone Number and set a Flow.

Once you buy a phone number you have to set a flow.

When comes to deciding what happens to the new phone number you bought, you can:

Route the call to someone

This means that any call or text that comes on this new number will be sent to the User you selected.

Select the User and click Continue. This option creates a simple Dial Applet + Voicemail flow for the individual User (ending in their personal voicemail box). For the SMS flow, it will create the SMS Inbox option from the available apples.

This routing is not visible in Call Flow menu and cannot be modified to redirect calls to another User. If you want to to change the setup, click the pen icon next to the default call flow name, and assign the number to an existing Flow or create a brand new Call Flow for it.

If you wanted to return to routing the call to an individual, you would need to recreate the simple flow in the Call Flow builder (Dial Applet + Voicemail Applet) and direct the phone number to it.

Route the call to someone

Assign existing call flow

Any incoming calls will follow the call flow setup you select to be assigned to.

Assign existing call flow

Create new call flow

Start the setup for a new flow.

create new customised flow

In the case you have no other numbers or call flows set on your account, your only options will be to create a new call flow for your phone number or to route it to a User in your account.

call flow notice

If you close the tab without making any decision about Call Flows for the new phone number, the pop-up will appear as soon as you open the smrtPhone Dashboard again, with the additional option of Remind me tomorrow.

Assign to an A2P 10DLC Campaign

If you registered for A2P (as required for texting) and have active campaigns, the next pop-up displayed will ask you to assign the phone number(s) you bought to one of those campaigns. Pick one and then hit Apply.

If you don't have any A2P 10DLC approved campaigns, this prompt will not show up and you can continue with the Call Flow.

If you currently have more than one A2P-approved campaigns, and you don't pick one from the drop-down menu but click on Skip, the system will choose a random campaign from your list and assign the new phone number(s) to it.

A phone number without a set Call Flow will not receive any communication!

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