How to add and set up a phone number to VoIP

Overview

To make calls or send SMS text messages from AMS+, you need a phone number within our VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) system. You can purchase a new number through AMS+ or bring your own through porting. This article shows how to add and set up a phone number in our system.

IN THIS ARTICLE

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Add a phone number to VoIP

Your AMS+ subscription includes 1 free local phone number. Add this number to test our texting and call-making features. Please note that your subscription must be on the Scale Package to make and record calls in AMS+.

If you're satisfied with the VoIP functionality, you can add additional local or toll free numbers through our system, or port an existing number from another provider to AMS+. Learn more about the porting process.

Note: Our VoIP platform is powered by Twilio. If purchasing a phone number through our system, be aware that you will be buying it directly from Twilio, not AMS+.

To add a phone number:

Go to Settings.

Find the Sales > Phone Dialer & Call Queues setting and select the 'Edit' button.

Navigate to the Phone Numbers tab and search the available phone numbers by Area Code, Region or Contains. Do not search by area code AND region. You can also search for Toll Free 800 numbers, but those are not able to be used for texting due to new regulations.

The search results will show numbers that Twilio has scrubbed and released. If you get no results, try searching by a different area code or region or check back the next day for more options.

Choose and purchase a number.

Your AMS+ account includes 1 free local phone number but you can add additional local and toll free numbers. Just keep in mind that your account will be billed for each additional number.

If everything checks out, finish setup by assigning voicemail greetings, and optionally assign users and ring groups, to the number:

• Assign voicemail greetings
• (Optional) Assign users and ring groups

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Register phone numbers and add business name to caller ID

Phone service providers are monitoring caller behavior and will flag numbers as spam based on their own thresholds and regulatory guidelines. To help keep your phone numbers from being marked as spam, we recommend registering them and adding your business name to each number’s caller ID.

Refer to these articles for more information:

• How to register your phone numbers
• How to add your business name to caller ID

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Assign voicemail recordings

Go to the Settings > Sales > Phone Dialer & Call Queues > Phone Numbers tab.

Edit a VoIP number.

(Optional) Set the 'Welcome Message' field.

Select and assign the recording you want to play prior to the call being directed to an agent. If you need to create an IVR for this experience, refer to the How to create and set up an IVR article for setup instructions.

In the 'Voicemail Message' field, select and assign the recording you want to play for missed calls.

If you don’t have any recordings, refer to the How to create recordings for voicemail greetings, drops, and more article for setup instructions.

If you want agents to receive MP3 voicemail messages in their email, add their email addresses (separated by commas) in the 'Voicemail Notification Email' field.

Save.

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Assign users and ring groups

By default, calls to a phone number in the VoIP system will go to all users unless you assign the phone number to a specific user or a ring group.

To assign a user or a ring group to phone numbers:

Go to the Settings > Sales > Phone Dialer & Call Queues > Phone Numbers tab.

Edit a phone number.

In the 'Direct Calls To User or Group' field, assign the number.

By default, calls to this number will go to all users, but you can assign it to a specific user or a ring group. If you don’t have any ring groups yet, refer to this article to learn how to create and set up a ring group.

Call forwarding is only available if the number is assigned to one user. It is not available for ring groups.

Only the user specified in the ‘Direct Calls to User or Group’ dropdown (see Step 3 above) will have a call forwarding option. Refer to this article to learn how a user can forward calls to their cell.

You can set the account-level SMS phone number by checking the 'Send AB SMS Using This Number' box.

Save.

Specify users to view voicemails and missed calls

When editing a phone number, there's a 'Users/Groups Can View Voicemail' field. If this field is left blank, missed calls and voicemails directed to the number will be visible to everyone in your account.

You can restrict who can view the number's missed calls and voicemails to specific users and Ring Groups. Simply add them to this field. 

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Test a phone number

Test the call experience

You can test the outbound call experience by launching the Phone Dialer from the Phone icon in app's header navigation and either clicking on a phone number or typing a number using the dial pad. If you have any voicemail drops, you can try leaving one in the voicemail inbox.

You can test the inbound call experience by calling it with your cell phone or another device. Listen to any voicemail welcome messages, greetings, IVRs, and any other recordings that were assigned to the phone number in the VoIP system.

Test the SMS texting experience

You can test the outbound SMS texting experience by going to a Sales Record and sending a text. Do not add your own cell number into a Sales Record as a sample because that may confuse your cell carrier in the future if you get SMS replies forwarded to your cell phone.

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Common questions

Do we own the number and can we export it?
Yes. If you want to port it to another service provider, you will need to submit a porting request with that service provider.