Buying a number

The number you buy is a platform number: it sits in your account and you link it to a voice agent. If you want to keep the number you already have, first look at the other options in Connecting your phone: the options.

#Which numbers you can buy

• Countries: Italy, United States, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Brazil.
• Type: geographic numbers, that is, landline numbers with a city's area code. Italian numbers can't call emergency numbers.
• Italy: “Inbound calls only”, with no documents and ready within seconds when there are some available, but it can't make outbound calls; or “Inbound and outbound calls”, registered in your name after the documents are verified.
• United States: inbound and outbound, no documents, active within seconds.
• Other countries: inbound and outbound, only if you have an address and documents in that country, in your name.

#Buying the number

1. Open Telephony

   Go to AccountTelephony and press Add number.

2. Choose “Buy a number”

   In the “Add number” window choose the Buy a number option and press Continue. The “Buy number” window opens, with the steps Where, Documents and Confirm. The Documents step only appears when documents are needed.

3. Choose the country

   In the Country field choose where you want the number.

4. For Italy, choose the type

   Choose Inbound calls only or Inbound and outbound calls: the difference is explained in Which numbers you can buy. A number registered in your name is activated after the phone carrier's review, usually within a few days.

5. Choose the number

   Although the window says “we assign the number”, you choose the number yourself from the ones offered. The path depends on the type:

   • “Inbound calls only”: you don't choose the city. Under “Choose your number” you find up to five “Numbers ready in our stock”, each with its city. If the stock is empty, the window says so and only the other type is left.
   • “Inbound and outbound calls”, and other countries if the City field appears. Type the name of the city or the area code, for example 02, and pick from the suggestions. If you leave it empty, we offer numbers from the main cities. Then under “Choose your number” you find up to five numbers available right now.

   The first number is already selected: choose the one you prefer and press Continue.

6. Name the holder

   At the Documents step the window asks “Who is the number registered to?”: choose a holder you already have, or New holder. For a new holder, type the name or company name and press Create profile.

   If the documents are already complete, they are reused as they are and Continue becomes active. If they aren't, press Fill in the documents: the profile page opens and the purchase window closes.

7. Confirm

   Check the Summary: country, city, holder and the Cost line, which says “Included in your plan” or “Covered by your additional number”. Then press Confirm purchase.

If someone else took the number just before you confirmed, you see “The chosen number was just taken. Pick another one from the refreshed list.” The window goes back to the Where step with the updated list.

#After the order: statuses and timing

The order status updates on its own in the numbers table, about every 30 minutes. In the statuses the console calls the phone carrier simply “carrier”: “Under carrier review” means the phone carrier is examining the order.

Order emails go only to the account owner, not to the person who placed the order if that's someone else on the team. Two of them have the same subject: the heading inside the email tells them apart.

For “Documents to complete”, “Under carrier review” and “Late · still under review” no email is sent: follow the status in the table. An order in progress already takes up one of your plan's number slots; if it is cancelled, the slot is free again.

#If the order needs a correction

With “Action required” the phone carrier declined some details of the order; with “Rejected” it disputed the documents profile. In both cases press the label: the window shows the phone carrier's reason and the date by which you must make the correction. Correct the profile and confirm: the order resumes on its own. The steps are in Correcting after a rejection.

#How to check

When the row says “Active”, link the number to the agent, as explained in Assigning and managing numbers, then call it from your mobile: the agent should answer. See Testing the agent.

#Frequently asked questions

#See also