Connect a phone number
Your assistant only takes real calls once your business has a phone number. There are four ways to arrange that. This article walks through each one and helps you choose.
Only an Admin can add and remove numbers. An Editor can assign numbers to an assistant and change their label.
You need an active subscription to buy or register a number. Without one you can still search, but Order and Register stay disabled. If your subscription isn't active, the assistant doesn't answer on existing numbers either: calls are rejected and text messages get no reply.
Option 1: buy a number in the dashboard
The fastest route: the number is ready to use right away.
- Go to Settings → Phone numbers and click Add number. Buy a new number is at the top.
- Choose the Country. We start in the country of your business if we have numbers there, otherwise in the country you chose on the website. The countries are listed further down this article.
- Choose the Type: Local, for example 020 or 010 in the Netherlands, Mobile (06), Toll-free (0800) or National.
- Under Features, choose what the number must be able to do: Voice + SMS or Voice only. Which combinations are available depends on the type and country.
- Optionally fill in City (optional) and click Search numbers. You see at most 10 numbers. If nothing turns up, try another type, another city or Voice only.
- Click Order next to the number you want. The number is ordered immediately, with no separate confirmation. The top of this section says: "You pay a monthly fee to the phone provider." The search results don't show an amount. You can order up to 5 numbers a day.
- Assign the number to an assistant. You can do that in two places:
- On Settings → Phone numbers: choose the assistant under Assistant for incoming calls and, if you like, under Assistant for outgoing calls.
- On the assistant: open the Channels tab, expand Phone & SMS and tick Answers incoming and/or Places outgoing next to the number.
Your choice is saved immediately. Each number has one assistant for incoming calls and one for outgoing calls; SMS uses the same assistant as incoming calls. If the number already belongs to another assistant, we ask first whether you want to switch. If Assistant for incoming calls is set to Not assigned, your first assistant answers.
A bought number works both ways: the assistant answers on it, and you can use it for outbound calls, campaigns and SMS actions. Outbound calling and campaigns are included in the Business, Pro and Enterprise plans, not in Starter.
The Features column always shows Voice, SMS for a bought number, even if you searched for Voice only. If you want to use SMS, search for Voice + SMS: you then only get numbers that can do it.
Option 2: forward your existing number
Want to keep your current number and leave your phone contract untouched? Forward it to your Yarla number. You need a Yarla number to forward to (see option 1), assigned to your assistant.
Mobile numbers: GSM codes
On a mobile number you set up forwarding by dialling a short code in your phone app and pressing call. Use your Yarla number in international format, for example +31201234567.
| Code | When calls are forwarded |
|---|---|
*21*<number># | Always (all calls) |
*61*<number># | When you don't answer |
*67*<number># | When you're busy |
*62*<number># | When you're unreachable (phone off or no signal) |
To switch forwarding off, dial ##21#, ##61#, ##67# or ##62#. ##002# cancels all forwarding at once.
- Dial the code you need, for example
*61*+31201234567#. - Press call. Your phone confirms that forwarding is active.
- Repeat for each situation you want to forward (no answer, busy, unreachable).
- Test it: have a colleague call you and don't pick up. The assistant should answer.
Codes vary by provider
The exact codes, and which forwarding types are available, differ per provider and plan. If a code doesn't work, check with your provider.
Landline and VoIP numbers
You forward a landline or VoIP number through your provider's customer portal or app. Look for a setting called Call forwarding and enter your Yarla number. You can usually choose between forwarding all calls and forwarding only on no answer or busy.
A note on VoLTE and 4G calling
On some networks, forwarding on no answer only kicks in after your phone has finished its own ring time, so the caller hears several rings before the assistant answers. And on some VoLTE or 4G-calling plans the *61* code is rejected altogether. In both cases, set up forwarding in your provider's app or portal instead; you can usually adjust the ring time there too.
Recommended setup for a business
- During the day: forward on no answer, busy and unreachable. You answer when you can; the assistant only picks up the calls you'd otherwise miss.
- Outside opening hours: switch to unconditional forwarding so the assistant takes every call immediately. Switch it back in the morning, or have a team member do it.
What happens with forwarding
The call reaches us on your Yarla number, and the assistant of that number answers. Your existing number itself is only used to receive calls: outbound calls and SMS go through your Yarla number. If your provider passes on the caller's number, the assistant recognises existing contacts and you can call the customer back.
You don't need to register your existing number to receive calls. If you do want to see it in your list, follow Register an existing number with the type Imported / forwarded.
Option 3: port your number to the platform
Want to move over completely, so your existing number also works for outbound calls and SMS? Then port the number to our phone network. You don't start the port itself in the dashboard.
- Get in touch with us through Support in the Help menu, and mention the number or numbers you want to port. If you don't see Support, check Report a problem for how to reach us.
- Once the port is done, we assign the number to your account and let you know. Nobody else can register it in the meantime.
- Register the number: follow Register an existing number with the type Imported / forwarded.
- Check the Usage column. If it says Incoming + outgoing, we found the number at our carrier and connected it.
If it says Incoming only, our carrier didn't know the number yet when you registered it. Register it again once we've told you the port is done, then assign an assistant again: registering again clears the assignment. If you see "Support has to assign this number to your account first", we haven't assigned it yet: get in touch.
Good to know:
- Check with your provider beforehand whether your contract allows the move.
- How long porting takes depends on the country and provider.
- Until the number has been ported, it keeps working at your old provider.
- Whether SMS is available depends on the number type and country.
Option 4: a SIP trunk from your PBX
Run your own phone system (PBX)? Connect it to our carrier over a SIP trunk, so calls arriving on your PBX are answered by the assistant.
- Ask us for the SIP connection details through Support in the Help menu, and mention the number or numbers your PBX will pass on. If you don't see Support, check Report a problem for how to reach us. You don't enter any SIP details in the dashboard.
- Have your PBX vendor (or yourself) use them to create a SIP trunk to our carrier.
- We link the numbers to your trunk and assign them to your account, and let you know.
- Follow Register an existing number with the type SIP.
Calls arriving on the trunk are answered by the assigned assistant. The number the trunk passes on must be the same as the number you registered, and the call must arrive over your own trunk: a call to a number we don't know, or to your number over another connection, isn't answered. SIP numbers are always inbound only.
Register an existing number
- Go to Settings → Phone numbers → Add number and look under Register an existing number.
- Under Number, pick the country and type the number as you dial it at home (a leading 0 is removed; it is stored as
+31201234567). - Choose the Type: Imported / forwarded or SIP.
- Optionally fill in a Label.
- Only leave Supports SMS on if the number can send SMS through our carrier. Turn it off for a forwarded number or a SIP number: SMS actions, appointment messages and notifications to you are sent from the first number with
SMSin the Features column. If no number hasSMS, we try to send them from the first number in your list. - Click Register and assign the number to an assistant, as in option 1.
A number can only be in one account. If another account already uses it, you see "This number is already used by another account".
Typing a number isn't proof that it's yours, so a ported number or a SIP number can only be registered after we've assigned it to your account (options 3 and 4). Until then you see "Support has to assign this number to your account first". A forwarded number needs no such step, but it's only shown in your list: calls to it reach the assistant through your Yarla number, never through this entry.
Remove a number
An admin removes a number with Remove on Settings → Phone numbers, after a confirmation. A number you bought in the dashboard is released at the phone provider at the same time, so it stops costing money and you cannot get it back. If the provider cannot release it right then, the number stays in your list; try again in a moment. A forwarded, ported or SIP number only leaves your list.
Which option suits you?
| Option | Inbound | Outbound | SMS | Time to set up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy a number | Yes | Yes | Depends on the number | Immediate |
| Forwarding | Yes | Only through your Yarla number | Only through your Yarla number | A few minutes |
| Porting | Yes | Yes | Depends on number type and country | Depends on country and provider |
| SIP trunk | Yes | No | No | Depends on your PBX vendor |
Not sure? Start with forwarding. It takes a few minutes, and you can always port later.
The Usage column
On the Settings → Phone numbers page, each number has a Usage column:
- Incoming only – the number is only used to receive calls. This applies to SIP numbers and to registered numbers that aren't with our carrier, such as a forwarded number.
- Incoming + outgoing – the number can also place calls. This applies to bought numbers and to registered numbers that are with our carrier, such as a ported number. You need at least one of these for outbound calls and campaigns. A SIP number, or a forwarded number that is not with our carrier, can never call out: the caller ID would show a number we cannot vouch for.
For SMS that isn't a reply to an incoming text (SMS actions, appointment messages and notifications to you), the system doesn't look at this column, but at SMS in the Features column. A reply to an incoming text goes out from the number that text arrived on.
Country notes
You can buy numbers in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland and the United States. Which numbers you find depends on what our carrier has available at that moment.
- SMS – whether a number can send and receive SMS depends on the type and country. Search for Voice + SMS to see only those numbers.
- United States – US numbers must complete 10DLC registration before they can send SMS. You don't arrange that in the dashboard; get in touch with us.
- Other countries – these aren't in the list. If you need a number there, get in touch with us.