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Registering your texting number

How to get a toll-free number your customers can text, what to tell the carriers, and how to tell when you can start sending.

Before a business can text customers from a toll-free number, the phone carriers need to verify it (toll-free verification). They ask who you are, what you will send, and how your customers agreed to receive it. Lupa collects those answers in a six-step wizard and submits them for you.

Only admins can open the wizard.

Register a number

The wizard has six steps: Business, Use case, Opt-in, Samples, Number and Review. Lupa fills in the Use case, Opt-in and Samples steps with suggested wording. Your answers are saved each time you choose Next, so you can leave and come back.

To register a number:

  1. Choose Settings in the left rail, then the Comms status tab, and choose Set up SMS / start TFV.
  2. Business: enter the Legal business name and choose a Business type. Enter the Business registration number (your EIN in the US) and its Registration number type. Fill in Street address, City, State / region, Postal code, Contact first name, Contact last name, Contact phone, Contact email and Website. Choose Next.
  3. Notification email is where approval and rejection notices go. It starts filled in with your email address. Change it if the notices should go somewhere else, and do not leave it empty.
  4. Use case: check the Use-case description, a paragraph on how your business uses texting. Choose an Estimated message volume (per month). Pick the next bucket up from your realistic estimate. Choose Next.
  5. Opt-in: choose the Opt-in type that matches how your customers agree to texts: VERBAL, WEB_FORM, PAPER_FORM, VIA_TEXT or MOBILE_QR_CODE. Check the Opt-in description (see below). Choose Next.
  6. Samples: edit Sample 1 to Sample 3 so they match messages you will actually send. Choose Next.
  7. Number: choose one of these:
  8. Buy a new toll-free number: choose Search toll-free numbers, then pick a number from the list. Re-roll shows a different set.
  9. Claim an existing toll-free number: enter it in Existing Twilio toll-free number (E.164), for example +18885550123.

Choose Next. 7. Review: check the summary and choose Submit.

When it finishes, the page reads Provisioning succeeded. TFV submission is pending Twilio review; outbound SMS unblocks automatically once approved.

You can go back to any step by choosing its name in the step bar at the top of the wizard, or with Back.

If the Number step will not continue. When buying, you must search and pick a number first; the message reads Search toll-free numbers and pick one before continuing. When claiming, the number must start with +1 followed by a toll-free area code (800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877 or 888) and seven digits.

If you want a local number. Lupa registers toll-free numbers only. Local ten-digit numbers use a different registration process that Lupa does not run.

If the wizard is read-only. Only one person can run the wizard for a business at a time. The page reads SMS setup is already in progress and names the admin who has it open. If it reads SMS setup is open in another of your sessions, you have it open in another tab or window. Close that one and reload this page.

If provisioning fails. The page reads Provisioning failed at step followed by the step that failed. Anything already set up is kept. Choose Submit again and the wizard continues from where it stopped, without buying a second number.

Write an opt-in description the carriers will accept

The carriers want to know when a customer's number entered your records and what the customer agreed to at that moment. A vague answer such as "customers give us their number" is a common reason for rejection.

Lupa's suggested Opt-in description covers the usual case: a customer asks you for service and gives you their number so you can coordinate it. It includes intake wording you can put on your own forms:

"By providing your mobile phone number, you agree that [Business Name] may send transactional text messages related to your service, including appointment confirmations, technician arrival notifications, schedule changes, and service follow-ups. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time."

To use the suggested description:

  1. On the Opt-in step, read the Opt-in description.
  2. Edit it only where your process is actually different.
  3. Add the intake wording above to your own booking form or intake paperwork, with your business name in place of [Business Name].

Your business is responsible for getting and keeping each customer's consent. See Getting customer consent.

Work while you wait for approval

When the number is bought, inbound texting starts working. Outbound texting waits for the carriers.

  • Customers can text you. Their texts arrive in Comms as usual.
  • You cannot send texts. Above the text composer, a notice reads Sending disabled and gives the reason, and the send button is disabled.
  • Email works as normal. Use it for anything outbound in the meantime. See Emailing a customer.

To check progress:

  1. Choose Settings, then the Comms status tab.

The Outbound SMS card reads SMS outbound is pending TFV approval. The Registered number card shows your number, and the TFV submission card shows the Submission ID and State.

Know when you can send texts

You do not need to do anything when the carriers approve your number. Lupa checks the submission every hour, and outbound texting switches on automatically once it is approved.

To confirm you can send texts:

  1. Choose Settings, then the Comms status tab.

The Outbound SMS card shows active and reads This channel is working normally. The Sending disabled notice disappears from the text composer.

Approval covers your number only. Each customer still needs their own consent before you text them. See Getting customer consent.

If the submission is rejected. The Outbound SMS card reads SMS outbound was rejected by Twilio TFV, and the TFV submission card shows the Reason. To resubmit, contact Lupa with the reason shown. See Getting help from Lupa.