Get a business phone number and choose who answers

Overview#

A TradesWork phone number rings your office and cell phones at the same time, pops the caller's record on screen, records calls if you want, and texts missed callers back right away. You can buy a new number in seconds, or bring your existing number over (see Move your existing phone numbers to TradesWork). A number takes calls immediately; texting from it needs carrier registration first.

Before you start#

• You need the Owner or Admin role.

• Pick the area code you want, and list the office or cell numbers that should ring.

• Prices are shown before you buy: about $1.15 a month for a local number or $2.15 for toll-free, plus calls and texts at the phone carrier's usage rates.

Steps#

1. Get a number#

1. Open Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting. The Phones and texting setup card at the top shows each step and whether it's done.

2. In 1. Get a number, choose Type: Local or Toll-free.

3. Enter an Area code, or city and State. Optionally enter Digits (optional) to look for numbers containing them.

4. Press Search.

5. Pick a number and press Buy · $X/mo on it. It's yours right away and takes calls immediately.

2. Choose who answers#

1. Scroll to Ringing and business hours (or press Set ringing and hours in step 2).

2. In Office phones to ring (one per line), list every phone that should ring. They all ring at once.

3. Set Ring for (seconds) (10–60).

4. Optionally type a Voicemail greeting.

5. Set opening and closing times for each weekday, or tick Closed.

6. Outside these hours, calls go to the AI receptionist (if it's on) or voicemail.

7. Press Save phone settings at the bottom of the page.

3. Make a test call#

1. In 3. Test call, enter Your mobile and press Save.

2. Press Call me. Answer and you'll hear a short message. Any real call to your number also completes this step.

Recording, text-back and the AI receptionist (optional)#

On the same page, before you press Save phone settings:

• Recording and consent: choose Recording:

  • Don't record calls

  • Record, with a short notice (one-party consent states)

  • Record, with an explicit announcement to everyone (all-party consent states)

  Optionally edit the Announcement. The page lists states commonly treated as all-party consent. This isn't legal advice.

• Missed-call text-back: tick Text missed callers. When nobody talks to a caller, they get a text right away (at most once every 12 hours). Edit the text; use {company} and {link} (your online booking page).

• AI receptionist: tick Let the AI receptionist answer calls and choose When it answers: After hours only, After hours, and when the office doesn't answer, or Every call. Set Longest AI call (minutes) and Transfer to (owner or on-call phone). Escalations and what it may book are set in Settings › Phones › Escalations & Tasks.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting: numbers, ringing, hours, recording, text-back and the receptionist.

• Settings › Phones › AI Text Agent and Escalations & Tasks: greeting, emergency triggers and booking rules.

• Settings › Phones › Call Scorecards: grading recorded calls.

Tips#

• Call tracking per campaign: a number tied to a marketing campaign shows "tracking: campaign" in the Lines list on the Calls page, and its calls are attributed to that campaign. Tying a number to a campaign isn't a self-serve setting yet; ask support when you buy a number for a campaign.

• iPhone users: turn off Silence Unknown Callers (iPhone Settings › Phone) or forwarded office calls won't ring.

• Your cell shows the business number as the caller, so save it as a contact.

Troubleshooting#

• No numbers matched → that area code has none free right now. → Try a nearby area code or city, leave out the digits, or pick toll-free.

• My cell doesn't ring → the number in Office phones to ring is missing the area code, or the phone blocks unknown callers. → Fix the number and check the phone's call-blocking settings.

• Call me is greyed out → you haven't saved your mobile, or you have no number yet. → Save Your mobile and get a number first.

• Every card says "Not available yet" → phones aren't switched on for your account. → Contact support.

• Recordings can't be played here → the page says private recording storage isn't set up. → Recordings stay with the phone provider until it is. Contact support.

FAQ#

Can I release a number I don't need? Yes. Next to the number press Release…, type its last 4 digits in Type the last 4 digits to confirm and press Release number. Releasing is permanent: the number can be given to someone else.

Can my technicians call customers from the business number? Owners, Admins, Dispatchers and CSRs can click-to-call from job and customer pages, so customers see your business number.

Can I text from my new number right away? Not yet. US carriers require business texting registration first. See Register for business texting (A2P 10DLC).

Coming from ServiceTitan#

ServiceTitan's phones are set up by ServiceTitan's team under Settings › Phones. In TradesWork you buy and route numbers yourself in minutes. To keep your ServiceTitan numbers (main and tracking), port them; see Move your existing phone numbers to TradesWork. After the move, ask support to tie each tracking number to its campaign so attribution carries over.