Buying a Phone Number

Search for a number by area code, city or pattern, and add it to your account. It costs money every month, so choose deliberately.

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A ministry that wants people to call or text it needs a number to give them. Purchasing is where you find one and add it to the account.

A number costs money to own and more to use. Echo's own notice on this screen: charges for consumption — per minute and per message — are billed monthly in addition to the cost of owning the number. Ask support@echoglobal.org about pricing before buying several.

The billing notice above the number search.
The billing notice, on the screen itself.

Where to find it

In the admin menu, click Phone Numbers, then Purchasing along the top.

The Purchasing screen, with Category, a search box, Match To and Country above an empty results table.
Search by category, pattern and country.

Searching

Four controls narrow the search, and results appear as you change any of them — there is no search button.

ControlWhat it does
CategoryLocal, Toll-free or Mobile.
Search boxA prefix, some digits, or a phrase. The screen's own hint: search by prefix, digits, and phrases.
Match ToContains, Starts with or Ends with — how your search text is applied.
CountryWhich country's numbers to look in.

Results list the number, its city, and icons for what it can do: text, voice, and picture messaging.

A phrase search works on the letters printed on a phone keypad, so you can look for something a volunteer can remember out loud — HOPE, PRAY. Local numbers are usually easier to get in a specific area code than memorable ones.

Choosing between local and toll-free

LocalToll-free
Feels likeSomebody nearbyAn organization
Before it can text (US)An approved brand and campaignA toll-free verification
Caller paysYes, as a normal callNo

After you buy it

Buying the number is not the end of the setup. Three things follow:

  1. Register it. A US local number needs a brand and campaign; a toll-free number needs a verification. Until then its texts are filtered by the carriers.
  2. Give it a call flow, if it takes calls, so a caller hears something.
  3. Put it in a permission set, or nobody will see the conversations that arrive on it.

What the terms mean

TermWhat it means
Provisioned numberA number Echo owns on your behalf.
LocalAn ordinary geographic number.
Toll-freeA number the caller is not charged for.
MobileA number on a mobile range. Availability varies by country.
Consumption chargesWhat you pay per minute and per message, on top of the monthly cost of the number.

Did this answer your question?

More in Echo User Guides

  1. Toll-Free Verification

    A toll-free number cannot reliably send texts until the carriers have verified it. This is where you file that verification and watch it move.

  2. A2P Brand Registration

    US carriers require every organization that sends texts to register who it is. Until your brand and campaign are approved, your numbers cannot reliably send.

  3. Call Flows

    A call flow is what a caller hears and where their call goes. Build one from a template, then point a phone number at it.

  4. Managing Your Phone Numbers

    Every phone number on your account, what each one can do, and the branding registration a number needs before it can send texts in the United States.

Still stuck?

Send us your Echo address and a screenshot of what you are seeing, and it goes to somebody who can look at your account.

Contact support