Overview: Phone Numbers

This article provides an overview of the Phone Numbers workspace in Console.

Overview

In Console, the Phone Numbers workspace (Numbers > Phone Numbers) is where you can view, order, and modify phone numbers tied to your organization’s account.

Also, this is where you can create and modify custom extensions and create and modify caller IDs for your account. 

Phone numbers have various purposes, including:

• Use by a specific user or ring group

• Routing calls to workflows to direct the caller through an experience or gather information

• Routing calls directly to queues where queue users manage interactions

• Routing calls to a chat channel for messaging

All configurations related to phone calls are done in the Phone Numbers workspace.

There are a few main pages in the Phone Numbers workspace:

• Numbers list

• Number Template list

• Orders list

• Custom Extensions

• Authorized Caller IDs

Continue reading the subsections below to learn more about these main pages.

Numbers list

The Numbers list is the list of phone numbers that are on your organization’s account. These are ready-to-use numbers that have already been ordered. You can click any number to view or modify the phone number’s settings, including:

• Name of the phone number (for convenience when linking to it throughout App and Console)

• Voice Routing data (what sort of destination the phone number should route to when called)

• Message Routing data (what sort of destination the phone number should route to when texted)

You can also organize your phone numbers into folders. For example, if you have a subset of phone numbers that route to different queues, you could store all of these phone numbers in a folder called “Queues.”

Number template list

The Number Template list is where you can make phone number templates. A phone number template is a tool you can use to apply and modify configurations to multiple phone numbers at once. 

When you create a phone number with a template, any change made to the template will apply to all phone numbers created from the template.

Templates can control:

• Routing data for the phone number (for voice and messaging):

• Folder (where the phone number is organized)

For example, if you create 10 phone numbers with the template “Billing phone numbers”, you can modify the template folder to be “Billing” in the Phone Numbers list. When you save the changes, all phone numbers will automatically move to that folder.

Orders list

The Orders list shows a list of pending and completed orders for phone numbers. This is also where you can create new orders for phone numbers.

The Order list shows a history of all past phone number orders, including:

• The date the phone number was ordered

• A name for the order (e.g. “Phone numbers for November 2022 new hires”)

• The template used when creating the phone number

• The quantity of numbers ordered

• The status of the order (orange is pending; green is finalized)

• The finalized date and time (when the phone number order was completed)

Note: Ordering phone numbers is subject to pricing. You can learn more about phone number costs on our website.

Custom Extensions list

The Custom Extensions list shows a list of custom extensions created on your account. This is also where you can view, delete, and create new custom extensions. 

Learn about Custom Extensions and how to create them with the Overview: Custom Extensions in Numbers article.

The Custom Extensions list shows information about the extensions created on your account, like:

• The ID for the custom extension.

• The Name for the custom extension.

• The Extension for the custom extension.

• The Voice Type and Voice Data for the custom extension, which is the phone calls are routed when the custom extension is called. For example, if a custom extension is for easily transferring calls to a sister company of yours, then the Type will show ‘External Number’ and the phone number for your sister company will show under Voice Data.

Authorized Caller IDs list

The Authorized Caller IDs list shows a list of pending and verified caller IDs for your account. So, this list is where you can view, verify, delete, and add new caller IDs to your account.

Since these caller IDs are for phone numbers that aren’t located on your account, you’ll need to verify that you own the phone number associated with the caller ID. Once verified, the caller ID becomes ‘verified’ in this list and that’s when it becomes an authorized caller ID for your account.

Learn more about creating, verifying, and managing authorized caller IDs on your account with the Overview: Authorized Caller IDs in Numbers article.

The Authorized Caller IDs list shows information about the caller IDs created on your account, like:

• The Number that you own - but is on our system - that is assigned to the caller ID.

• The Name you created for the caller ID when adding it to the system.

• The Status for whether or not you’re using the caller ID.

  • Enabled (Green) - The caller ID is a caller ID that you’re using, so it’s an active caller ID for your account. You’ve set it to ‘enabled’.

  • Disabled (Red) - The caller ID is not an active caller ID for your account. You set it to ‘disabled’.

• The verification status (Verified column) for the phone number assigned to the caller ID. Users must verify that they own the phone number assigned to the caller ID before the caller ID becomes an ‘authorized’ caller ID.

  • Enabled (Green) - The caller ID has been verified by you in the system.

  • Disabled (Red) - The caller ID has not been manually verified by you in the system.

• The person that created (Created By column) the caller ID.

• The date (Created On column) for when the caller ID was created.

Read more

See these articles for more information about interacting with and ordering phone numbers in Console.

• Order a phone number

• Route a phone number