Add a phone number

You add a phone number when you want to receive calls in Atender at a local number for a country you serve. Different countries have different documentation requirements, so the request flow asks for whatever compliance data Twilio needs for that market.

Before you start

• A user role that can edit channel settings (Owner or Admin).
• A decision about which country the number should be in. Local numbers convert better than international ones, so provision one per market.
• Documentation you may need depending on the country: a registered business address, proof of presence, or a business registration document. The dialog tells you what’s required for the country you pick.

Steps

1. Open Settings → Voice.
2. In the channels sidebar, click the + icon next to Phone Numbers.
3. Pick the country from the dropdown.
4. Submit any compliance fields the country requires. For US and most countries with no strict requirements, this may be a short form; for regulated markets it can include identity documents.
5. Click Request Number.

Atender creates a number request and submits it to Twilio. The number appears in the sidebar with a status of Pending or Approved depending on how quickly the compliance check completes.

Verify it worked

After submitting, you should see:

• A new entry in the Phone Numbers sidebar of Settings → Voice, with the country flag and a status badge.
• The status either as Pending (waiting on review or provisioning) or Approved (the number is ready to receive calls).

Click the number to expand its settings. You’ll see tabs for Flows, Voices, Queues, Queue Experience, Callback, and Manage.

What happens next

A newly provisioned number doesn’t do anything yet — it has no IVR flow attached, so a call will be answered with a default fallback message. To make the number actually do something:

1. Build an IVR flow — or pick an existing flow you’ve already built.
2. Assign the flow to the number — every number routes through exactly one flow.
3. Test by dialing the number from your own phone.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: The number request stays Pending for more than a day or two. Fix: Some regulated markets (UK landlines, German mobile, etc.) require manual compliance review on Twilio’s side. This can take several business days. Contact support if you’ve been waiting more than five business days.

• Symptom: The country you need isn’t in the dropdown. Fix: Number availability depends on Twilio’s coverage for that country. Some markets only support certain number types (mobile but not landline, or vice versa). Contact support if your country is missing entirely.

• Symptom: You’re not seeing the + button. Fix: Your role doesn’t have permission to edit channel settings. Ask an Owner or Admin in your tenant to either grant your role the permission or do the setup themselves.

See also

• The Voice channel
• Build an IVR flow
• Assign an IVR flow to a number