What is the difference between number types?


EDIT - New dedicated numbers are currently experiencing provisioning delays.

When a ThruText campaign is launched, accounts in the United States can choose if they would like it to have a dedicated number or a single-use phone number. What's the difference?


Dedicated numbers

Dedicated phone numbers are created on the Phone Number page within an account. Once the phone number has finished provisioning, it can be used and reused on consecutive and concurrent campaigns. Once it is not in use on any campaigns, a dedicated number can be deleted and replaced with a new dedicated number whenever the account needs it. 


When would I want to use a dedicated number?

  • The biggest reason is that after completing provisioning at creation, a dedicated phone number does not need to go through the process again. This is important if an admin wants to start texting on a campaign immediately. (For example, an event was delayed, or there is late-breaking political campaign news.) 
  • Dedicated numbers are great for accounts working in a defined geographic area where they will reach out to the same contacts over time. (For example, a school, a town library, or a local political campaign.)
  • Admins can secure hard-to-get phone numbers for their accounts by writing to [email protected]. (For example, busy metro areas like Seattle, NYC, and the District of Columbia, or states with a single area code like Maine, Montana, and Alaska.)
  • Dedicated numbers are a great choice if an organization is building trust with a particular community over time. Admins can notify their community members about the number they can expect to be texted from or the new texting number.
  • Our regulatory partner limits each use case to be associated with 49 phone numbers. Each time you launch a campaign on a single-use number, you associate a new phone number with that use case. Once you've reached the 49-number limit, you cannot add additional numbers, which means you won't be able to launch new campaigns with single-use numbers or provision newly acquired numbers. However, if you use a dedicated number for your campaigns, no new number will be added, preventing you from hitting this limit.
  • To your contacts, it will appear as if you are continuing a text thread with them.
  • rareWhile phone number porting is a rare occurrence, dedicated numbers are protected from carrier porting using a pin system. Single-use numbers are not. 


NOTE - Dedicated phone numbers are only available for ThruText at this time.


Single-use number

Single-use numbers are bought at the time of campaign launch. After purchase, the phone number is placed in our carrier's provisioning queue, which can occasionally take multiple hours. Phone numbers that have not finished provisioning cannot send outgoing messages. There may be delays in using a single-use number.


When would I want to use a single-use number?

  • An account that works across many regions or nationally may want to use a local phone number when contacting specific areas. As an account is limited to five dedicated phone numbers, an organization may wish to text outside of a region it has phone numbers for.


Number selection during campaign launch

During campaign creation, admins are presented with two options: create a campaign with a dedicated number or use a single-use number. By default, the campaign will be launched with a dedicated number, but an admin can toggle to a single-use number. If an account doesn't have a dedicated phone number yet, the admin can choose to add one by clicking the "Manage" button above the dedicated phone number dropdown.


What number is on my campaign?

A campaign's phone number can be checked in two places: the Campaign Index page and the Campaign Details page. If it's a dedicated number, we will also show you the name if it has one.