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Open Phone numbers to bring your Twilio phone numbers into RuleInside, choose which agent answers calls to each number and which agent places outbound calls from it, and manage your store’s WhatsApp number. A campaign needs a number here that can place outbound calls.
The Phone numbers page with a table of numbers showing Label, Number, Provider, Inbound agent and Outbound agent, the Assign and Release buttons, and the WhatsApp card.

The Phone numbers page: your numbers with their agents, and the WhatsApp card below.

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Who can change what

  • Every member can see the page.
  • Only an owner can import, assign or release a number, or change WhatsApp settings. A member sees “Only account owners can manage this - ask an owner of your team.” in place of the Import number button, and Assign and Release are greyed out. If a member’s request reaches the server anyway, it is refused with “Permission denied: this action requires an account owner (billing) permission.” See Who can do what.
The Agent bar at the top of the page changes nothing here: phone numbers belong to your store, not to one agent.

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Your numbers

The Phone numbers card has the subtitle “Import a Twilio number, then assign the agent that answers inbound calls and the one that places outbound calls.”

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Import a number

Owners only. You need the number’s Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio console.
The Import a Twilio number form with the fields Phone number (E.164), Label, Twilio Account SID, Twilio Auth Token and Inbound agent (optional).

The Import a Twilio number form.

1

Open the form

Press Import number. The form Import a Twilio number opens, with the note “Your Twilio SID and Auth Token are sent once to provision the number and are never stored by us. Find them in your Twilio console.”
2

Fill in the fields

Spaces at the start and end of every field are removed.
3

Import

Press Import. It reads Importing… while working. When it finishes you see “Phone number imported.” and the number appears in the list. Press Cancel to close the form without importing.
Your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token are sent once to set the number up. RuleInside never stores them or writes them to a log. If the import fails, nothing is left half-done and you see one of these messages:

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Assign agents

Owners only. Press Assign on a number’s row.
The Assign agents form with the fields Label, Inbound agent and Outbound agent, and the Cancel and Save buttons.

The Assign agents form for one number.

The form Assign agents opens with the number and the text “choose which agent answers inbound calls and which places outbound calls.” Press Save to apply your changes (greyed out until you change something; it reads Saving… while working). On success you see “Phone number updated.”; otherwise “Could not update the phone number.” or the reason. Only your own agents can be chosen: any other is refused with “Cannot assign the phone number to an agent outside this client.” Press Cancel to close without saving.

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Release a number

Owners only. Press Release (red) on a number’s row. A confirmation asks “Release this phone number?” and explains that the number “will be removed from your workspace and will stop routing calls. This cannot be undone.”
  • Press Release to confirm. On success you see “Phone number released.”
  • Press Cancel to keep the number.
Releasing cannot be undone. The number stops answering and placing calls, and its agents and label are removed. To use it again, you must import it again with your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token.
If the release fails, you see “Could not release the phone number.” (or the reason) and the number stays in your list, so you can press Release again.

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WhatsApp

The WhatsApp card, below your numbers, shows your store’s WhatsApp number. Its description reads “WhatsApp Business accounts are connected during onboarding. Here you can reassign the agent and turn messaging on or off.” An owner can also connect a number directly from this card, as described below. For templates, sending and the send log, see WhatsApp.

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What the card can show

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A number connected through Meta

The card shows the number, the badge Connected through Meta and the note “This number is connected directly to Meta. Its settings are managed by us, so there is nothing to change here. To disconnect, use Settings > Account > Business Platform in your WhatsApp Business app.” Underneath, it shows what WhatsApp reports about sending from the number: While WhatsApp blocks the number, your messages are held and go out once the problem is fixed.

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A number you can edit

For other connected numbers, the card shows the number, the business name, and a red Token expired badge when the connection needs renewing. An owner can change: Press Save (greyed out until you change something; Saving… while working). You see “WhatsApp account updated.” or “Could not update the WhatsApp account.”

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Connect WhatsApp

Owners only. The Connect your WhatsApp number block appears when no number is connected yet, or when the existing connection is incomplete. If it is not available for your account, the card reads “WhatsApp self-connection isn’t switched on for this environment yet. Contact support and we’ll connect your number for you.” The block explains: “Sign in with the Meta account that owns your WhatsApp Business number. You’ll pick the number yourself, and we never see your Meta password.” Read the four points shown before the button:
  • “You keep using the WhatsApp Business app on your phone, and it has to be opened at least once every 13 days. If you uninstall it, the connection drops.”
  • “Some things change on your phone for good: disappearing messages and view-once are turned off in one-to-one chats, live location sharing stops, broadcast lists become read-only, group chats are not carried over, and your profile photo can no longer be changed.”
  • “Keep the app open for a few minutes after you connect while your existing conversations sync.”
  • “After connecting, add a payment method to your WhatsApp Business Account in Meta. Meta bills you directly for the messages you start, and blocks them until a payment method is added.”
1

Press Connect WhatsApp

A Meta window opens and the button reads Connecting…. Allow pop-ups for the portal if your browser blocks the window. Do not reload the portal page while the Meta window is open: the attempt would be lost and you would need to start again.
2

Sign in to Meta and pick your number

Sign in with the Meta account that owns your WhatsApp Business number and choose the number. When you finish, the Meta window shows “Finishing up. This window will close on its own.” and closes.
3

Confirm the number, if asked

If your Meta login manages more than one WhatsApp Business account, the portal asks “Which WhatsApp number is this store’s?”. Pick the number your customers message this store on (an account without a name shows as Unnamed WhatsApp account) and press Connect this number, or Cancel. Nothing is connected until you confirm.
4

Add a payment method in Meta

When you see “WhatsApp connected.”, add a payment method to your WhatsApp Business account in Meta.
While the Meta window is open, Start over lets you abandon the attempt and begin again.

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Common questions

Only owners can import numbers. If you are an owner and the button is still greyed out, your account is not yet connected to a store.
The Label field is required even though the form does not mark it: Import stays greyed out until it is filled. Enter any name that helps you recognise the number, for example “Support line”.
No. Your Account SID and Auth Token are sent once to set the number up, and RuleInside never stores them or writes them to a log.
It must be a real, valid phone number. Type it with a plus sign and the country code, for example +15551234567.
Check the number’s Inbound agent. A dash means no agent answers it: press Assign and choose one.
The number cannot place outbound calls; the form shows “This number does not support outbound calls.”
None of your numbers can place outbound calls. Import a number that can, or contact RuleInside.
No. Import the number again with your Twilio Account SID and Auth Token.
It is connected through Meta, and its settings are managed by us. To disconnect it, use Settings > Account > Business Platform in your WhatsApp Business app.
Follow the reason shown on the card; a missing payment method in Meta is a common one. Your messages wait in RuleInside and go out once it is fixed.
Both are possible: our team can connect your number during onboarding, and an owner can also connect it from this card with Connect WhatsApp.