SMS Hosting
Written By Clerk Chat
Last updated 2 months ago
Enable SMS With Your Existing Carrier
With Hosted SMS, Clerk Chat can send and receive SMS messages on your phone number while the voice portion continues to run on your existing phone system. You can import your current phone number to Clerk Chat for SMS and still keep voice with your existing carrier. The SMS-only feature does not affect the voice-calling capabilities of your number. Please note that not all carriers support splitting the voice and text portions of a number.
If we only host the SMS portion of your phone number with Clerk then you will continue to receive phone calls via your existing carrier. If you completely port the number, you can leverage the calls through our add-ons such as Call Forwarding or Voicemail.
Landlines
We can often host SMS functionality while leaving voice functionality with your existing provider.
💡 In order for us to host SMS on an existing VoIP line, you’ll need to contact your current carrier to have them relinquish control of the SMS functionality by removing the SPID from your number.
Once your provider has confirmed that the SPID has been released, we can enable your number in Clerk in about 3-4 hours.
Toll-Free Numbers
Depending on the number and the carrier, we can often text-enable or host SMS for toll-free numbers.
Mobile Phones
If you have a cell phone number you'd like to use with Clerk Chat, we will need to port the number entirely in order to support it. Please contact us and provide a copy of your phone bill with the phone number and account number visible, as well as the PIN for your account. Keep in mind that the phone number will be moved over in its entirety, both voice and SMS.
What is porting?
Porting a number to Clerk Chat is the process of transferring your phone number from your existing provider to Clerk Chat. This involves submitting the necessary documentation to verify ownership and coordinating between your current provider and Clerk Chat on the scheduled port date. When a port request is submitted, we will port both voice and SMS by default.
To enable your phone number in Clerk Chat, please reach out to our support team and we can verify your eligibility.
Troubleshooting
Since we are only hosting the phone number for SMS, we remain subject to the authority of the voice carrier. If you experience issues where SMS stops working, it is most likely because the voice-owning carrier has taken the number back. When we initially host the number, we request provisioning from the voice carrier; however, if they re-provision it back to themselves, whether intentionally or accidentally, it can disrupt hosted SMS functionality.
While this cannot be fully prevented, if this happens you can reach out to our team for a resolution. Clerk Chat can restore service and contact our carrier partners as needed, especially if this becomes a recurring issue.