Provisioning a virtual SMS number

To send text messages in Broadstripes, a user needs a virtual SMS number to send from. A project admin can create a number and assign it to any user who has permission to send texts. Broadstripes uses virtual numbers so that organizers don’t have to give out their real cell numbers, and so another team member can take over an ongoing conversation if an organizer moves on from the campaign.

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Provision a number

1. Click the Project settings icon in the upper right corner of any page (or press Ctrl-K / ⌘K), then choose SMS numbers. You can start typing to filter the list.
2. On the SMS numbers page, click New number… in the table toolbar.
3. In the Add a new SMS number dialog, fill in the fields:
   • Number owner — choose the project member who will own the number and send from it. (If you don’t already have a number, you’re selected by default.)
   • Area code — enter a three-digit area code that makes sense for your project and your message recipients. Broadstripes looks up available numbers as soon as you enter a valid area code.
   • Available numbers — once the dropdown populates, choose the number you want.
4. Click Provision.
5. A Please wait dialog confirms that your number is being provisioned. This can take up to 24 hours, though it usually finishes in less than an hour. Click OK to close it.

Once provisioning completes, the number appears in the Active numbers table and its owner can use it to send texts.

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Release a number

The SMS numbers page lists every number in your project in an interactive data grid with sortable, filterable columns — the Number, its Location, the Creator and Owner, and the Provisioned date. To give up a number you no longer need, click Deactivate in its row and confirm. The number is released back to the carrier and moves to a Deactivated numbers table at the bottom of the page.