Phone numbers your company controls
Give each company account, test environment, or agent workflow a phone number with a home in your workspace. Label it, choose its access, and use it from the inbox and your tools.
A number with a clear home
Your workspace holds the number and its messages. A teammate opens the inbox; a test uses the API; an agent retrieves a code. The number stays associated with the company when a laptop changes or another person takes over the work.
Managing the number in Phonekit gives you four everyday controls:
- Label: identify the account, environment, or worker it belongs to.
- Inbox: inspect received messages and recognized codes or links.
- Sharing: choose workspace-member access or selected teammates.
- Automation: grant a credential read access to the numbers its workflow needs, and management only where it must acquire or release lines.
Make the purpose visible
Start with names people will recognize. This example separates stable account identities from independent test workers.
| Number label | Purpose | Typical access |
|---|---|---|
| Product operations | Company service accounts | Account administrators |
| Staging sign-in | Repeatable acceptance test | QA team and CI credential |
| QA worker 1 | One concurrent verification flow | Its test worker |
| QA worker 2 | A second concurrent flow | Its test worker |
Scroll horizontally to see all columns.
A label helps select a number; it does not reserve an inbox or change the phone number sent to a service. For simultaneous tests, allocate separate numbers or serialize the workflows.
Choose a number for your destination
Phonekit offers two number classes: Standard and Mobile. Standard is our SMS-capable US local option. Mobile numbers are issued by a mobile network, for accounts that require that number type. Both work with the same shared inbox and permissions.
The number-classification guide explains what those categories mean and gives you a worksheet for testing the service you intend to use. A service's acceptance decision and the ability to receive SMS are separate parts of that check.
Share the identity with people and software
Number access is explicit. Owners and administrators retain access to restricted numbers; other members use the sharing choice for that number. API keys have their own selected-number scope, so a CI credential can read its QA number without receiving access to an operations inbox.
Programmatic access is included on every plan. You can start with a shared inbox and add software access to the same number when the workflow needs it.
Questions you may have
Does the number change when someone leaves the team?
Removing a teammate changes their workspace access; it does not replace the company number. Review the outside service's account roles and any automation credentials during the handoff. Use the offboarding checklist to cover those related steps.
Can I move an existing number to Phonekit?
Bring the country, current provider, and intended use to early access. We will confirm whether a transfer is available before you change an existing account. The current setup starts with numbers supplied through Phonekit.
Can one number serve several company accounts?
Yes, where each service accepts it and your access needs fit. Keep an account-to-number inventory and consider separate numbers when different teams need different message access. Number sharing applies to the inbox as a whole.
Does a persistent number keep every message indefinitely?
Number continuity and message retention are separate. The default retention is 30 days from receipt. Keeping or releasing a number does not restart that clock; see security and retention.