How do I get a gym phone number for calls and texts?

This gives your gym a local phone number. Calls ring your cell phones, voicemails arrive by email, and families can text you back and forth. Everything is on one page with five numbered steps.

Before you begin

• You must be an owner. Other staff see only your number and a link to Messages.
• Your business address comes from Settings. Add it first if it is missing.
• For texting you need your business's legal name and EIN, exactly as on your IRS records.

Steps

1. Open Phone & texting.
2. Step 1, A card for the phone bill. The line is billed to your gym each month, at cost, on the card on NinjaHQ billing. Press Add a card if none is on file. You enter it on Stripe's secure page and return to this step.
3. Step 2, Your local number. Pick an area code (the page offers the area codes around your gym, or Closest to the gym), or type another area code. You can add Has These Digits (optional). Press Find numbers, choose a number and press the button to buy it.
4. Step 3, Where calls go. Type up to three cell phones under Cell Phones to Ring (One per Line, Up to 3). Choose All at once or One after another. Keep or untick the options: say "Press 1 to answer" first (so a phone's own voicemail never takes the call), and send calls to voicemail outside your opening hours. Edit the Voicemail Greeting. Under Email Voicemails to list who gets them (empty means the owners). Press Save, then call your new number to try it.
5. Step 4, Texting: carrier registration. Fill in the form (legal business name, EIN, business type, your name, title and role, email and mobile) and press Submit for approval. NinjaHQ writes the rest. Approval takes a few days, and the step shows the stage it is at. You are emailed when texting is on. Calls already work.
6. Step 5, Caller name on your calls. Type the name families see when you call, up to 15 letters, numbers and spaces, and press Register this name. Use your business name. Carriers refuse a name that is only a city or state.

What you'll see

• Calls, voicemails and texts show in Messages under Customers, grouped by day. The page shows Needs a call back for missed calls and voicemails.
• Call back rings your cell phone first from the gym's number, then connects the customer. They see the gym's number.
• Texting shows as approved when the carriers finish. Until then Messages cannot send texts.
• Phone use is on the Billing page, with this month so far and past bills.

Troubleshooting

Step 2 says to add the card first. Finish step 1.

Registration failed. The step shows what to fix, such as a name that does not match the IRS record. Correct it and send it again.

Twilio could not reserve that number. Pick another from the list.

I do not get notifications for texts. Turn on the "text message or voicemail" topic under Sign-in & alerts.