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In the dashboard: Business Tools → Subscriptions to subscribe, Automations → Dedicated Number for the registration form, and Messages in the sidebar for your texts.

Without a dedicated number, the texts your automations send come from a shared Hive number. Clients can’t tell they’re from you, and when they reply, the reply doesn’t reach you. The Dedicated SMS Number add-on gives your company its own phone number for texts. Once it’s set up:
  • Your automated texts (confirmations, reminders, agreement and payment links), review requests and reports you text from Quick Actions come from your number.
  • When a client or agent replies, you see it in Messages, get a text on your phone and an email.
  • You can answer from Messages, and the client gets your answer from the same number.
The number is for text messages only. Calls to it don’t go through, and there is no voicemail.

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Setting it up at a glance

1

Subscribe

Business Tools → Subscriptions → Dedicated SMS Number → Subscribe. It costs $20 a month. See Step 1.
2

Fill in the registration form

Carriers only let a business text from its own number after it’s registered. Fill in your business details and where replies should go, then click Submit for Registration. See Step 2.
3

Wait for approval

Hive registers the number with the carriers and assigns it to you. This can take up to 7 days. See Step 3.
4

Text from Messages

Your automations start using your number by themselves. Read and answer replies in Messages. See Messages.
You need both: the subscription and an approved form. Paying alone doesn’t get you a number, and the form alone doesn’t either.

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Before you start

  • You need an active Hive plan. The add-on is only for companies with a paid software subscription. On a free trial, or with a plan that isn’t paid up, clicking Subscribe shows Dedicated SMS number requires an active software subscription.
  • Who can subscribe: the account owner, and team members with the Manage Subscriptions permission. Others see Access Denied on the Subscriptions page. See What each permission does.
  • Have your business details ready: your legal business name and federal tax ID (EIN) exactly as the IRS has them, or your Business Number (BN) in Canada, and your business address.

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Step 1: Subscribe

  1. Open Business Tools → Subscriptions.
  2. Find the Dedicated SMS Number card and click Subscribe.
  3. Pay on the Stripe checkout page. It’s a separate monthly subscription of $20/month, on top of your Hive plan.
The Dedicated SMS Number card on the Subscriptions page: a Benefits box, a yellow note saying to fill out the registration form after subscribing, a Dedicated SMS Number $20/month row with a blue Subscribe button, and a line saying that once approved the number is used for automations, review requests, reports sent by text and replies in Messages, and that it is for texts only Back in Hive, you see Dedicated SMS Number Subscribed! with a Fill out form button. Click it, or carry on with Step 2. If you close the checkout page without paying, you see Payment Canceled and nothing is charged.

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What the card shows after you subscribe

The card shows where you are. Come back to it at any time.
The Dedicated SMS Number card with Status Pending Assignment and a yellow box: Action needed, please fill out the registration form so we can apply for your dedicated number; your number can't be assigned until the form is submittedPending Assignment with Action needed: you’ve paid but haven’t submitted the registration form yet. Nothing happens until you do.

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Step 2: Fill in the registration form

Phone carriers block business texts from numbers that aren’t registered to a real business. This form gives Hive what’s needed to register your number with Twilio, our texting provider, and the carriers. Open the form in any of these ways: The top of the Dedicated Number Registration page with a Draft badge, a blue box saying Dedicated number $20/month and approval can take up to 7 days with a Manage subscription link, and an Important Information box saying all information is required, accurate information is required or carriers can reject the registration, and the information is not visible to clients
Type everything exactly as it appears on your official records. The carriers check your details against government records. A business name that doesn’t match your EIN letter is the most common reason a registration is rejected.
None of this is shown to your clients. It’s only used for the carrier registration. Fields marked with a red * are required.

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Business Information

The Business Information card: Federal Business Name Lakeside Home Inspections LLC, Federal Tax ID (EIN) 12-3456789 with the hint For Canada, write NA, Business Type LLC, Company Type Private and Website URL Choose Business Type and Company Type before you click Save Draft. A draft without them doesn’t save.

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Authorized Representative

The Authorized Representative card with First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number, Job Position and an optional Business Title The person who is allowed to register phone numbers for your business, usually the owner. Fill in First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number and Job Position (such as Owner or CEO). Business Title is optional. Use a real email and phone that person answers. Carriers may contact them to confirm the registration.

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Business Address

The Business Address card with Address Line 1, an optional Address Line 2, City, a State dropdown, ZIP Code and a Country dropdown set to United States Your official business address: Address Line 1, City, State, ZIP Code and Country are required, Address Line 2 (suite or unit) is optional. Country is United States or Canada. Changing the country clears State, and the labels switch to Province and Postal Code.

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Forwarding Details

The Forwarding Details card: Where should we let you know when someone texts your dedicated number? The number is for texts only. An Email box with the hint We'll email you every text sent to your dedicated number, and a Phone Number box with the hint We'll text you here whenever someone texts your dedicated number This is where Hive tells you about replies. Both are optional, but fill in both so you never miss a reply. One email address and one phone number each. See When someone replies for what these look like.

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Save or submit

The Cancel, Save Draft and blue Submit for Registration buttons at the bottom of the form
  • Save Draft keeps what you’ve typed so you can finish later. You see Form saved successfully.
  • Submit for Registration saves and sends the form to Hive. You see Form submitted successfully. If a required field is empty, you see Missing required fields instead. Look for the empty box marked *.
  • Cancel leaves without saving.
You can fill in the form before subscribing, but your number is only set up once you’ve done both.

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Step 3: Wait for approval

After you submit, the badge at the top changes to Submitted, and the page says Form Submitted. The Dedicated Number Registration page with a Submitted badge and a blue Form Submitted box saying the form is being reviewed and you will be notified once your dedicated phone number is ready Hive registers your business and number with the carriers. This can take up to 7 days. You don’t need to do anything in the meantime. Your automated texts keep going out from the shared Hive number until the number is approved. When it’s done:
  • The form shows Approved and Registration Approved with your number.
  • The Subscriptions card shows Active with your number.
  • Messages shows Your dedicated number is … at the top.
The Dedicated Number Registration page with an Approved badge and a green Registration Approved box: your dedicated phone number is +1 (512) 555-0147 and is now active for all outgoing SMS Hive picks your number for you. You can’t choose a particular number, and you can’t bring a number you already have.

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Changing your details after you submit

Once the form is Submitted or Approved, only the Forwarding Details can be changed. Change the email or phone and click Save Changes. The other boxes still look editable, but changes to your business details aren’t saved, because they’ve already gone to the carriers. To correct them, message us from the chat bubble in the dashboard.

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If your registration is rejected

The form shows Rejected and Registration Rejected. Fix the details the carriers didn’t accept (usually the business name or tax ID) and click Resubmit.

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Read and answer texts in Messages

Click Messages in the sidebar. The Messages page: Your dedicated number is +1 (512) 555-0147 at the top, a conversation list on the left with Megan Ortiz, Tom Becker, David Chen, an unknown number and Priya Raman, and on the right the conversation with Megan Ortiz showing automated texts in blue, her reply asking to move the inspection to 10am, a Manual Reply, and a reply box at the bottom with Sending from and a 0/1600 counter

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The conversation list

On the left, one row per person, newest first:
  • The contact’s name, or just the phone number when the number isn’t one of your contacts.
  • The last message, with You: in front when it was yours, and a green arrow when it was theirs.
  • 2 inbound: how many texts this person has sent you in total. It is not an unread count. Messages has no read or unread state.
  • Search conversations… finds a name, phone number or message text.

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A conversation

Click a row to see every text with that person, oldest at the top. Your texts are blue on the right, theirs are white on the left. Under each text:
  • The inspection address. Click it to open the inspection.
  • Where it came from: Automation (sent by an automation), Manual Reply (typed in Messages), Send Reports (report links from Quick Actions → Send Reports), Review Engine (a review request), or Twilio Incoming (a text they sent you).
  • When it was sent.
Contact at the top right opens your contacts list.

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Reply

The reply box: Sending from +15125550147, a 27/1600 counter, the text Thanks Megan, see you then!, a blue Send button and the hint Press Command + Enter to send Type in Type a reply… and click Send, or press ⌘ + Enter (Ctrl + Enter on Windows). Plain Enter starts a new line.
  • The reply goes out from your dedicated number, shown as Sending from.
  • Up to 1,600 characters.
  • Text only: you can’t attach photos or files.
  • Hive links your reply to the most recent inspection in the conversation.

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Good to know

  • You can only answer. You can’t start a new conversation in Messages. A person shows up once you’ve texted them through an automation, or they’ve texted your number.
  • Reload to see new texts. Messages doesn’t refresh by itself. Reload the page to see replies that came in while it was open. The text and email you get for each reply arrive straight away.
  • Photos clients send aren’t shown. If a client texts a picture, you see their text but not the picture. Ask them to email photos.
  • Your whole team sees Messages. Everyone on your team can open it, read every conversation and reply.
  • Messages is on the web dashboard only. The mobile app doesn’t have it. On your phone, use the text and email notifications.

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Replies are disabled

A yellow banner where the reply box would be: Replies are disabled. Replies require an approved dedicated number. Set up dedicated number You see this instead of the reply box until your number is approved. You can still read the conversations: they show texts your automations sent from the shared Hive number. Set up dedicated number opens the registration form.

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If a client replied STOP

When someone texts STOP, the carrier blocks all texts from you to that number. If you try to reply, you see This contact replied STOP and has unsubscribed from texts, and the reply box is replaced by This contact has unsubscribed. They need to text START to your number before you can text them again. Use email or call them in the meantime.

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When someone replies

Every text a client, agent or anyone else sends to your number reaches you three ways at once.

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In Messages

It appears in the person’s conversation. If they aren’t one of your contacts, it gets its own conversation under their phone number. Hive links the reply to an inspection: the one your last text to that number was about, otherwise that contact’s most recent inspection. Canceled inspections are skipped.

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By text

A text to the Phone Number in your Forwarding Details, from your dedicated number:
Long messages are cut after 100 characters: open Messages to read the rest. Re: only shows when the reply is linked to an inspection. If you left the forwarding phone empty, the text goes to the first inspector on the linked inspection instead, or else to your company phone number from Profile Settings.
Don’t answer the notification text itself. Your answer goes to your own dedicated number, not to the client. Reply from Messages.

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By email

An email to the Email in your Forwarding Details, from “Your Company via HiveInspect”, with the subject New SMS from Megan Ortiz — Hi! Is there any way we can move it… The New SMS Received email: the full message, From Megan Ortiz, Phone, Received time in UTC, a Linked Inspection box with the address and a View Inspection button, and a View All Messages button
  • The full message, the sender’s name and phone, and the time received (in UTC).
  • Linked Inspection with the address and View Inspection, when the reply is linked to one.
  • View All Messages opens Messages.
No forwarding email, no email: Hive doesn’t fall back to another address. Answering this email doesn’t text the client. It goes to your company email address. Reply from Messages.

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Which texts come from your number

Once your number is approved: Until your number is approved, automated texts, review requests and report texts come from the shared Hive number, and you can’t reply from Messages. Replies to texts from the shared number never reach you, even after your number is approved. If your dedicated number has a temporary problem, Hive sends that automated text, review request or report text from the shared number rather than not at all. A reply you type in Messages is never sent from the shared number: if it can’t go out, you see an error. Sleep hours and the 1,600-character limit work the same as before. See Automation settings.

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Cancel the dedicated number

  1. Open Business Tools → Subscriptions.
  2. On the Current Plan card, click Manage Subscription. This opens your Stripe billing page.
  3. Cancel the Dedicated SMS Number subscription there.
It stays on until the end of the month you’ve paid for, and the card shows Subscription will end on that date. After that, Hive removes the number from your account: your texts go back to the shared Hive number, and replies no longer reach you. Your past conversations stay in Messages.

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Frequently asked questions

The call doesn’t go through. The number is for texts only, with no call forwarding and no voicemail. Put your office number in your texts if you want clients to call.
No. Hive gives you a new number when your registration is approved. You can’t bring an existing number or choose a particular one.
Up to 7 days after you’ve both subscribed and submitted the registration form. The clock only starts once the form is submitted, so send it straight after subscribing.
Your number isn’t approved yet. Check the Dedicated SMS Number card on Business Tools → Subscriptions. Action needed means the registration form hasn’t been submitted. We’ve received your registration form means it’s still being registered with the carriers.
No. Texts come from your dedicated number, and the details on the registration form are only used for the carrier registration. Clients only see your personal number if you type it into a message.
  1. Reload Messages. It doesn’t refresh by itself.
  2. Check which number they replied to. If it was a text sent before your number was approved, it came from the shared Hive number, and replies to it don’t reach you.
  3. If they replied STOP earlier, they need to text START before texts work again.
  4. If they answered an email instead of a text, the reply goes to your company email inbox.
Open the registration form and check Forwarding Details. The email only goes to the Email there. If Phone Number is empty, reply texts go to the inspector on the inspection or your company phone instead. Change them and click Save Changes.
Yes. Everyone on your team can open Messages, read every conversation and reply. There is one dedicated number per company, shared by the whole team.
Not from Messages: it only answers existing conversations. Send texts through an automation instead, and once they reply, answer from Messages.
Hive doesn’t charge them. Their own phone plan’s usual texting rates apply, as with any text.

Related

Automation starter packThe emails and texts to set up firstGuideAutomation settingsEvent, delay, recipient and message for each automationGuideAutomation historySee, resend or stop the texts for one inspectionGuideAutomated review requestsAsk every client for a Google review at the right momentGuide
Last modified on October 21, 2026