Tradesly · Guide
Pick your AI phone number
Choose a local number your customers will recognize, ready to answer in minutes.
People answer numbers that look like home. A call or text from your own area code gets picked up; an out-of-state number gets ignored. So the second setup step is choosing the phone number your AI receptionist will live on — and Tradesly steers you local.
1 Picking your number
The second setup step is labeled Phone, and its heading reads “Your AI phone number”. Tradesly has already picked a local number for you, based on where your business actually is — drawn from your website and your ZIP code, so the suggestion usually lands right the first time. Take it, or go looking for another.
That's the whole step. The number is yours from the moment you choose it, and your AI receptionist will be answering on it minutes later — as soon as you finish the last setup step.
A few things worth knowing while you choose:
- Local beats memorable. A number in your customers' own area code will win you more answered calls than a clever digit pattern. If you can get both, great — but choose local first.
- Don't agonize. Your customers will save you as “Miller Plumbing,” not as ten digits. The area code is the part they'll actually notice.
2 The steps
Look at the number Tradesly offers.
It's already local to where you work, so for most businesses this step is one press.
Press Choose a different number if you'd rather look around.
That opens the search.
Search where the number should look local.
Flip the toggle to ZIP code or Area code, type yours, and press Search.
Press Continue.
The number is yours, and the last setup step — the coaching conversation — is next.
3 What this number is for
This is your AI's front door. Put it wherever you want customers to call — your website, your trucks, your invoices, your ads. Every call to it gets answered on the first ring, at any hour, in your business's name.
It's not only for talking, either. The same number can text — sending that first fast reply to a new lead, and carrying on the conversation by message. Texting takes one extra piece of setup: phone carriers require a one-time registration of your business before text messages can flow, which you complete once and never think about again. Turn on texting walks through it when you're ready — you don't need it to finish setup today.
4 What about my existing number?
Keep it. Nothing about this step touches the number you already have — your existing line keeps working exactly as it does now. Your new Tradesly number is an additional line, and you decide where each one appears and what each one is for. If you have questions about how your current number and your new one should fit together, reach out to us — Getting help tells you how.
5 What happens next
With a number chosen, one step remains: the conversation where you teach your receptionist how your business talks. It's the fun one.
Next step: Train your receptionist.