Smart Number Overview
The Smart Number is a feature built into each office on your account. A smart number can exist for each office, team, or agent. To receive a dedicated agent phone line, a separate Personal Smart Number will need to be purchased through the Marketplace.
Your Smart Number is a VOIP (voice over IP) phone number that is connected to your btPRO database. This means that it knows everything that is connected to your btPRO account!
It knows:
Your cellphone number, and the cellphones of the other users in your Office/account (only your if it is a separately purchased Personal Smart Number)
Your contacts' phone numbers
Your Office numbers
Which contacts/leads belong to whom (if the call comes in to an office Smart Number, the lead will be routed in a round-robin style if no agent has previously been assigned)
Who contacted which contact last
What auto-communications went to which contact last
Inside Real Estate uses the Smart Number for the dialer system, as well as to send & receive texts to and from contacts.
You will get different text messages from the Smart Number:
If you get a new contact and Lead Routing is set to notify you of your new contacts.
If a lead sends you a text, it is forwarded to you from the Smart Number. You will see the message but should reply via btPRO so the lead gets the reply from the same number they texted.
If you create a custom text code, and the text lead sends it to your Smart Number, you will be forwarded the information as if one of your leads texted you.
"Your text to btPRO will not be delivered. Please use btPRO, the btPRO mobile app or text your contact directly to respond." - You will see this message if the phone number in your agent profile matches the phone number you are texting. When you add yourself as a text lead you're not considering this, but what it boils down to is that btPRO cannot text itself! If you have a test lead, we recommend setting it up with its own cell phone number that can receive your texts.
Lead Capturing Smart Number Functionality
To learn more about text codes, click here.
Smart Number Strategies to Get Accurate Contact Info
How to Make Money With Your Smart Number
Office and Team Inbound Calls
How the Smart Number for an Office/Team Works When it is Not Capturing Leads via Text
Text Deliverability
There are times when a text may not be delivered - and it's understandable that this may cause you some concern. However, there are 4 main reasons a text may not be delivered to a contact.
In any of the below cases, it's recommended to utilize other channels of communication, such as email or voice calls.
1 - The Contact Has Unsubscribed From Text Messages
Contacts can unsubscribe from text messages from btPRO by replying "stop" to the Smart Number. A note will appear in the lead timeline that indicates they have unsubscribed.
They can also unsubscribe to emails and texts via your website. A note will appear in the contact timeline that notes how they unsubscribed.
2 - The Contact Has Blocked the Smart Number
3 - The Phone Number is a Landline
If a contact's number is a landline and you attempt to text them a note in the contact profile will be added that reads "Text not sent - landline".
4 - The Contacts Cell Phone Carrier Has Blocked the Message
In March 2017, T-Mobile rolled out a new scam flagging service powered by First Orion. Once a number has been flagged as "scam", future calls to all T-mobile customers are automatically alerted as "Scam Likely". And, when customers enable Scam Block, T-Mobile will stop "scam" calls before they ever reach them. Other carriers such as AT&T have similar policies in place.
You may be able to quickly resolve this problem by using a different Caller ID number when making calls (purchasing a Personal Smart Number can help here!)
Report your Caller ID number as a valid number to T-Mobile.
Register your numbers with https://calltransparency.com/
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do my contacts see the Smart Number?
If you are calling your contact from btPRO on your computer, it is basically a three-way call, and the Smart Number displays to your contact when you are calling them.
Please Note: If you are initiating calls from the mobile app dialer, your cell phone is used to call your contacts directly. Therefore, your cell number will be displayed instead of your Smart Number.
If your contact visits your btPRO website, they may see the Smart Number on it.
To learn more about which phone number displays on your website click here.
If you are using custom text codes in the future, your leads will be sending texts to the Smart Number.
To learn more about custom text codes, click here.
If your Smart Campaign has text messages in it, those texts are sent to the lead from the Smart Number.
To learn more about Smart Campaigns click here.
If you text your leads/contacts via btPRO, those texts are sent to them from the Smart Number.
What happens if someone calls the Smart Number for my Team or Office?
If the person calling in IS NOT in btPRO as a contact/lead then the call is forwarded according to the settings of the Smart Number, controlled by an Admin. These calls can be made to forward to a receptionist, a group of Agents, or a single Agent, or even round-robin to all agents. It's configured by the Administrator.
If the person calling in IS a contact/lead in btPRO, several checks happen to determine where to forward that person's call, in the case of duplicate leads.
First, the system will try to route it to the Agent who made the most recent call or text in the last 90 days to the contact.
If no calls or texts have been made in the last 90 days, then the call will route to the Agent with the most recent outbound activity to the contact (including emails, Search Alerts, etc.)
If there is no recent Agent activity for the inbound number whatsoever, then btPRO will create a new tracked call lead and route the call according to the Smart Number’s routing rules.
When an inbound call is forwarded to you from your Smart Number, the number shown on your phone will be the number of the person calling in.
If the Smart Number is set up to route to a specific agent, and that agent becomes inactive, the lead/call will be forwarded to a Company Admin. The lead will be assigned to this admin, and the ownership will be set to the entity for which the Smart Number is scoped.
What's the difference between a Personal Smart Number and a Shared Smart Number?
A Personal Smart Number is purchased on an individual level from the Marketplace and belongs to that individual so that if any lead calls the personal Smart Number they will be directed to the Agent that owns that Smart Number.
A Shared Smart Number is provided by your Office or Team that you as an Agent are a part of. This follows the routing rules of that Office or Team and New Leads that call this Shared Smart Number will be routed accordingly.
Should I use my broker smart number provided or continue to use my own number?
Your broker number works fine to call out from, but new leads coming in are typically routed in a round-robin fashion with all agents in your brokerage.
You can use your own cell phone number, but then your contacts have the same number your friends and family call in on.
Your best option is to have your own Personal Smart Number that can be used to call out from, giving your clients that number you want them to call back on. And as leads call in from your marketing and other lead-generating actions, they will be coming through directly to you. And you can even reroute the Personal Smart Number to ring through to your cell phone if you wish.
How would a Personal Smart Number benefit my business?
You work hard for leads, you want to ensure they come directly to you and that you can nurture and work them to a closing.
Can I purchase a Personal Smart Number and forward it to an ISA who is not in the US/Canada?
No. The Smart Number can only be forwarded to a US or Canadian phone number.
Can I use my Smart Number with Google Voice?
No. The smart number is not currently designed to be used with other VOIP systems such as Google Voice, Dialpad, ect. This is because the Smart Number is a VOIP and may cause conflicts with other VOIP systems, as it is meant to only be used with a cell phone number.
I am on a Team and in an Office. I have more than one Smart Number! Which one is used?
The Smart Number being used can be found by clicking the dropdown menu to the top right of your btPRO account. The phone number that displays is the Smart Number used.
When you use btPRO, the most specific Smart Number is used to communicate with your contacts. The hierarchy is Office > Team > Agent. So, if you have an Office and a Team number, the TEAM number is used (Team is more specific than an Office).
Why would we need additional smart numbers?
Reasons you do:
1. So that all calls and texts get logged into their Smart CRM.
2. If leads call your Personal Smart Number you will get those calls redirected to your cell phone. If leads call the Office Smart Number, it's typically set to round-robin for all agents in the office.
Some people prefer not to use their personal cell phone number for several reasons that may include, it is personal to family and friends, incase you change carriers, if you want the ability to leave your phone/number behind while on vacation, etc.
Can I text members of my Team or Office from my Smart Number?
No. Texting other Agents on the btPRO platform from a Smart Number can cause routing issues. This means that messages may not be delivered or problems with the carrier may arise.
How does the Smart Number work with lead routing?
The Smart Number can only deliver calls. It cannot decide who gets which lead.
To learn more about lead routing click here.
Lead routing determines who a lead should go to, then the lead is delivered with the Smart Number.
When a new lead is generated in some way, through a lead funnel or from the website, the registration goes straight to lead routing.
Phone calls from unknown numbers are the only thing that gets 'routed' according to the settings of the Smart Number. An unknown phone call is not a newly generated lead, it is simply a call from a phone number that btPRO does not know yet. Only custom text codes can generate text leads via the Smart Number. Text messages are not phone calls.
What is call recording on a Smart Number?
When you change the Smart Number settings as an Admin, you can opt to enable call recording.
Be sure to read the disclaimer thoroughly!
When this is enabled, call recordings will be accessible in the Contact's timeline from the dashboard:
Clicking on the listen link will open/download the recording on your computer/device.
Is there a character limit for texts from the Smart Number?
The character limit for a single SMS message is technically 160 characters. However, most modern phones and networks support message concatenation: they split large messages into individual SMS messages (called "segments") and then re-create the large message at the receiving end. For SMS messaging, it's recommended to send messages that are no more than 320 characters to ensure the best deliverability and user experience.
Some of my contacts with T-Mobile have not received my text messages from the system. Why?
Back in March 2017, T-Mobile rolled out a new scam flagging service powered by First Orion. Once a number has been flagged as "scam", future calls to all T-mobile customers are automatically alerted as "Scam Likely". And, when customers enable Scam Block, T-Mobile will stop "scam" calls before they ever reach them.
You may be able to quickly resolve this problem by using a different Caller ID number when making calls (purchasing a Personal Smart Number can help here!)
Report your Caller ID number as a valid number to T-Mobile.
Register your numbers with https://calltransparency.com/
I'm receiving spam calls to my Smart Number. What do I do?
If you receive spam or robocalls to your Smart Number your best option is to report those to the FCC.
For more information on stopping unwanted calls or texts, click here.
I want to take my number with me when I leave, can I do that?
Yes, you can port your number out of btPRO as long as you initiate it before the account is canceled
If I change my btPRO instance, can my smart number be transferred?
Yes.
Can I do multiple personal smart numbers? - I work in multiple area codes
Yes, but only 1 will display on your website. We suggest picking one with one of the most localized area codes as people these days tend to know and understand that people who live locally could have any number of localized area codes.
Can we cancel our office smart number? We don’t want calls going to a round-robin.
It can't be canceled, but it can be hidden.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to Customer Support via the blue chat bubble to the right or by emailing prosupport@insiderealestate.com!