Phone calls via Chatlane

Want a phone channel without setting up Twilio? Phone Calls via Chatlane gives you a working phone number in a couple of clicks — Chatlane provisions and manages the number for you, so there's no Twilio account, no credentials, and no webhooks to deal with. Calls land in your inbox exactly like every other channel.

You can run entirely on the new Chatlane number, or keep the number your customers already know: forward your existing line into Chatlane for incoming calls, and verify it as your caller ID so outbound calls still show your familiar number.

Prefer to bring your own Twilio account? That option still exists — see Phone calls. This article is about the Chatlane-provided number, which needs no Twilio setup of your own.

How it's different from Bring-Your-Own Twilio

Everything after the number — inbound routing, browser answering, recording, transcripts, summaries, and outbound calling — works the same across both. Where that behaviour is shared, this article links to Phone calls rather than repeating it.

Step 1 — Add the channel

1. Open Inbox Settings → Channels and, under the Calls category, choose Phone Calls — via Chatlane.
2. The number picker opens. There's nothing to connect — you go straight to choosing a number.

In your list of connected channels, this channel is labelled “Phone Calls · via Chatlane” so you can tell it apart from any Bring-Your-Own-Twilio phone channel at a glance.

Step 2 — Choose your number

Chatlane searches live availability and lets you pick the number you want.

• Country — pick United States or United Kingdom. UK numbers are provided under Chatlane's own UK registration, so there's no paperwork for you to complete — just pick a number.
• Area code (optional, US only) — enter a 3-digit US area code (e.g. 415, 212, 305) to get numbers with local presence in that region. Leave it blank to see numbers from anywhere. (UK searches don't use an area-code field — use Contains instead.)
• Contains digits (optional) — enter a digit pattern you'd like the number to contain (e.g. 1234 or a repeated run like 8888) to find something memorable. For US numbers you can combine it with an area code to narrow further.

Results are shown five at a time — use Previous / Next to page through them. Each result shows the number and its city/region. When you find one you like, click it, then continue to the voice settings and choose Get this number. The number is provisioned to your account instantly and the channel goes live.

Tips for picking a number

• Choose an area code where your customers are for a familiar, local caller ID and better answer rates.
• Use Contains for a number that's easy to say and remember.
• Don't over-optimise: any number works the same technically — the area code is about presence, not capability.

Step 3 — Decide how incoming calls are handled

On the channel's Voice Config tab, set Inbound call routing to Ring agents (answer in browser), Voicemail, or Forward to a number, and optionally turn on Record / Transcribe / Summarise.

These options — including how agents opt in to answer calls in the browser — are identical to the Bring-Your-Own setup. See Phone calls → how incoming calls are handled for the full detail.

Keep your own number

If you already have a business number, you don't have to give it up. The channel's Use Your Number tab has two halves: forwarding (incoming) and caller ID (outgoing).

Incoming calls — forward your number

Keep your number with your current carrier and forward its calls to your Chatlane number. You keep ownership; Chatlane just answers.

1. On the Use Your Number tab, copy your Chatlane number (the “Forward your calls to this number” box).
2. With your existing phone carrier, turn on call forwarding to that number. Common ways to do it:
   • Many US carriers: dial *72 then the Chatlane number to enable, and *73 to turn it off.
   • GSM phones: *21<Chatlane number># to forward all calls, ##21# to stop.
   • Your carrier's mobile app or online account usually has a call-forwarding setting too.
3. To forward only when you're busy or don't answer (so the line still rings you first), use your carrier's conditional forwarding instead of forwarding everything.
4. Test it: call your existing number — it should ring through to Chatlane and follow your inbound routing.

Forwarding is set up with your carrier, not inside Chatlane — exact codes and steps vary by carrier, so check their help pages if the examples above don't apply. Your carrier may charge for forwarded minutes.

Outgoing calls — call from your number

By default, outbound calls show your Chatlane number. To make calls show your existing number instead, verify it once as a caller ID:

1. On the Use Your Number tab, under Outgoing calls, enter your existing number and choose Verify number.
2. Chatlane (via Twilio) places a short verification call to that number and shows you a 6-digit code.
3. Answer that call and enter the code on the keypad. (The verification call is in English only.)
4. Choose I've entered the code to confirm — the number flips to Verified.

Once verified, whenever your team calls out on this channel, customers see your number, not the Chatlane one. You'll see the verified number on the channel's Overview tab, and in the Make a Call dialog the Call From field notes “Customers see your verified caller ID.”

Removing a caller ID. Click Remove on the verified number. This deletes the verified caller ID from Twilio as well as from Chatlane, and outbound calls revert to showing your Chatlane number.

Verifying a caller ID only affects the number shown on outbound calls. To receive calls on your existing number, set up forwarding (above).

Recording, transcripts & summaries

Call recording, AI transcription (OpenAI Whisper), and AI summaries work exactly as they do for Bring-Your-Own Twilio — toggle them on the Voice Config tab. See Phone calls → recording, transcripts & summaries.

Removing the channel

When you delete a Chatlane phone channel, Chatlane releases the number it provisioned (so you're no longer billed for it) and removes any verified caller ID. This only applies to Chatlane-provided numbers — a Bring-Your-Own number always stays in your own Twilio account.

Billing

Billing for Chatlane-provided numbers is coming shortly. Chatlane provisions and manages the number under its own account; pricing and usage details will be announced in a forthcoming billing update. Until then, reach out to support with any questions about provisioned numbers.

Tips & troubleshooting

• No numbers matched your search. Try a different area code, or clear the Contains filter — some patterns are rare in a given region.
• Forwarded calls aren't reaching Chatlane. Re-check the forwarding setup with your carrier and confirm you forwarded to the exact Chatlane number on the Use Your Number tab. Place a test call to your own number.
• Caller ID still shows the Chatlane number. Verification must be completed (status Verified) — a pending verification doesn't apply yet. Re-run Verify number if the call was missed.
• The verification call never came. Make sure the number can receive calls and answer in person; the code must be entered on the call. Use Resend verification call to try again.
• United Kingdom numbers. UK geographic numbers are available for self-serve provisioning, carried under Chatlane's UK registration. If UK doesn't appear in the Country picker, provisioning hasn't been enabled on your deployment yet — use forwarding + caller ID with a US Chatlane number in the meantime, or a Bring-Your-Own UK number.

Related

• Phone calls — the shared voice behaviour (routing, browser answering, recording) and the Bring-Your-Own-Twilio setup.
• WhatsApp calling — voice calls over WhatsApp.
• Connect your channels — overview of every channel type.