Buy a phone number in any country

Buying a phone number happens entirely inside GodSetter: the Numbers page searches Twilio's inventory for any country in the world and buys a number with a click. Purchases go through your agency's own Twilio account — the number belongs to you, and Twilio bills you the recurring monthly cost, which depends on the country and number type.

Many countries are regulated, so there may be one prerequisite that lives outside the platform: your Twilio account may need an approved regulatory bundle before a number in that country can be bought. This guide covers the full path, including that prerequisite.

Before you start

Twilio must be connected for your agency on the Connections page. Without a connection, both search and purchase stop with "Twilio is not connected yet." See Connect Twilio. Connect Retell too, before buying: the purchase registers the number on Retell right away, and without that connection the number is bought but left unregistered.

Searching numbers needs viewer access to the Numbers area; buying needs editor plus the "can spend" permission (it costs money). Without them the purchase is refused — ask an admin of your agency on the Team page.

Step 1 — Check the country's regulatory requirements

Regulated countries (Italy, Germany, and many others) require an approved regulatory bundle on your Twilio account: an identity document and the address of the number holder (a person or a company; the address often needs to be local). You set this up in the Twilio Console under Phone Numbers → Regulatory Compliance → Bundles — the "Buy a number" card in GodSetter also links to Twilio's regulatory requirements guide.

Approval is handled by Twilio and is not instant — it can take days. Request it well before a client's go-live. Without an approved bundle the number search still works (it only reads availability), but every purchase in that country fails. Some countries (e.g. the US and Canada) have no such prerequisite.

Some numbers additionally require a validated Address on your Twilio account, sometimes one in the number's own country. GodSetter reads that requirement and attaches a matching address automatically — but only if one exists: create it in the Twilio Console (Phone Numbers → Regulatory Compliance → Addresses) alongside the bundle.

Step 2 — Pick a country and number type, then search

Open the Numbers page. In the Buy a number card, pick the country from the searchable list (it shows every country Twilio can sell to your account) and the number type — Mobile, Local or Toll-free. Not every country sells every type (the US, for example, has no purchasable mobile numbers — use Local there); an unavailable combination simply returns no results. Click Search numbers to list up to five available numbers, along with the estimated monthly cost for that country and type.

Step 3 — Buy the number

Click Buy next to the number you want. A confirmation dialog shows the number and the recurring monthly cost before purchase — the purchase is immediate and non-refundable. Confirm to complete it.

Step 4 — Check the Active numbers table

On success you see "Number purchased" and the number appears in the Active numbers table with its Type, Cost/month, Acquired date and Status. A fresh number starts with no agents — its Agents column reads Unassigned.

Step 5 — Check the Retell registration

A number your voice platform (Retell) does not know can neither place nor receive calls, whatever you assign in GodSetter. Right after the purchase GodSetter registers the number for you: it builds a SIP trunk on your agency's Twilio account (once per agency), moves the number onto it and imports it on Retell with the inbound webhook already pointed at your agency. The Retell column in the Active numbers table shows the outcome — registered, or not registered with the provider's own error message underneath.

If it reads not registered (a transient provider error, or a number bought before this automation existed), press Register on Retell on that row. The operation is safe to repeat: it repairs whatever is missing and leaves what already works alone. For outbound calls to a foreign country, Twilio must also allow that destination under Voice → Geographic Permissions → Elastic SIP Trunking — the error message tells you when that is the cause.

Step 6 — Assign the number to your agents

A number in the pool is not used until you assign it. Assignment is fail-closed: an agent with no assigned active numbers never dials — triggers for it are skipped and queued calls are dropped at dispatch. This is deliberate multi-market isolation (a UK lead should never be called from an Italian prefix — assign numbers per market).

Open each agent that should use the number (agent editor → Numbers tab) and tick it. See Assign phone numbers to an agent. The Agents column on the Numbers page shows the reverse view — which agents use each number.

If the purchase fails

Next steps

• Assign phone numbers to an agent
• Understanding number saturation
• Calls are not firing — full checklist