Who owns your tracking phone number?
Knowing you’ll always be able to receive calls to your business is something most of us take for granted. However, if you’re planning on using call tracking phone numbers in your marketing efforts, you will want to know who owns the phone numbers you’re using. After all, you’re going to be using these numbers to promote your business.
When you don’t own the tracking phone numbers you run the risk of losing the ability to control the routing of calls coming through those numbers.
There are a few common scenarios where this could be a concern. I’ll describe a few of them below.
- Call Tracking Providers: Not all call tracking providers ‘sell’ you the phone numbers. Instead they ‘lease’ the phone number to you while you’re using them. Stop using their service and you lose your phone numbers.
- Marketing Solution Providers: Some marketing solution providers will not allow you to keep any tracking numbers they set up as a part of their service. Stop using the solution they provide and you lose your phone numbers.
- Marketing Agencies: Most marketing agencies use call tracking numbers in a way that does not trap you. Rarely, marketing agencies are not willing to (or not able to) transfer tracking numbers they set up to track their efforts. If they use a call tracking provider that leases numbers then they simply aren’t able to release the numbers.
We believe your phone number should belong to you
Before you choose a call tracking provider, whether directly or indirectly through a marketing solution provider or marketing agency, ensure that you’ll own your phone numbers. Your phone number becomes your business identity, and it should be yours — not trapped with your call tracking company.
Here’s what one of our competitors recently told our team when we helped them move a phone number from their software to CallRail:
[Competitor] We are owner of the numbers. Not the customer.
And more from the same exchange:
[Competitor] These numbers were never ported into our system and therefore we have only been providing them with the software. So from a strictly ownership standpoint, we own the numbers, and we have been leasing them out to [client].
Typically, we do not allow numbers to port out that were not originally ported into us.
In the end, this customer paid an $800 fee to release a single phone number and port it over to CallRail.
See why we’re the most reviewed and highest rated call tracking solution on G2 Crowd: sign up for a 14-day free trial or request a demo today.
We want you to be happy, not trapped
We work hard to offer you the best service possible, and we want to be your partner for the long haul — not because you’re stuck, but because we continue to deliver outstanding service.
There are a lot of benefits to porting your business phone number into a call tracking provider. We believe you should be able to port it in and out without being trapped.
Any number you port to CallRail or create within CallRail is yours to keep. If you decide to leave, there’s no cost associated with porting a number out of CallRail.
Questions about porting your phone numbers into CallRail? We’re here to help. Click here to chat with a call tracking expert now.
