Set up and manage your dedicated business number
About a dedicated business number
A dedicated business number is a toll-free number that you can use to manage customer communications. You can receive calls and voicemails, send and receive text or email messages, and manage missed call notifications.
You can also create a personalized voicemail greeting for your customers. If you miss a call, you will receive a notification and can follow up via text message or return the call using your mobile phone plan. If a customer leaves a voicemail, you can listen to the message, read the transcription, and reply directly from your conversations.
Before you begin
Make sure you have an active Square subscription. Learn how to set up and manage Messages and learn more about Square subscriptions.
You can do the following with your dedicated business number from Square Dashboard or the Square Point of Sale app:
Claim your dedicated business number
Check the verification status of your dedicated business number
Access and manage your voicemail
If you miss a call, you can call back customers from your point of sale app. Learn how to manage notifications with Messages.
Each paid location receives a dedicated toll-free business number, subject to a mandatory industry-wide verification process. We request and submit the necessary business information to complete the verification process on your behalf. You will be updated via email regarding any changes to the verification status, including successful verification, requests for additional information, or notification of verification failure.
To minimize verification delays, make your information is accurate when you sign up for Square.
You need to promptly review and resubmit any requested information, as delays in the verification process will postpone access to dedicated business number features.
Ineligibility for a dedicated business number
Network carriers impose stringent restrictions for SMS messaging that apply to both the type of business and message traffic. These restrictions classify some businesses as ineligible for a toll-free phone number and restrict related content from being sent through the services. Common examples of restricted businesses include those that:
May be subject to SHAFT-C rules, which stands for Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms/Fireworks, Tobacco and Cannabis. Learn more about SHAFT-C requirements.
Sell fireworks
Provide high risk financial services including but not limited to debt collection and forgiveness, credit repair and gambling,
Offer prescription medication that cannot be legally sold over-the-counter
Have marketing and sales business models that are considered high-risk and restricted by carriers, such as multi-level marketing.
For CBD and cannabis, these restrictions apply to any business selling or providing services that contain CBD or any type of cannabis. If your business is currently part of the Square CBD program, but no longer sells CBD items or provides CBD as part of your services, you need to exit the CBD program before verifying your dedicated business number.
For medications, these restrictions apply to controlled and/or regulated substances and prescription drugs that cannot be legally sold over-the-counter.
If you sell alcohol, you will need robust age-gating for your website to be eligible for a toll free number. Robust age-gating requires asking for your visitor's birthday in month/day/year format, rather than yes/no questions such as “Are you 21+?”.
These restrictions are imposed by carriers to help ensure toll free number traffic excludes prohibited use cases and comports with applicable law and industry best practices. In the future, we may contact you to provide updates on your eligibility.
If you still have questions about your eligibility, you can contact our support team.
Claim your dedicated business number
The verification process usually takes up to seven business days to complete.
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Sign in to Square Dashboard and click the Messages icon to open your Messages inbox.
Click the gear icon to open your Settings.
Click Claim number.
Enter your business information and click Next to start the verification process.
Your dedicated business number may be rejected for a variety of reasons. Your verification could fail if the business information you provide, including but not limited to your business address or website URL (like a Yelp or Google business profile), is invalid.
Check your business number verification status
Sign in to Square Dashboard and go to your inbox.
Click the gear icon to open your Settings.
View the verification status under Your business number.
If your business number verification fails, you will need to provide the correct information and resubmit, which will restart the verification process. This process usually takes up to seven business days, but may take longer as a result of the resubmission process.
Listen to your voicemail greeting
Sign in to Square Dashboard and go to your inbox.
Click the gear icon to open your Settings.
Click the sound icon to listen to your current voicemail greeting.
Edit your voicemail greeting
From your inbox, click the gear icon to open your Settings.
Click Edit voicemail next to the business number(s) for which you want to manage voicemail settings.
Click Record new greeting.
Click the microphone to start recording your greeting.
Click the stop icon when you are done recording.
Click the play icon to preview your recording or click the trash can to delete.
Click Save.
Call back your customer
Open your point of sale app and tap More > Messages.
Tap the existing conversation with the missed call notification.
Tap Call back. The call back action will use your device's native calling app and the cell phone number associated with the device. Call charges are subject to the mobile wireless plan associated with the device.
Tap Continue to populate the customer's phone number on your device and start the call. Tap Dismiss if you don't want to call your customer using the phone number associated with your device.