At Text Request, we refer to any phone number that can send and receive texts through your Text Request menu as a dashboard.
Hosted (Text Enabled) vs. Provisioned (Text Only) Numbers
When setting up your Text Request account, and when adding additional dashboards to it, you have the option to either use your current business number or to get a dashboard through us. Below are details of each option.
What is a hosted (text enabled) number?
A hosted number is a phone number that we’ve added texting abilities to. So if you’re using your current business number for Text Request, that is a hosted number.
Every phone number has two parts - voice and SMS. All phone numbers use the voice portion, but few use the SMS portion. So Text Request claims your phone number’s “SPID,” which allows us to route SMS messages through the Text Request dashboard. We call them hosted numbers, because we're hosting the SMS portion of your number in our dashboard.
When you host a number, nothing changes to your number’s voice services. You'll still be able to answer when people call. You just get SMS added to it.
What is a provisioned (text only) number?
Dashboards purchased from Text Request are provisioned. We’ve provided the number to you, as opposed to you using your current business number (see above). Numbers purchased from Text Request do not have an active voice function. They can only send and receive texts, which is why we call them text only numbers.