When you send a broadcast on Switchboard, your messages are sent from a pool of phone numbers registered to your account. This article explains how your pool of numbers works and how to manage them!

Why do we send from a pool of numbers on 10DLC?

If your organization is sending on 10DLC, you have a pool of phone numbers with your preferred local area code that your texts are sent from - not just one individual number by default. This is to account for different area codes or to ensure speed/deliverability!

We give you more than one sending number to send from because historically sending on one sending number has been worse for long-term deliverability. However, as the deliverability space is changing, we are giving you the ability to manage your sending pool yourself!

All the numbers in your sending pool are associated with your specific organization.

Why do I only have one sending number for toll free?

If your organization sends on toll free instead of 10DLC, you'll notice you only have one sending number instead of a pool. You are not allowed to send on multiple toll-free numbers at once. With 10DLC you can send on a pool of numbers, whether it's to account for different area codes or to ensure speed/deliverability.

Why would I consider changing my active sending number settings?

You might want to change which sending numbers are active for the following reasons:

• You're noticing lower engagement or overall text performance. While swapping your sending number is not a guaranteed way to improve performance, it is a lever worth testing!

• You want to test how recipients respond to messages from a number they haven't heard from before, or ones they haven't received a message from in a while.

Managing your Number Pool

There are a couple ways that you can manage your sending numbers.

1. Enabling Sticky Sender: Sticky sender is a feature that ensures when you text an individual from a specific sending number, all subsequent texts to that same individual will come from the same number. This feature is "off" by default.

   Enabling causes each contact to be "locked" to whichever number most recently sent them a message. So recipients will receive broadcast messages from from the most recent sending number for all broadcasts moving forward once enabled. Read more about Sticky Sender here!

2. Changing Which Sending Numbers are Active: Managing your sending numbers lets you control which specific numbers are active or inactive in your sending pool.

   Read more about Swapping Sending Numbers below!

3. Cycling Out Sending Numbers: If an existing 10DLC sending number isn't performing as well, you can "cycle" it out to be replaced with a new number. Read more about Cycling Out Sending Numbers below!

Changing Active Sending Numbers

How many active numbers do I need to have?

You must have a minimum of one sending number active in your account, but we recommend having multiple active sending numbers for the best deliverability performance.

How do I change which sending numbers are active?

1. Go to Texting > Sending Numbers

2. Click "Manage Active Numbers"

3. Select or unselect each number to set which numbers are active or inactive in your sending pool

4. Click "Save Changes"

What does First Used mean?

The First Used date shows when a sending number was first used to send a message from your organization, including broadcasts and replies. In most cases, this will be the date of the first broadcast sent from that number.

First Used works like Last Used, but records the first send instead of the most recent send. It may take a few hours after the first send for the date to appear. Once it is set, it does not change.

Switchboard’s internal deliverability test sends are excluded from First Used and Last Used dates.

Cycling Out Sending Numbers

If one of your existing 10DLC sending numbers isn't performing as well, you can "cycle" it out to be retired which will permanently remove that number from your sending pool and replace it with a new number.

How do I cycle my sending numbers?

Admins can cycle out one number at a time or select multiple numbers to cycle at once.

1. Go to Texting > Sending Numbers

2. Click "Manage Active Numbers"

3. Select the number or numbers you want to cycle, or click "Cycle" for a single number you want to retire and replace

4. Click "Save Changes"

After you submit a cycle request, the number may show as Pending while the request is processing. Refresh the page after a few minutes to confirm that the request completed.

You can review cycle requests in the audit log.

How will inbound replies or opt outs to the retired number be handled?

Our number routing will ensure that another number from your sending pool is used to appropriately handle messages (including opt outs).

How often can I cycle numbers?

Organizations are limited to cycling 5 sending numbers a day.

What area codes are used for the new replacement numbers?

When a sending number is cycled out and replaced, we will do our best to match the replacement with the same area code as the retired number. If we cannot match the retired number area code, we will pull from the other area codes previously purchased or identified as a preferred area codes by the Organization.