IN THIS ARTICLE
Introduction to your Spruce phone number
Spruce protects (masks) your personal cell phone number when you call and text patients. When a patient calls your Spruce phone number, the call can either route to your personal cell phone or any other number you choose, all without revealing your personal details. Patients can call and text your Spruce phone number from their own personal phones, and documentation of inbound and outbound calls, voicemails left, and text messages sent/received will all be captured within your Spruce account.
Note: You can create a brand new number with Spruce, or your Spruce phone number can be your current business number that we port/transfer over to Spruce. You decide!
Once you have added a number to your Spruce account, please view this video on setting up your new number!
Porting your existing phone number
- What’s the process to port my number to Spruce?
- Can I still use my phone number during the porting process?
- When should I cancel service with the carrier I’m transferring away from?
- Can I transfer my number out of Spruce?
Before you can transfer your number to Spruce, your organization must complete, and be approved for, the business phone registration that is required by the major telecom carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T).
This registration requirement is in place to ensure that the number transfer process will not interrupt your ability to make calls or send SMS text messages.
To keep your current business line, you can request to port or transfer that number to Spruce. Porting is the process of transferring a phone number from one telephone service provider to another. To port your number to Spruce, you must sign up for a Spruce subscription. You can do this from your Spruce settings under "Billing."
If you want to port your number to Spruce, you can submit the request by clicking here or by navigating to your Spruce settings on the web/computer version of Spruce under "Phone & SMS," then "Phone Numbers," then "Add New Number," then "Transfer an Existing Number." From there, you will fill out a form.
Porting involves verifying that the person initiating the request has permission to port the number, and the process requires coordination from both the gaining and losing carriers. The porting process typically takes 1-4 weeks from start to finish. After you complete the form to port your number, you will receive an email confirmation within 1-4 days from support@sprucehealth.com. You will receive another email and a message in Team Spruce in the app with the date it is scheduled. You will continue to use your current number with your current service provider up until the time of your port. On the day of your port, you will receive a reminder message in Team Spruce in the app.
Here is a video overview of the number transfer / porting process:
Detailed Porting Process
The details of the number porting process will depend partly on who your current service provider is, but the overall steps will always be:
- Phone Registration: Your organization must complete, and be approved for, the business phone registration that is required by all major telecom carriers. Learn More
- Documentation Approval: You must complete the documentation required to verify that you own the phone number that you would like to port.
- Request Submission: Spruce will submit the request to port your number to your current phone service provider, as well as to our telecom infrastructure provider.
- Port Scheduled: We’ll let you know the date and time that your number is scheduled to be ported via Spruce Support in the app. Note if you do not have the mobile app, we recommend you download it at this time to make sure you see these in-app messages sent to you and this is where you will make and receive calls. Search Spruce Medical Communication in your app store.
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Porting Begins: On the date that your porting has been scheduled, our provider will begin to update the routing records so that your calls will go through Spruce. This process will take approximately 2 to 3 hours to complete, end to end.
(Please note that your current service provider may notify you that the process is complete before we do; this means that they have released your number to us and we’re still working on finishing the port.) - Testing: All ports happen between 8:30 am and 10:30 am PST. We recommend after 10:30 am PST, you call and SMS text your ported-in Spruce number from your personal phone to test if it is working.
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Port Complete: Next, you will configure your phone number in Settings, Phone and SMS, Phone Numbers, and select your number. Add a teammate, team, VoIP, or number to the Numbers to Ring, update the phone number Label in number settings, and if applicable, apply any phone trees. If your calls are going straight to voicemail, make sure you have a number or teammate listed in the numbers to ring, and Send All Calls to voicemail is toggled off.
(Please note that SMS text messages may take a little bit longer to be fully functional due to the fact that all carriers need to update their routing records. Many carriers say that it may take 24 to 48 hours, but in our experience, it's typically shorter than that.) - Canceling Old Service: You may cancel your previous service 48 hours after your number has ported if all voice and SMS functionality is confirmed successful following your port.
Porting takes place Monday through Friday, 8:30 am - 10:30 am PST. You will not need to be available during this time. And, while we do not anticipate any loss in functionality of your number, it is a possibility when porting over from any carrier.
We have also noticed certain carriers may delay SMS texting during the port. This may mean that the SMS function will continue through your old service provider for an additional 72 hours - even after the port is 'complete'. If your patients rely on SMS messaging, please invite them to join you via the secure app connection on Spruce as that will not be affected during the port process.
Can I still use my phone number during the porting process?
Yes. Up until your port is complete, you will continue to use your number with your current service provider, just as you have before. On the day of the port, calls will ring to who you have set in your numbers to ring list in phone settings. You will see call logs and voicemails show up in the Spruce app and, that is how you know it has moved to Spruce.
When should I cancel service with the carrier I’m transferring away from?
As a precaution, our service provider recommends keeping your account active with your current provider for 10 days after the port is scheduled. They ask that you do this in the rare event of an error occurring during the porting process. That way, you won’t lose your number.
Can I transfer/port my number out of Spruce?
Yes, although we’d be sad to see you go. Please message us in Support so we can help facilitate the port. Please note, when your number ports out of Spruce, this does not cancel your subscription, you must do that separately.
Can I port in my personal cell phone to Spruce?
Generally, you will not port your personal cell phone to Spruce. In order for your Spruce number to work, you must forward it to a working phone with a cellular plan, either your personal cell or a Spruce desk phone. If you want to convert your personal cell to now be a work number, you will have to get a new personal cell number from your personal cell carrier so we have somewhere to forward calls. Spruce is a virtual phone system which is a communications platform that handles your business calls through an internet connection. It lets users accept incoming and place outgoing calls on a mobile phone app, or desk phones.
Can I port my number during a trial?
No, you must sign up for a Spruce subscription before starting the porting process. Sign up by going to Spruce Settings, Billing or click here.
Getting a new Spruce number
Note: If there is not a phone number available with your preferred area code or you see an error message, please contact Spruce Support.
FAQ's
Can I change my Spruce number after creating an account?
Of course, you can! Just message Team Spruce and we will be happy to remove your existing phone number from your account so that you can provision a new one (just like you did the first time). Once we remove your number, simply navigate to the menu of the mobile app (by tapping the Settings tab), then select ‘Phone and SMS’ and then 'Phone Numbers" to claim a new number with the desired area code.
Can I have more than one number on my account?
On Spruce's Basic plan, your organization can have one number per teammate, plus one additional number. So if you have 3 teammates, you can have 4 total phone numbers, as 3+1=4. On Spruce's Communicator plan, your organization can have two numbers per teammate, plus one additional number. So if you have 3 teammates, you can have 7 total phone numbers, as 3*2+1=7.
Does Spruce support toll-free phone numbers?
Spruce supports toll-free phone numbers, both for phone calls and for SMS text messaging. Please note that the provisioning and commercial registration process for toll-free phone numbers is significantly more complex and demanding than the process for typical phone numbers. Because of this, Spruce currently only supports toll-free phone numbers for at-scale medical organizations on our Communicator plan and with significant utilization of the platform. If you would like to discuss toll-free phone numbers for your organization on Spruce, please reach out to our support team, and we'll be happy to assist you.