Connect phone: make and take calls in stipt

What do you need to make calls in stipt?

A Twilio account in your company's name. Twilio is the telephony provider behind stipt: your numbers and call minutes live at Twilio, and Twilio bills them directly to you. Upgrade the account to paid (Upgrade, with a credit card); a trial account can only call verified numbers and plays a trial message.

Twilio wants to know who you are before you can buy or port numbers. So fill in the business profile under Trust Hub once (Chamber of Commerce number, address and an authorised representative as listed in your company registration) and, for Dutch numbers, your business details under Regulatory Compliance. Approval usually takes a few working days, so start early.

You also need an admin in stipt, and for each colleague who answers calls a computer with Chrome or Edge and a headset.

How do you connect Twilio to stipt?

First switch on the extra module Phone in Settings > Module center. Then go to Settings > Channels > Phone and click Connect Twilio. You log in to Twilio (or create an account there) and give stipt access. Back in stipt the account shows as Connected; stipt switches on calling to Dutch numbers right away.

When you connect, Twilio creates a subaccount for stipt inside your Twilio account. Your numbers and calls go there. Put your business details for Dutch numbers in that subaccount too, so stipt finds them when you buy a number. If you don't see Phone under Channels, get in touch with stipt.

How do you keep your current number?

In two ways. With forwarding, your number stays with your current provider, which forwards all calls to a Twilio number in stipt. That is up and running within a few days and easy to undo: switch the forwarding off and everything works as before. Your old subscription and the forwarded minutes do keep running.

With porting, your number moves to Twilio and your old provider drops out. That takes longer, but afterwards you only pay Twilio. A good order: start with forwarding, test at your own pace, and port later once everything runs well. Everything you set up in stipt stays as it is.

How do you set up forwarding?

Open the phone account with the gear icon and go to Numbers. Click Buy number and choose Netherlands, Mobile. In the Netherlands Twilio sells numbers starting with 097; this becomes the in‑between number your provider forwards to. Customers never see it.

Then, under Use your own number, enter your current number and click Confirm. Twilio calls that number and stipt shows a six‑digit code; answer on your current phone and key in the code. Under Forward to, pick the in‑between number. From now on customers see your own number when you call from stipt. Do this before your provider starts forwarding, or the confirmation call lands in stipt and you can't key in the code.

Finally, ask your provider to forward all calls on your number to the in‑between number, and to pass on the caller's number rather than your own. That number is how stipt recognises the customer and opens the right record straight away.

How do you port your number to Twilio?

First check with your current provider whether you can port while your contract runs, and how long the notice period is. You also need that provider's latest invoice.

Geographic numbers (such as 010 or 020) and 085 numbers can be ported to Twilio; for other types, check with Twilio first. Make sure your business details for that type of number are approved, then request the port in the Twilio Console. Twilio asks for a letter of authorisation (the LOA, signed by an authorised representative and no older than 90 days) and the invoice. The port takes up to four weeks.

The number belongs in stipt's subaccount; if it lands in your main account, move it in Twilio. On the day of the port it appears in stipt under Numbers. Set it to Via stipt straight away, because until then calls to that number go nowhere.

Who answers, and what does the caller hear?

In the phone account settings, under Ringing, you choose which colleagues answer the phone; start with one or two people to test. A call first rings the regular contact person on the caller's record, then a team. If nobody answers, the caller can leave a voicemail; it lands in the inbox with a call‑back task. Outside opening hours you choose voicemail, the AI intake or just ringing.

Under Greeting and voice you pick the voice, the greeting and whether calls are recorded; recording is off by default. A menu (press 1, press 2) and an AI assistant that takes down the caller's question are available too, but both are optional.

Each colleague who answers clicks the phone button in the bar on the left and sets themselves to available; the browser asks for microphone access the first time. Also fill in an emergency number under During an outage, a mobile for example. Not your own forwarded number, or the call goes round in a circle.

What do calls in stipt cost?

You pay numbers and call minutes to Twilio, on your own Twilio invoice. You see a number's monthly price under Buy number. If you keep your number with forwarding, your old subscription and the forwarded minutes at your current provider keep running.

In stipt, Phone is an extra module: €10 per Admin and User seat per month on annual billing (€12 on monthly billing), while it is on; Mobile only does not pay. The AI work comes from your AI credits: the summary after a recorded call and the AI intake.