A business number lets customers call and text one number that belongs to the company. It starts when you pick a paid plan. It is not part of the free trial, because a number costs money to register and every text and call costs money to send.
Before you pay
During the trial, Settings, Selling, Texting says Not part of the free trial and the button reads See plans, or Ask your owner to upgrade if you do not manage billing. Customer messages go by email meanwhile.
Step 1: register the business
Carriers check who is texting their customers. In Settings, Selling, Texting, the owner or an admin starts carrier registration: the business's legal name, EIN and address, then the texting campaign, which publishes the consent pages carriers review. Nothing is filed until you choose Register. Carrier verification then runs by itself and can take days. The step finishes when they approve. Settings, Integrations shows the same status as Texting registration.
Step 2: pick a number
When registration is approved, choose a local number for your market. Each market can have its own line. Extra lines are an add-on on the paid plans.
Then set it up
On the same page you can set call forwarding, voicemail, business hours, automatic texts and saved replies. Calls then appear in Call history and texts in Messages.
Pro tip: Start registration the day you pay. Carrier approval is the slow part, and you cannot text customers until it is done.