How to Set Up the GoHighLevel Phone System

Step 1: Buy your GHL phone number

Go to Settings in the left sidebar, then Phone Numbers, then click the Add Number button. The number search interface lets you search by area code, locality or specific number pattern. Enter the area code for your primary service area and click Search.

A list of available numbers appears. Choose a local area code that matches your business location. Local numbers have meaningfully higher answer rates than toll-free numbers for service businesses because callers recognise the area code as local. A 312 number for a Chicago contractor gets answered more often than an 800 number from the same contact.

Click Buy on your chosen number. The number is assigned to your sub-account immediately and appears in your Phone Numbers list. Note the monthly cost shown before purchasing. At approximately $1.15 per month, a GHL phone number is one of the lowest-cost elements of the entire platform.

If you want to use an existing business number rather than buying a new GHL number, GHL supports number porting. The porting process transfers your existing business number to GHL's infrastructure. This takes 5 to 10 business days and requires verification that you own the number. Contact GHL support to initiate a port request.

Step 2: Set up call forwarding

Click on your phone number in the Phone Numbers list to open its settings. Find the Call Settings section. In the Forward Calls To field, enter the actual phone number you want inbound calls to ring. This is typically your personal mobile, your business landline or your office reception number.

Set the number of rings before the call is considered missed. The default is usually 4 to 5 rings. Consider the realistic number of rings you can answer in. For a mobile number, 5 rings gives you about 25 seconds to reach your phone. For an office phone with a receptionist, 3 rings is appropriate. The missed call text-back fires when the call is not answered within this ring count, so setting it correctly is important.

If you have multiple team members who should receive calls, configure call routing. Simultaneous ring forwards the call to multiple numbers at the same time, with the first person to answer getting the call. Sequential ring forwards to the first number, then the second if not answered, then the third. Sequential routing with a short ring limit per number works well for teams where calls should be answered quickly.

After setting forwarding, call your GHL number from a different phone and confirm it rings correctly. This 30-second test prevents the frustrating situation of discovering call forwarding is misconfigured after real leads have called and heard no answer.

Step 3: Configure missed call text-back

With your phone number and forwarding configured, the missed call text-back workflow is the most important automation to build. Go to Automation, then Workflows, then Create Workflow. Trigger: Missed Call. Leave all filters empty to catch every missed call. Enable re-enrollment so the workflow fires on every missed call, not just the first from each contact.

Action: Send SMS, zero delay. Write your message. Keep it under 130 characters. Make it sound like a person sent it. End with a question that the contact can answer by replying: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, sorry we missed your call. We are with a customer right now. What can we help you with? We will call you straight back."

Publish the workflow. Call your GHL number from your personal phone and do not answer it. Within 60 to 90 seconds you should receive the automated SMS on your personal phone. If you do not receive it, check that the workflow is published not draft and that the phone number is correctly connected to GHL. See our full missed call text-back guide for the full setup including the no-reply follow-up sequence.

Step 4: Set up voicemail

In your phone number settings, find the Voicemail section. You can record a custom voicemail greeting or upload a pre-recorded audio file. Record a professional greeting that includes your business name and tells the caller you will call back promptly. "You have reached [Business Name]. We are currently helping another customer. Please leave your name and number and we will call you back within the hour."

Enable the voicemail transcription feature if available on your plan. When a caller leaves a voicemail, GHL transcribes it and adds the transcript to the contact's conversation history. Your team can read the voicemail content without listening to the audio recording, making it faster to triage and respond to messages.

Consider whether you want to use voicemail alongside or instead of the missed call text-back. Many service businesses use both: the missed call text-back fires immediately while the voicemail provides a backup for callers who prefer to leave a message. Some businesses disable the voicemail entirely and rely solely on the text-back, arguing that an immediate SMS response is more effective than a voicemail box that people rarely check.

Step 5: Enable call recording

In your phone number settings under Call Settings, find the Enable Recording toggle. Turning this on records all inbound and outbound calls made through the GHL number. Recordings appear in the contact's conversation history and can be played back or downloaded.

Call recording is valuable for three purposes. Training: reviewing calls helps new team members learn effective call handling techniques and identify common objections. Quality control: you can check how leads are being handled and catch problems before they affect your close rate. Dispute resolution: recordings provide a clear record of what was agreed verbally if a client later disputes the scope or terms of a job.

Before enabling recording, check your state's call recording consent laws. In one-party consent states (most US states), only one party to the call needs to know it is being recorded, meaning you can record without notifying the caller. In two-party consent states (California, Florida, Illinois and others), all parties must consent before recording. Add a verbal disclosure to your voicemail greeting or opening script in two-party consent states: "This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes."

Step 6: Twilio and SMS settings

GoHighLevel uses Twilio as its SMS carrier infrastructure. For most users on GHL's standard plans, Twilio is connected automatically and GHL manages the relationship on your behalf. You pay GHL for SMS usage at the rates shown in your account billing section and GHL handles the Twilio costs behind the scenes.

Check your SMS credit balance and usage under Settings, then Billing. GHL includes a monthly SMS credit allocation with each plan. Review your usage after the first 30 days to understand whether your volume stays within the allocation or requires additional top-up credits. Most single-location service businesses stay within the included allocation for the first several months.

For A2P 10DLC registration (Application-to-Person messaging), GHL requires US businesses to register their messaging use case with The Campaign Registry. This registration is required by US carriers to send automated business SMS in high volume. GHL walks you through the registration process under Settings, then Phone Numbers, then the Compliance or A2P Registration section. Complete this registration before sending automated SMS campaigns to more than a few hundred contacts per month to avoid message delivery issues.

Step 7: Test your complete setup

Run through this checklist using two phones before going live: call your GHL number from phone A. Confirm it rings on your forwarding number (phone B). Do not answer. Confirm the missed call text-back SMS arrives on phone A within 90 seconds. Answer the call on the next test. Confirm the call connects correctly. Leave a voicemail. Confirm the voicemail appears in the contact's conversation history. Check that the call recording appears if enabled.

Send a test SMS from the GHL Conversations inbox to your personal number. Confirm it arrives and comes from your GHL number rather than a shared GHL number. Reply to the test SMS from your personal phone. Confirm the reply appears in the GHL Conversations inbox.

This complete test takes 10 minutes and gives you confidence that every component of your phone system is working correctly before it handles real leads.