Change your business phone number
Your business number is on Google, your website, your ads and your invoices, and it may receive sign-in codes for your bank and payment processor. Change it without losing calls or access.
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Optional. Provider names only. Don't enter the phone number.
We never ask for phone numbers, card numbers, passwords or codes. Names of providers or nicknames are enough.
Your plan so far
9things this change touches
- critical2
- high3
- moderate2
- low2
Updates as you answer. Every item will explain why it’s there.
What could break
In a typical business phone number plan, these are the most serious things to get right.
Keep the old number working until everything has moved
Critical · Sign-in & recovery
If the old one stops working too early, you may be stuck in slow account recovery for every account you haven't moved yet.
Business accounts that text sign-in codes
Critical · Sign-in & recovery
Once the old number stops working, any account still texting codes to it can lock you out.
Business bank: update the number for codes and fraud alerts
Critical · Banking & payments
Payments can be blocked when a fraud alert can't reach you, and you may be locked out of online banking.
Payment processor: update the account phone and support number
Critical · Banking & payments
You could be locked out of payouts and dispute responses, and customers with a billing question call a dead number.
Domain registrar and DNS host: update the account phone
Critical · Website & DNS
Being locked out of the registrar can leave you unable to fix DNS, renew the domain or recover email.
Email admin account (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365)
Critical · Sign-in & recovery
Nobody can reset passwords, add staff or fix email problems until admin access is restored.
Confirm the new number gets calls, texts and verification codes
Critical · Phone & internet service
You could move every account to the new number and then find codes never arrive.
Keep the number by porting it
High · Phone & internet service
Cancelling the old service before porting can release the number, and once it's gone you may not get it back.
Save backup codes for business admin accounts
High · Sign-in & recovery
Without them, a hiccup during the change can turn into a slow account-recovery process.
Google accounts used for Ads and Analytics: update the recovery phone
High · Core accounts
Outdated recovery details make it much harder to get back in if you're ever locked out.
Before and after the change
Before you change it
- Keep the number by porting it
- Keep the old number working until everything has moved
- Save backup codes for business admin accounts
- Business accounts that text sign-in codes
- Business bank: update the number for codes and fraud alerts
- Payment processor: update the account phone and support number
- Domain registrar and DNS host: update the account phone
- Email admin account (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365)
- Google accounts used for Ads and Analytics: update the recovery phone
After the change
- Confirm the new number gets calls, texts and verification codes
- Phone menus, extensions and voicemail
- Forward the old number to the new one
- Google Business Profile: update the phone number
- Website: every place the number appears
- Ads with call buttons and call tracking
- Invoices, quotes, email signatures and templates
- CRM, booking and reminder tools
- Tell customers and key suppliers
- Staff phones, forwarding and saved contacts
- Registrations, licences, insurers and suppliers: update the contact phone
- Directories and local listings
Your own plan adds or removes items based on your answers, and explains why each one is there.
The safe order
Doing things in the right sequence is what keeps you from getting locked out halfway through.
Before the change
Step 1: Keep the number if you can, and keep the old line working
Porting avoids most of this plan. If the number must change, overlap the old and new lines.
- Keep the number by porting it (high risk)
- Keep the old number working until everything has moved (critical risk)
Step 2: Save backup codes for admin accounts
Make sure you can still sign in if a text code doesn't arrive.
- Save backup codes for business admin accounts (high risk)
Step 3: Move sign-in codes on business accounts
Bank, payment processor, registrar and email admin first, while the old number still works.
- Business accounts that text sign-in codes (critical risk)
- Business bank: update the number for codes and fraud alerts (critical risk)
- Payment processor: update the account phone and support number (critical risk)
- Domain registrar and DNS host: update the account phone (critical risk)
- and 2 more
During the change
Step 4: Set up and test the new number
Prove calls, texts, codes, menus and forwarding work before anyone relies on it.
- Confirm the new number gets calls, texts and verification codes (critical risk)
- Phone menus, extensions and voicemail (high risk)
- Forward the old number to the new one (high risk)
Step 5: Switch the number customers see
Google, website, ads, documents and tools, all on the same day.
- Google Business Profile: update the phone number (high risk)
- Website: every place the number appears (high risk)
- Ads with call buttons and call tracking (high risk)
- Invoices, quotes, email signatures and templates (moderate risk)
- and 1 more
Immediately after
Step 6: Tell customers, suppliers and staff
And update the official and supplier records that hold the number.
- Tell customers and key suppliers (moderate risk)
- Staff phones, forwarding and saved contacts (moderate risk)
- Registrations, licences, insurers and suppliers: update the contact phone (moderate risk)
Step 7: Update directories, signs and printed materials
The slow updates: keep forwarding running until they're done.
- Directories and local listings (moderate risk)
- Signage, vehicles and printed materials (low risk)
Verify
Step 8: Test every way customers reach you
Call, tap and text through each channel the way a customer would.
- Test every way customers reach you (high risk)
Clean up
Step 9: Remove the old number from accounts
Only after the new number is proven to work everywhere.
- Remove the old number from business accounts (high risk)
Step 10: Cancel the old line last
The one step you can't undo.
- Cancel the old line last (high risk)
Later
Step 11: Watch for anything still using the old number
Stragglers turn up for months.
- Watch for anything still using the old number (low risk)
Why this change needs a plan
A business phone number does two jobs. Customers use it to reach you from Google, your website, ads, invoices and the side of your van. And business accounts, like your bank, payment processor and domain registrar, may use it to send sign-in codes.
The second job is the one that causes lockouts. If the old number stops working before those accounts move, codes go to a line you no longer have. The first job is the one that costs customers: one missed listing or ad and calls go nowhere.
The safe order is to keep the number if you can, move account codes while the old line still works, switch everything customers see on one day, forward the old number for as long as calls keep coming, and cancel it last.
Why it matters
Missed calls are missed work, and a business account locked behind a dead number can stop payouts, payroll or your website. Both are avoidable with the right order.
What makes it risky
Risk is highest when the old number stops working before accounts move, when the bank, payment processor or registrar texts codes to it, and when the new number is VoIP and some services won't send codes to it.
Common mistakes
- Cancelling the old service before porting, which can release the number for good.
- Forgetting that the bank, payment processor or domain registrar texts sign-in codes to the old number.
- Updating the website but not the Google Business Profile, ads and directories that customers actually tap.
- Leaving ads with call buttons pointing at a number nobody answers.
- Not forwarding the old number, so callers with it saved hear a disconnected message.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep my business phone number if I change providers?
Often, yes. Ask the new provider to port it before you cancel anything; the port moves the number across. Moving to a different area or type of service can limit porting, so confirm with the new provider first.
How long should I forward my old business number?
As long as calls keep arriving and the old line is affordable to keep. Many businesses keep forwarding for several months, until calls to the old number die down and signs and printed materials are replaced.
Does changing the number affect my Google Business Profile?
Changing the number is a normal profile edit, and Google reviews edits before they appear. Use a number that connects directly to your business, as Google's guidelines ask, and keep it consistent with your website and directories.
Can a VoIP number receive bank verification codes?
Sometimes. Some banks and services won't send codes to VoIP or landline numbers. Test each important account before relying on the new number, and use an authenticator app where you can.
What happens to my old business number after I cancel it?
Providers usually return cancelled numbers to their pool and may eventually give them to someone else. Remove the old number from every business account first, so codes and calls can't reach a stranger.