Assign SMS/MMS Numbers and Choose a User's Default Number
Choose which business numbers a teammate can use for texting, confirm the selection, set the default for new messages and troubleshoot missing number access.
A user's call extension and their SMS/MMS numbers are separate settings. This guide covers which business numbers they can use to send and receive texts, and which number Office selects when they start a new message.
Check the location and user first
- Confirm the business location at the top of Office.
- Open Settings → Users. Search by the person's email or name and match the intended account.
- Open Edit user and find SMS / MMS numbers.
- Review the user's messaging permissions as well as the number assignments. A permission and access to a particular business number are separate checks.
If the account has not been created yet, complete the invitation workflow first. If the feature or number is unavailable to you, ask the administrator responsible for access.
Select the numbers
- Click Edit numbers in SMS / MMS numbers.
- In Choose this user's SMS / MMS numbers, search by number or name when needed.
- Select each business number the person needs. Review the selected count and the actual selections together.
- Select all shown is a bulk selection for the displayed results. Review the search and intended scope before using it. Use Clear only when you intend to clear a selection, then check the resulting list.
- Click Use N numbers to return the selected numbers to the user form. N changes with the count. Use Cancel if you do not want to apply your selection.
SMS/MMS number picker header, search and selection controls; number rows omitted for privacy.
For example, a teammate working only with support may need the support number, while another may need support and sales. Choose the numbers that match the job rather than assigning every number just because it is listed.
Set the default and save
- Back on the user form, review the selected number labels.
- Choose Default number. Only an assigned number can be the default.
- If you removed the previous default, choose a remaining appropriate number before saving.
- Click Save changes on the main user form.
- Reopen the same user and verify both the assigned numbers and the default. Confirming the picker alone is not the final user-form save.
New messages and replies use the number differently
Office's default-number help says the default is preselected for new messages. Replies go out from the number the conversation came in on. Changing a user's default therefore does not move an existing conversation to a different business number.
Before sending a new message, review its selected sender. To test a changed default, start a new-message draft and inspect that selection; an existing conversation is not the right test. Coordinate any actual test message with a recipient who expects it.
The user may also have a default selection in their profile. If they use the mobile app, check the mobile default-number guide as well; verify the sender in the app they are actually using.
If a number is missing or texting does not work
- Number absent from the assignment picker: confirm the location, clear the search and check with the administrator that the intended number is available for that business. Do not substitute an unrelated number.
- Number assigned but not available to the user: reopen the saved user, review texting permissions and have the user refresh or sign in again if the session still shows the old setup.
- Wrong sender in a new message: compare the saved default, any profile choice and the sender selected in the new-message form.
- Reply uses the previous number: check the number attached to that conversation. This can be expected reply behavior, rather than a failed default change.
- Message was sent but did not arrive: investigate the message's delivery status using the SMS/MMS delivery guide. Assigned access does not establish delivery to the recipient.
Removing access to a number
Edit the selections, remove the number the person should no longer use, choose a valid remaining default and save the user. Verify the saved list and the person's access afterwards. Removing an assignment changes that user's number access; it is not the procedure for cancelling the business phone number or changing its call routing.
For Support, provide the location, affected user, business number, whether the issue is a new message or a reply, and what the saved settings show. Share identifying details privately and avoid repeated messages while diagnosing a delivery issue.