Hosted Numbers in Labs Enables SMS Hosting for US Local Numbers

TL;DR

Eligible accounts can now host US local numbers for SMS inside HighLevel without moving their existing voice service. Only Agency Owners and Admins can start the request while the feature is in Labs.

Who this affects

HighLevel has not confirmed specific plan gating or which account tiers are eligible.

What is confirmed is that request initiation is restricted to Agency Owners and Admins. Sub-account users cannot submit hosting requests, but they can view existing requests for their Location. Any agency managing clients with existing US local phone lines who need HighLevel SMS capabilities without porting voice services is directly impacted.

What changed

HighLevel introduced Hosted Numbers in Labs with the following functionality:

• Added the ability for eligible accounts to host US local numbers for SMS while keeping voice service active with the current carrier.
• Built a setup flow that confirms number eligibility, verifies ownership through an automated call, logs a service address, and generates an authorization letter for electronic signature.
• Added request status tracking across four stages: verification, authorization, processing, and final check.
• Provided visibility for both hosted and in-progress numbers directly inside Hosted Numbers and Phone Numbers.
• Configured the platform to automatically apply an approved Location-level A2P registration to hosted numbers without requiring a repeat registration.
• Restricted the ability to initiate hosting requests to Agency Owners and Admins, while giving Sub-account users permission to view Location requests.
• Applied initial Labs limitations restricting the tool to eligible US local numbers, SMS hosting only, and one number per request.

HighLevel has not confirmed whether this replaces or breaks any existing integrations, nor has it confirmed full rollout timelines beyond its current Labs status.

Where to find it

Turn on the feature inside Labs if it is visible for your account. Once available, navigate to:

Settings → Phone System → Manage Numbers

You can track and manage hosted and in-progress requests across both the Hosted Numbers and Phone Numbers sections.

How agencies will use this

An agency onboarding a client whose business already runs on an established US local voice carrier can now configure SMS inside the client's sub-account without running a full carrier port.

An Agency Owner or Admin navigates to Settings → Phone System → Manage Numbers and submits the client's local number. The agency answers the automated verification call on the client line, records the service address, and completes the electronic signature on the authorization letter.

Once submitted, the agency tracks the request through the verification, authorization, processing, and final check stages. When finalized, the hosted number appears in Phone Numbers and automatically links to the sub-account's existing approved Location-level A2P registration, enabling inbound and outbound SMS without triggering a secondary A2P approval process.

Our take

This is a major operational addition. For years, getting a client's primary landline or existing office line to send SMS inside a sub-account meant either porting voice away from their existing carrier or using workarounds.

Keeping voice on the original provider while hosting SMS directly inside HighLevel eliminates a major onboarding bottleneck. Note the current constraints: it is in Labs, limited to US local numbers, capped at one number per request, and restricted to SMS only. Even with those bounds, this is an update agency operators should look for in their settings immediately.