Numbers is being rolled out gradually. If there is no Numbers section just below WhatsApp in your Settings, it isn’t available on your account yet. Only the project owner or a workspace admin sees it.
What a number costs
- R90 a month for each number. The first month is paid up front, and the same card is charged again every 30 days.
- Each number has its own subscription. It is billed separately from your Paige subscription and from your credits. See Billing.
- You have 3 days (72 hours) from buying a number to register it with WhatsApp Business. If you don’t, the number can go back on sale and the first month isn’t refunded.
Getting a number
Everything in Numbers happens on one page. Nothing opens a separate screen, so there is no Back button to look for.1
Click Get a Green Pages number
This sets up Numbers on the account you are signed in to Paige with. Nothing is charged at this point.
2
Finish the three setup steps
The page shows three steps, numbered in the order to do them. You finish each one right there, and a finished step stays on the page with a green tick so you can see what is done and what is left.
- Accept the terms. Read the terms of use, tick the box and click Accept the terms.
- Your details. Enter your first and last name and click Save my details. A number is registered to a person.
- Verify your WhatsApp number. Enter your own WhatsApp number and click Send me a code on WhatsApp, then type the 6-digit code you receive and click Verify. This is the WhatsApp number your registration codes are sent to, so it must be one you can read.
3
Choose a number
Under the steps, Available numbers lists the numbers you can buy. Buy this number is greyed out, with a short note such as “Finish step 3 above to buy”, until all three steps have a tick. As soon as the last one is done the buttons work. You don’t need to reload the page.Click Buy this number on the one you want. Buying opens right there, under the Available numbers heading, and the rest of the page stays where it is. Back to the available numbers closes it again.
4
Hold it, then pay
Click Hold this number. It is kept for you for 10 minutes while you pay. Cancel lets it go.Then click Pay. A secure Paystack window opens for your card. You pay the first month now, and the same card is charged every 30 days after that.
5
Go and register it
When the payment is confirmed you see This number is yours. Under it, Next: connect it to WhatsApp tells you where to go: click Register to open Settings → WhatsApp, where you connect the number.
If something interrupts you
- You left the page while a number was on hold. Settings → Numbers shows You have a number on hold. Click Continue to go back to it. If you had already paid, it takes you straight to the confirmation.
- The payment didn’t go through. The page says so and no number is bought.
- You paid, but the number could not be given to you. You are refunded in full and emailed about it.
Need more numbers, or a different one?
Click Ask about a number below the list, type your question and click Send message. Your name and email address are filled in for you, and Green Pages replies to that address by email. If the message can’t be sent you are told so, and what you typed stays in the form so you can try again.Registering your number with WhatsApp Business
You have 3 days (72 hours) from buying a number to register it. A number that is still waiting to be registered has two buttons, in Your numbers and on the project’s number at the top of the page:- Register takes you to Settings → WhatsApp for the project you are in. That is where you connect the project to WhatsApp Business, and where the number gets registered.
- Manage opens the number in a popup. It shows the time you have left to register, what happens if you run out of time, and the number’s subscription. Register is in the popup too.
1
Copy your number
Open Settings → WhatsApp. Above the two tick boxes you see Connect one of your Green Pages numbers, with each number you hold that is not connected yet. Click the copy button next to the one you want.
2
Start Meta's setup and paste the number
Tick the two boxes and click Connect WhatsApp. When Meta asks for your WhatsApp phone number, paste the number. It is not filled in for you.
3
Choose text message (SMS)
Choose to verify by text message (SMS), not a phone call. WhatsApp sends a 6-digit code to the number.
4
Read the code in Paige
As soon as a message arrives for the number, View your code opens by itself under that number in Settings → WhatsApp. You can also open it by clicking the number. Click Show code, then type the code into Meta’s window. The code is passed on to your own WhatsApp as well.
5
Finish Meta's setup
Paige then links the number to the project and marks it as registered. There is nothing else to do.
Only the person who bought a number sees its code. If a colleague’s number is being connected to a project you manage, you see the number to type, but not the code. Ask them for it.
You don’t confirm the registration yourself
There is no “I’ve registered this number” button in Paige. Once WhatsApp has accepted the number for your project, Paige marks it as registered and the countdown stops. This usually happens within a few seconds of finishing Meta’s setup. If it doesn’t, Paige checks again by itself every 15 minutes, so you don’t need to do anything.Emails about registering
- An email asking you to confirm. When WhatsApp sends its code to a number that is not connected to a project yet, you get an email about 30 minutes later saying we believe you have registered the number, and asking you to confirm it. You get this email once for a number.
- Reminders. If the number is still not confirmed, you are reminded about 24 hours and about 6 hours before your time runs out.
If a number isn’t registered in time
It can go back on sale, and the first month isn’t refunded. If a message had already arrived for the number, it is not put back on sale by itself. It is put on hold, and the number says Finish connecting it in Settings → WhatsApp.If Paige could not link the number
A project can have one Green Pages number, and a number can be linked to one project. Paige never moves a number for you. If you connect a number to a project that already has a different Green Pages number, or a number that is already linked to another of your projects, WhatsApp is connected but the number is not linked. Settings → WhatsApp tells you why and what to do:- Open Settings → Numbers on the project that has the number in the way.
- Click Disconnect from this project.
A project connects to one WhatsApp number at a time. If you click Register for a number while the project is already connected to another one, Settings → WhatsApp says so. Register that number from a project that is not connected yet, or disconnect the current number first.
Your numbers
Your numbers is under the available numbers on the same page. It lists every number you hold, where each one stands, and the next thing to do. Click Manage on a number to open it in a popup. The list stays as it is underneath, and Close puts the popup away. On a phone the popup fits the screen and you scroll inside it. Before it cancels a subscription or asks for re-verification, Paige asks you to confirm.Cancelling a subscription
Cancel subscription stops the monthly charge. The number keeps working until the end of the month you have paid for, and the payment you have already made is not refunded. You can change your mind with Keep my subscription before it ends. To stop paying for a number, this is the button to use. Disconnecting a number from a project does not cancel it.When a payment fails
Nothing is switched off straight away. You are emailed, and Pay now appears on the number. It charges the card you already have on file. If there is no card that can be charged, the page tells you who to write to. The email tells you the date by which the payment has to be made. If the number is still unpaid on that date, the subscription ends.What happens when a subscription ends
Whether you cancel or a payment stays unpaid, the number is cancelled with the mobile network once the subscription has ended. That cannot be undone. What it means for WhatsApp depends on the number:
The page tells you which applies before you confirm a cancellation, and again on the number once it has ended. The emails you get say the same.
Asking for a number to be re-verified
Request re-verification is for a registered number that needs a new code. For example, you are moving it to another WhatsApp provider, or you have lost your two-step PIN. Green Pages reconnects the number on its side, which can take a little while. The page shows when it is ready and how long you then have. The new code is passed on to your own WhatsApp, and you can also read it in Settings → WhatsApp: the number is listed there with View your code for as long as the request is open. Read the code in Settings → WhatsApp in the popup takes you there.Payments and invoices
Payments, at the bottom of Your numbers, lists everything you have paid for all your numbers. Click an invoice number to download that invoice. Invoices are in this one list, not in a number’s popup.Changing where your codes are sent
Step 3 at the top of the page shows the WhatsApp number your codes go to. Change number lets you verify a different one. Your codes keep going to the current number until the new one is verified, and Keep my current number closes it without changing anything.Numbers and your project
You don’t choose a number for a project in Settings → Numbers. You connect the number in Settings → WhatsApp, and Paige links it to that project by itself once WhatsApp shows it as connected and verified. Linking does not change the number’s subscription, what you pay, or where its registration codes are sent. Once a number is linked, the top of the page shows the number, where it stands (for example waiting to be registered, active, or a payment that failed), and how long you have left to register it if you haven’t yet. The button under it is the next thing to do, and Manage this number always opens the popup.If Register is missing on a number
A number that this project cannot take has no Register button, and a short note says why: either this project already has a Green Pages number, or the number is connected to another project. Register it from the right project, or disconnect the other number first.Disconnecting a number from a project
Disconnect from this project removes the number from the project. It does not cancel the number and does not change its subscription in any way. The number is linked to a project again the next time it is connected in Settings → WhatsApp.A number connected by someone else
If another member of your workspace connected their number to a project you own or administer, you see the number itself and one short status:- Active
- Waiting to be registered with WhatsApp Business
- Needs attention from its owner
- Subscription ended
If you leave a workspace
If you leave a workspace while your number is connected to one of its projects, the number is still yours. You still pay for it, and you can cancel it from Settings → Numbers in any of your own projects. It stays linked to that project until someone there clicks Disconnect from this project. To use it on a project of your own afterwards, write to info@greenpages.app.Related pages
Connect your WhatsApp number
The full walkthrough of Meta’s embedded signup, business verification and your Meta payment method.
The Green Pages Numbers site
The same numbers on their own website, for people who register a number outside Paige.
On a phone, Settings sits behind the ☰ menu and each section is its own screen. See Use Paige on your phone.