Phone calls in IcloneU run on a phone number that you own in your own Twilio account. Twilio is the phone company in the middle: it sells you the number and carries the calls. You buy the number in Twilio, then paste it into IcloneU together with your Twilio account's two keys. From then on your clone can call your contacts from that number and, if you turn it on, answer the calls that come in.
An IcloneU account on the Expert or Enterprise plan, and permission to manage connections. A Messaging purse with enough balance, under Account settings → Billing: every call is charged there, the test call included, and a call it can't cover doesn't go out and isn't answered. A Twilio account that has been upgraded from the free trial. About 15 minutes, plus the time Twilio needs to review your documents if your country asks for them (Mexico does).
How phone calls work in IcloneU
When you connect a number, IcloneU signs in to your Twilio account with the keys you give it, checks that the number is there and can carry voice calls, and points the number's incoming calls at IcloneU. A few things follow from that:
- The number stays yours. It lives in your Twilio account the whole time. If you disconnect it from IcloneU, it is still in Twilio and you can connect it again later.
- IcloneU takes over the number's calls. Connecting points the number's incoming calls (its voice web address in Twilio) at IcloneU; its text-message settings are not touched. A newly bought number is ready as it is. A number you already use with another app must not be set to a voice application or a SIP trunk in Twilio: Twilio's documentation says the voice web address is then not used, so incoming calls would never reach IcloneU.
- One number, one place. A number can be connected to one IcloneU account only.
- You can connect several numbers, for example a sales line and a support line. The first one becomes the number your calls go out from; see Several numbers.
- The clone always says what it is. Every call starts with the clone saying it is the business's virtual assistant, an artificial intelligence, and that the call is recorded.
Step 1 — Create and upgrade your Twilio account
Twilio's free trial is for testing Twilio itself, and it is too limited for your clone: Twilio's own page says a trial can call only verified numbers (up to 5), only in the country you signed up from, and ends 30 days after sign-up. During the trial you also don't pick your own number; Twilio lends you a trial one. So upgrade before you buy a number.
Sign up for Twilio
Create an account at twilio.com. Sign-up asks you to verify your email address and your personal phone number, then asks a few questions about your project. When you finish, the Twilio Console opens. The Console is Twilio's website for managing your account.
Upgrade to a paid account
In the Console, click the Trial banner or Upgrade your account. Twilio asks you to create a profile, add your address, load a starting balance and add your payment details.
Check Twilio's prices
Twilio charges you for the number every month and for the minutes of each call. Its prices change, so check them on Twilio's own pricing page for your country: Mexico or United States.
Step 2 — Buy a number that can carry calls
Open Buy a number
In the Twilio Console, go to Phone Numbers → Manage → Buy a number.
Pick the country
Choose the country of the people your clone will call. It calls numbers in Mexico (+52) and in the United States and Canada (+1), and the number a call goes out from must be from the contact's country: a Mexican number for contacts in Mexico, a US number for contacts in the US and Canada. If you call contacts in both countries, connect one number from each.
Keep Voice ticked
Under Capabilities, make sure Voice is ticked. A number without Voice can't be connected. You can untick the capabilities you don't need, but never Voice.
Choose the number type
Open Advanced to choose the type: local, mobile or toll-free. For your clone, pick a local number (see the Mexico note below). You can also search for digits or an area code you want.
Buy it
Click Search, then Buy next to the number you want. Each result lists its type, capabilities and monthly price. Twilio charges the number's monthly price as soon as you buy it.
Add the documents if Twilio asks
Many countries require proof of identity and address for a phone number. When they do, Twilio asks you to select or add the documents right after you click Buy. Twilio keeps these document sets, called regulatory bundles, under Phone Numbers → Regulatory compliance → Bundles. Twilio reviews them before they can be used for a number: generally within three business days, but in some regions it can take several weeks. Connect the number to IcloneU once the review is done and the number is in your account.
Twilio's Mexico rules say Mexican mobile numbers “may only be used for two-way person-to-person (P2P) communication”, and that local carriers block A2P (application-to-person) or automated messaging on them right away. Twilio's rule speaks of messaging; your clone's calls are automated too, so don't count on a mobile number for them. Buy a local number instead.
What Twilio asks for in Mexico, from its regulatory guidelines (read the current version at twilio.com/en-us/guidelines/mx/regulatory before you buy):
| Mexican number | If you buy as a business | If you buy as a person |
|---|---|---|
| Local (recommended) | Your Constancia de Situación Fiscal from the SAT. An address inside the area of the number's prefix, no PO box, proved by the Constancia or a utility bill or government letter from the last 12 months. | A government ID or passport. An address inside the area of the number's prefix, no PO box, proved by an ID that shows it or a utility bill or government letter from the last 3 months. |
| Toll-free (800) | Your business registration. An address anywhere in the world, no PO box, proved by the business registration or a utility bill or government letter from the last 12 months. | A government ID or passport. An address anywhere in the world, no PO box, proved by an ID that shows it or a utility bill or government letter from the last 12 months. |
| Mobile | Not for your clone: person-to-person use only. | Not for your clone: person-to-person use only. |
In the US you buy a number the same way; if it needs documents, Twilio asks after you click Buy. Twilio's A2P 10DLC registration is for sending text messages to the US, and your clone uses the number for calls only. Twilio also recommends turning on SHAKEN/STIR trusted calling, in its Trust Hub, so more people pick up your calls.
Step 3 — Copy your Account SID and Auth Token
IcloneU needs two keys from your Twilio account. Both are on the Twilio Console home page, and you can also manage them from Twilio's API Keys & Tokens page:
- Account SID: your account's ID. It starts with
AC. - Auth Token: the password that goes with it. Anyone who has both can use your Twilio account, so only paste it into IcloneU and keep it out of emails and chats.
Upgrading doesn't change your Account SID or Auth Token. If you copied them during the trial, they still work.
Step 4 — Connect the number in IcloneU
Open Connections
In IcloneU, open Connections from the left menu, click New connection and choose Voice number. On a plan without phone calls, the entry carries an UPGRADE pill, and choosing it shows Not included in your plan.
Stay on the Twilio tab
The window opens on the Twilio number tab, which is the one you want. (The SIP trunk tab is for a line from your own phone company or phone system; this guide doesn't cover it.)
Fill in the four fields
Name for this connection (optional): how the number shows in your list, for example Sales. Leave it empty and IcloneU uses the name the number has in Twilio. Number, international format: the number you bought, with
+and the country code, for example+52 55 1234 5678. Twilio Account SID (AC…) and Twilio Auth Token: the two keys from Step 3.Connect
Click Connect number. When it works, a message says your number is connected and the number appears in your connections list, marked from your Twilio account. If something is wrong, a red message says what; see When connecting fails.
The new number gets your account's default clone, so it is ready to call straight away. It does not answer incoming calls yet: answering starts switched off. Turn it on in the number's settings; see Answering phone calls.
Step 5 — Check the number's settings
Select the number in your connections list and click Settings. The window has these cards, top to bottom:
- Enabled: turns the number on or off. A number that is off doesn't answer calls.
- Clone: which clone speaks on this number. Its voice, language and knowledge are what callers hear.
- Name: how the number appears in your connections list.
- Answer calls: whether your clone picks up calls to this number, and the number it hands calls to when someone wants a person. See Answering phone calls.
- Outgoing calls: whether calls go out from this number by default. See Several numbers.
- Call settings: the line's name in the greeting, what the clone offers when it can't solve something, and what the line handles.
- Test call: your clone calls someone you pick, so you can hear it. See the next section.
Click Save to keep your changes.
Make a test call
The test call is the quickest way to hear your clone on the phone. It calls a contact you choose to confirm a made-up cash-on-delivery order. Call yourself or a colleague, never a customer.
Have a contact with your phone number
The test can only call a contact that has a phone number. If you don't have one for yourself yet, add it in Contacts first.
Pick the contact
In the number's Settings, go to the Test call card and type a name or phone number in the search box. Pick the contact from the list.
Call
Click Call now. IcloneU asks Place a test call? and reminds you that the person should expect it. Confirm, and your phone rings a few seconds later.
Read the result
When the call ends, its result, with a summary and the transcript, appears in the contact's latest conversation in Messages. If the contact has no conversation yet, nothing appears there: a call that connected is recorded on the contact instead, at the top of their notes and as their last interaction.
A test call can ring at any hour and doesn't count toward the one-call-a-day limit that protects your customers. It still needs a clone on the number (with none chosen, the button stays greyed out) and enough balance in your Messaging purse: it is charged like any other call.
Several numbers and the default for calls
Connect each number the same way. With more than one, one of them is the default for calls: the number your outgoing calls use when an automation doesn't pick a specific one. The first number you connect gets this role, and the list shows it under the number.
Open the other number's settings
Select the number you want as the new default and click Settings.
Mark it
In the Outgoing calls card, tick Use this number for outgoing calls unless an automation picks another and click Save. The mark moves from the old default to this one.
On the current default you can't untick it; the card says to mark another number instead. In an automation, the call step can also pick a specific number; see Calls your clone makes. If you disconnect the default number, the oldest remaining number becomes the default on its own.
Disconnecting a number
Remove it
Select the number in your connections list and click Remove. A Remove Connection window opens and says the number stops being used for calls and stays in your Twilio account.
Confirm
Click Remove in that window. The number stops being used for calls, and IcloneU clears the voice settings it had put on the number in Twilio.
The number stays in your Twilio account, and Twilio keeps charging its monthly price until you release it there. You can connect it again later. Automations that called from this number fall back to your default number.
When connecting fails
If IcloneU can't connect the number, a red message tells you why:
| The message | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| "Enter the number in international format, for example +52 55 1234 5678." | The number field isn't a full international number. Start with + and the country code. |
| "Twilio didn't accept that Account SID and Auth Token." | One of the keys is wrong or incomplete. Copy both again from the Twilio Console home page. The Account SID starts with AC. |
| "That number isn't in the Twilio account you entered." | The keys work, but the number belongs to another Twilio account, was typed wrong, or isn't in your account yet, for example because Twilio is still reviewing your documents. Check the number on Twilio's list of your active numbers. |
| "That number can't carry voice calls." | The number was bought without Voice. Buy one with Voice ticked under Capabilities. |
| "This number is already connected." | The number is already connected, in your account or in another IcloneU account. A number can be connected in one place only; disconnect it there first. |
| "The carrier couldn't complete the request. Please try again." | Twilio didn't respond as expected. Wait a minute and try again. |
Who bills what
- Twilio bills you for the number every month and for each call's minutes, at its own prices.
- IcloneU charges the call itself to your account's Messaging purse, for the connected minutes. You find it under Account settings → Billing. If the purse can't cover a call, the call isn't placed or answered.
- Your plan decides whether you can call at all. Phone calls come with the Expert and Enterprise plans. See Comparing plans.
Frequently asked
Only if it is in your Twilio account. To keep an existing line elsewhere, you can forward its calls to your Twilio number; see Keep your current line.
No. The number is always bought in your own Twilio account, so it is yours and you control it.
Yes. Calls show the number they go out from: the default for calls, or the one the automation picks.
No. IcloneU only changes the number's voice settings.
IcloneU keeps the token with the number, and a voice number can't be reconnected in place. Remove the number in IcloneU and connect it again with the new token. It comes back with fresh settings, so set answering and the call settings again; automations that picked this number use your default number until you pick it again.
No. It calls numbers in Mexico (+52) and in the United States and Canada (+1). Connect a number from the country you call.
Last updated October 28, 2026 · Platform connections
