If you already use Beside Phone as your business phone, you may be wondering what Beside changes for you. The short answer is nothing, until you decide otherwise.
Beside is built on top of the same foundation: your Beside Phone line, your Receptionist, and your customer conversations. It adds everything that happens around the phone, from getting found online to following up, booking, and getting paid.
Why it matters: answering is only one step in winning a job. Someone still has to text back the caller you missed, send the quote, follow up when it goes quiet, and ask for the review. With your line connected, Beside does that work with your calls and texts in view, so fewer leads slip away after the first ring.
What stays exactly the same
Nothing about your current account changes because you start using Beside:
Your Beside Phone number keeps working the same way, for calls and texts
Your Receptionist keeps answering with the same greeting, voice, and rules
Your call forwarding, your ringing and operating hours, and your contact exclusions are untouched
Your plan and billing stay as they are. 📖 Plans and pricing
Your Beside Phone mobile app and Beside on the web keep working as usual
✅ Key takeaway: You never lose your phone line by exploring Beside. Your business stays reachable throughout.
What Beside adds
Your Beside Phone line answers the calls. Beside works on everything that happens before and after the call:
Moment | Your Beside Phone line today | With Beside |
Before the call | Customers call the number they already have | Beside builds your website, keeps your Google Business Profile active, and runs ads so more customers find you in the first place |
During the call | Your Receptionist answers, qualifies, and books | Same Receptionist, with more context about the customer and the job |
After the call | You get a transcript, a summary, and a daily recap | Beside follows up by text and email, sends the quote, chases the payment, and asks for the review |
💡 Beside never dials for you:
Your agent reaches customers by text and email, and only where you have allowed it. When a call is the right answer, it prepares the callback and leaves it on your list. The call itself is always yours to make.
Connect your line to your workspace
Each Beside workspace works with one Beside Phone line. Open Settings from the left menu, then Phone Number, pick the line you want and select Connect line.
You can also do it without leaving the conversation: your agent recognizes the lines on your account, explains why connecting helps, and lets you choose one in chat. Once connected, it offers to walk you through who answers your calls first, whether your own phone rings, and your business hours, one decision at a time. Nothing changes unless you approve it, and you can skip the review.
If you have several lines, you choose which one this workspace uses, and only that line's calls and texts are in scope for your agent. Personal lines cannot be selected, and only the workspace owner or an admin can connect or disconnect one.
📌 Until a line is connected:
Anything that depends on your calls and texts waits. Everything else in Beside works as normal.
Where you use each
Beside runs in your browser, at agent.beside.com. Everything to do with your phone line lives in Settings, across three sections:
Settings section | What it is for |
Phone Number | Connecting your line, your number, and your call handling controls, such as Silence unknown callers and Team ringing |
Receptionist | Your Receptionist, in tabs: Calls (whether it answers, its greetings, and who it handles), Text, Voice, Knowledge, Call Handling (including booking) and Permissions |
Autonomy | What your agent may do with the line on its own: Send proactive texts and Adjust line settings |
📌 These used to be one page called Text & Call: It moved into Settings and split across the three sections above. Nothing changed about your line, only where the controls sit, and older links still open the right section.
The left menu holds the rest: Chat, Inbox, Calendar and Jobs, then Business Profile, Ads and Website. Your Marketing Audit opens from the Library in Beside's profile.
What still happens in the Beside Phone apps
Beside connects your line to your agent. You still work the line itself in Beside Phone:
Taking calls and replying to texts happens in the Beside Phone mobile app or at app.beside.com. Inbox in the left menu opens that same inbox inside Beside, and Open Beside Phone shows the whole app there
Your Receptionist's greeting, voice and scenarios can still be configured in Beside Phone, as they always were, as well as under Settings → Receptionist. Its business details (name, industry, email, website, address, FAQ, Operating hours, and Products & Services) come from your Business Profile, and Beside on the web and Android show them read-only with an Edit in Business Profile button
Call forwarding, Caller ID, porting and creating a line are done in Beside Phone
So there is nothing to relearn. Everything already written about calls, texts and your Receptionist still applies:
Your phone line also appears elsewhere in Beside as a connected source called Beside Phone. That is what Beside reads your business details from. Acting on the line on its own is a separate decision you make in Settings → Autonomy. 📖 Choose what Beside can do on its own
How you see it working
Open Settings, then Phone Number: once your line is in, it reads Your line is connected. From then on, your line's conversations open from Inbox in the left menu, what Beside did about them (the follow-ups it sent, the callbacks it prepared for you) shows up in Chat and under Activity in Beside's profile, and the work your calls and texts turn into is tracked under Jobs.
Billing
If you are new to Beside
Signing up for Beside starts a free 30-day trial of Beside Phone, with no card needed, alongside your welcome credits. When the 30 days are up, Beside Phone stops unless you have chosen a plan before then. 📖 Understand your plan and credits
If Beside already bills you for your phone plan
You are not billed twice. If Beside bills you directly for a phone plan under the same email address, subscribing to a Beside plan (Standard or Pro) does not start a second subscription alongside it. Beside moves the subscription you already have onto your Beside plan.
In practice that means:
Your billing date does not change
What you have already paid for the current month is counted against the new price, so you are not charged for the same days twice
From then on you are on one Beside bill, at your plan's price
If you already pay for Beside Phone through a store
⚠️ A store subscription is not converted, and Beside cannot cancel it for you:
If you pay for Beside Phone through the App Store or the Play Store, that subscription keeps renewing on its own. Your Beside plan already includes Beside Phone, so you would be paying twice.
Cancel it yourself before its next renewal date.
Beside tells you when this applies. While your Beside plan is active and the store subscription is still renewing, a card appears in the left menu reading Cancel your App Store subscription (or Play Store), with the renewal date, and it opens your store's subscription settings in a new tab. The card goes away on its own once the renewal is off.
Only the person who bought the store subscription can cancel it. If that is not you, you see a Duplicate subscription card instead, asking you to have them cancel it.
You will not see either card during a Beside trial.
What your phone side includes on a Beside plan
Once you are on a Beside plan (Standard or Pro), your phone side runs with no AI call limit, one Beside line, and room to share it with your team.
Because the one subscription covers both, seats and extra lines are not sold separately while you are on a Beside plan: the usual Add phone number and Manage seats flows in the Beside Phone apps are not offered. If your business genuinely needs a second line alongside your Beside plan, tell us through the Support chat so we can sort it out with you.
Where you manage the subscription
Your subscription is managed in Beside, at agent.beside.com, not in the Beside Phone apps. That is where you change your plan, your payment method, and your billing details.
📌 What you see in the Beside Phone mobile app:
On iPhone, from version 2.28.0, your plan card reads Your Beside plan is included in your Agentic plan. Manage your subscription and billing in the Agentic app. and offers an Open Agentic button. The card shows no price, because your Beside plan is what bills it.
On Android, from version 1.27.0, opening your plan shows Your plan is managed in Agentic, with an Open Agentic button that takes you there. Your plan card is labelled Managed in Agentic.
On both, the phone plan options aren't offered, because your Beside subscription already covers them. Nothing is wrong with your account.
In these app messages, Open Agentic and Managed in Agentic refer to your Beside plan (Standard or Pro) at agent.beside.com.
FAQ
Do I need a Beside plan to keep using my Beside Phone line?
Do I need a Beside plan to keep using my Beside Phone line?
No. Your Beside Phone line and your Receptionist work exactly as they do today, with or without a Beside plan.
Where did Text & Call go?
Where did Text & Call go?
Into Settings. Your line is under Settings → Phone Number, the Receptionist switches under Settings → Receptionist, and what your agent may do with the line on its own under Settings → Autonomy. Your line, your number and your settings are unchanged, and old links still open the right section. Settings also has a search box if you are not sure which section a setting is in.
Do I have to set my Receptionist up again in Beside?
Do I have to set my Receptionist up again in Beside?
No. Your Receptionist is set up in Beside Phone, as it always was, and what you already configured keeps working. Beside shows the same settings in Settings, under Phone Number and Receptionist, and everything there is the same setting on the same line, not a second copy.
One thing moves: the business details your Business Profile keeps in sync (name, industry, email, website, address, FAQ, Operating hours, and Products & Services) are edited in your Business Profile. Beside on the web and Android show them read-only, with an Edit in Business Profile button.
My Receptionist keeps telling callers there is no availability.
My Receptionist keeps telling callers there is no availability.
That comes from your Operating hours, which is what your Receptionist tells callers you are open and what it uses when it offers appointment times. If evenings are not in your Operating hours, it will say evenings are not available, however your Ringing Schedule is set.
Operating hours and the Ringing Schedule are two different settings and are easy to mix up: Operating hours is when your business is open, the Ringing Schedule is only when your phones ring. Once your line is connected, set your Operating hours in your Business Profile, which keeps them in sync with your Receptionist. On Beside on the web and Android, the hours under Receptionist → Knowledge then show read-only, with an Edit in Business Profile button that takes you there.
Can my agent call my customers for me?
Can my agent call my customers for me?
No. Beside never dials a number on its own. When a call is the right move, your agent prepares it instead: it works out who is worth calling back, why, and what to say, and leaves it on your list for you to pick up the phone.
What it does reach customers with directly is text and email, and only where you have allowed it under Settings → Autonomy. Your Receptionist is the other half of this and is not the same thing: it answers the calls that come in, around the clock.
I have several Beside lines. Which one does my agent use?
I have several Beside lines. Which one does my agent use?
The one you connect in Settings → Phone Number, or the one you pick when your agent offers your lines in chat. A workspace works with a single line, so your agent reads and acts on that line only. You can disconnect and choose a different one, and your existing Beside history stays.
My Beside Phone app says my plan is managed somewhere else. Is something wrong?
My Beside Phone app says my plan is managed somewhere else. Is something wrong?
No, that's expected. Your Beside subscription covers your phone side too, so the Beside Phone app points you to agent.beside.com rather than offering a separate phone plan. On iPhone, your plan card says your phone plan is included in that subscription and shows no price. On Android, you'll see Your plan is managed in Agentic, with your plan card labelled Managed in Agentic. Either way, tap Open Agentic to change your plan, payment method or billing details. 📖 Understand your plan and credits
Can I add a seat or another line while I'm on a Beside plan?
Can I add a seat or another line while I'm on a Beside plan?
Not through the usual in-app flows. Your Beside subscription covers your phone side as one plan, with one line included and room to share it with your team, so the Add phone number and Manage seats options are not offered while you are on it. If you need a second line, ask us through the Support chat.
Does my AI call limit still apply on a Beside plan?
Does my AI call limit still apply on a Beside plan?
No. A Beside plan (Standard or Pro) includes unlimited Receptionist calls, so the 30-call allowance on Beside Baseline does not apply to you. 📖 Understand your AI call limit
Will I be paying for two Beside subscriptions?
Will I be paying for two Beside subscriptions?
It depends on who bills your phone plan. If Beside bills you directly, no: Beside converts the subscription you already have onto your Beside plan, keeping your billing date and crediting what you have already paid for the month.
If you pay for Beside Phone through the App Store or the Play Store, yes, until you cancel it. That subscription is not converted and Beside cannot cancel it for you, so cancel it before its next renewal. See Billing above.
How do I cancel a Beside Phone subscription bought in the App Store or Play Store?
How do I cancel a Beside Phone subscription bought in the App Store or Play Store?
Use the Cancel your App Store subscription card Beside shows you in the left menu: it opens your store's subscription settings directly. You can also do it from the store yourself, under your account's subscriptions. Only the person who bought it can cancel it, and cancelling takes effect at the end of the period you already paid for.
How do I get started with Beside?
How do I get started with Beside?
Go to beside.com, enter your business, and Beside runs a free audit of it in a few minutes. You can subscribe from there. 📖 Get your free business audit