Set up telephony
Set up telephony via Leadmode with your own number or your own Twilio account, understand costs and included credit, and check the connection.
You set up telephony under Settings → Phone and SMS → Telephony. The page is called Our numbers. For this you need the permission Set up telephony (level Manage, see Roles and permissions). Anyone who does not have it sees the areas Live listening and Call logs locked.
How telephony works in Leadmode
Leadmode calls in the browser; no desk phone is needed. There are two ways to connect:
| Telephony via Leadmode | Your own Twilio account | |
|---|---|---|
| In the assistant | Quickly link your own number | Choose provider and account |
| Account with the provider | Not needed. Leadmode provides the phone connection. | Your own Twilio account with a payment method and balance. |
| Number | Your existing German mobile or landline number, confirmed as caller ID. | Numbers from your Twilio account or numbers of your own that you confirm there as caller ID. |
| Incoming calls | Not possible. | Possible with a Twilio number. |
| Costs | By usage via Leadmode, with included credit in Boost and Professional. | Directly at Twilio, without a surcharge from Leadmode. |
You cannot book new phone numbers via Leadmode. For a number of your own that also receives calls, you need a Twilio account.
Emergency calls (110, 112) are not possible via Leadmode, on either path. Dial them with your mobile phone.
Add a number
Add number starts the assistant. If no number exists yet, it starts straight away. The first page asks How do you want to make calls? and offers two tiles:
- Quickly link your own number: telephony via Leadmode (see below).
- Choose provider and account: your own Twilio account (see Connect your own Twilio account).
If telephony via Leadmode is not available for your organisation, this choice is skipped and the assistant starts directly with your own Twilio account.
If telephony via Leadmode is not available for your organisation and no number is set up yet, a note at the top of the page says that telephony needs a Twilio account with an active payment method. If the path via Leadmode exists, this note does not appear.
Telephony via Leadmode
Here you link your own mobile or landline number. It appears as the caller ID on outgoing calls. You do not need an account of your own with the provider.
In the assistant, choose Quickly link your own number. The page is called Enter number.
If company details of your organisation are missing, the assistant asks for them first: Company details are still missing for telephony via Leadmode. Add them here to continue. Without complete company details, no number can be linked via Leadmode.
Enter your number with the country code, for example +49 170 …. Via Leadmode, only German phone numbers are possible as caller ID. Leadmode rejects 110 and 112, as well as a withheld caller ID.
Switch on I am the holder of this number or authorized to use it as the caller ID. Leadmode records this confirmation with the time and the person.
Click Start call. Leadmode calls the number and shows a code. Answer the call and enter the code using the phone keys. With Different number you cancel and enter a different number.
Click I have entered the code. Leadmode checks the confirmation and sets up the number. Afterwards it shows Set up and Your number is linked. You can start calling now. Continue takes you to the list.
In the list, the number carries the label Via Leadmode and is not assigned to anyone at first. Assign it to the employees who should call with it (see Assign numbers). You can give it a name later in the detail view.
The button Prices and terms at the top of the page shows the current prices and refers to the general terms and conditions.
With a confirmed number of your own, only outgoing calls work. Incoming calls to this number do not arrive in Leadmode and cannot be logged automatically. You would have to document incoming conversations by hand. Recording, conference and listening in work as usual.
Costs and billing via Leadmode
This section only applies to telephony via Leadmode. With your own Twilio account you pay Twilio directly.
- By usage: Leadmode charges the phone costs by usage, plus a service surcharge. Besides the conversation minutes, this includes the connection in the browser, recordings and fees. If a monthly flat fee per number has been agreed, the Prices and terms window states it; it appears on the monthly invoice.
- Weekly: Billing is per calendar week (Monday to Sunday) on a fixed weekday that Prices and terms states. The amount is collected as a Telephony week invoice via the payment method of your subscription.
- Small amounts: If the amount for a week is below the minimum amount, it goes on the next monthly invoice instead of a separate weekly invoice.
- Late postings: Usage data can arrive up to three days late. If the amount of a week that has already been billed changes afterwards, the difference appears as a subsequent posting on the next invoice.
All amounts are net. The individual prices are in Annex A of the general terms and conditions.
Included credit in your plan
Boost and Professional include a credit for telephony via Leadmode:
| Plan | Credit per seat and month |
|---|---|
| Spark | none |
| Boost | €10 |
| Professional | €20 |
- The credit of all seats forms one shared amount for the organisation for the calendar month. If a seat changes plan during the month, each plan counts pro rata by days. Only the booked plan counts, not the trial.
- Leadmode deducts the credit automatically when billing a week, from the amount including the service surcharge. On the invoice it appears as a separate line with a negative amount. The current week is not counted yet.
- Credit not used in the month expires at the end of the month.
- The credit applies from November 2026 and only to numbers via Leadmode, not to your own Twilio account.
View billing
Admins see the billing under Settings → Plan and costs → Payments and invoices in the Telephony tab. The tab appears as soon as your organisation uses telephony via Leadmode.
| Area | Content |
|---|---|
| Upcoming charge | The next billing day and whether a weekly invoice will be collected then or the amount goes on the monthly invoice. |
| Telephony included in your plan | How much of the month's credit is still available. |
| Numbers via Leadmode | The numbers that were active in the month. Use the arrows to change the month. |
| Weeks | Per week the minutes, costs and status (running, provisional, captured, not yet invoiced or the invoice). Below that Month total, Included credit and To be charged. |
Call limits
For telephony via Leadmode, Leadmode can set limits per day and month. Once one is reached, no more calls start. The message is The daily call limit has been reached. You can call again tomorrow. or The monthly call limit has been reached. Please contact support. Usage arrives with a delay, so the limit does not apply to the exact cent.
Connect your own Twilio account
On this path, all calls run through your own Twilio account and are billed there. It does not work without a Twilio account with an active payment method.
The note at the top of the page (only without telephony via Leadmode, see above) has a button Guide. It opens a sequence of steps for Twilio:
- Create an account at Twilio, confirm your email address and phone number.
- Switch to a paid account, add a payment method and top up the balance.
- In the Twilio Console under Voice → Settings → Geo permissions, enable the destination country, for example Germany.
- On the Console home page under Account Info, copy the Account SID and the Auth Token.
- Optionally buy a Twilio number (Phone Numbers → Manage → Buy a number). German numbers require businesses to provide proof, which Twilio reviews.
The button Sign up with Twilio opens the sign-up.
A mobile or landline number of your own that you only confirm at Twilio as a caller ID is good only for outgoing calls. Incoming calls do not reach Twilio there. For incoming calls you need a Twilio number.
In the assistant, choose Choose provider and account. Then the steps Name, Account, Numbers and Done follow.
Name: Optionally enter a name, for example ‘Sales Berlin’. The name later appears in the selection before the call and in the assignment. If a Twilio account is already connected, you can also choose here Connect a new Twilio account or Reuse credentials from …. With reuse you do not have to enter anything new, and the assistant jumps to Load numbers.
Account: Enter the Account SID and Auth Token. The Account SID starts with AC and has 34 characters. Leadmode detects the region of your account (Ireland, USA or Australia) automatically. The values are stored encrypted. Click Load numbers.
Numbers: Leadmode lists the numbers of your Twilio account (the first 100 at most) and shows the detected region. For each number, it shows whether it is a Twilio number or a number of your own confirmed as caller ID, and whether incoming calls are possible or the number works Outgoing only. Choose one or several numbers. Numbers that are already set up are locked. Then click Set up number (for several: ‘Set up n numbers’).
Done: The assistant shows, per number, what was set up at Twilio. With Go to number or Go to overview you continue.
When setting up, Leadmode creates an API Key and a TwiML App at Twilio itself and enters the addresses for calls and status. It deletes nothing there and does not start a call.
Confirm your own number
If your number is not in the list, choose Verify your own number. Enter the number with the country code (for example +49 …) and click Start verification. Twilio calls the number. Answer the call and enter the displayed code using the phone keys. Then click I have entered the code. Once the number is confirmed, it is selected automatically. Recording, conference and listening in work as with a Twilio number, incoming calls do not (see the note above).
Twilio only offers a number of your own as caller ID in the USA region (US1). If your account is in another region, Leadmode points this out, because calls with the confirmed number fail there.
View and change a number that is set up
In the Numbers list, each number shows the provider, the name, the caller ID number, the assignment and the status Set up or Incomplete. Numbers via Leadmode also carry Via Leadmode. A click opens the detail view with three steps:
| Step | Content |
|---|---|
| Twilio account (own account) | Region, Account SID and Auth Token. Change credentials opens the form, Save and set up applies the change. With a different account or region you enter the Auth Token again. |
| Phone connection (via Leadmode) | Only shows that Leadmode provides the connection. There are no credentials here. |
| Caller ID number | The number from which calls are made. For an unconfirmed number, the step offers Verify your own number. |
| Connection to the CRM | Shows whether the TwiML App and addresses are correct. Set up or Link again sets them up anew. |
For a number via Leadmode, the number itself stays fixed. You link a different number via Add number.
At the top you can change the Number name and save with Save. Check again reads the state anew. Remove number takes the number out of Leadmode (see below). How you assign the number to employees is described under Assign numbers.
Test the connection
For a number that is set up, the action column has Test connection. The test uses read-only requests to check the API Key, the Auth Token, the TwiML App and the caller ID number. It saves nothing and does not start a call. Each check shows Successful, Error or Open. The green label Set up only means that the credentials are saved completely, not that the connection has been checked.
You can save incomplete details as an interim state. The number is then called Incomplete, and below the form it says what is still missing.
Balance
The balance only applies to numbers with your own Twilio account. As soon as such a number is set up, the list shows the Twilio balance (Balance …). Numbers of the same account share it. Below 5 units it says top up soon, at zero please top up. Below that, a note recommends switching on automatic recharge at Twilio. Open Twilio billing leads there, Refresh balance reads the state anew. If the account is empty, a call reports that the Twilio account is inactive, usually because the balance is used up.
Numbers via Leadmode have no balance to top up. Their costs are shown in the billing via Leadmode.
Remove a number
Remove number (in the detail view) asks for confirmation. Afterwards the number is removed from the organisation, the assignments lapse and nobody can call with it. Previous conversations and recordings are kept. Your own Twilio account remains. If other numbers use the same TwiML App, the dialog points this out. For a number via Leadmode, usage is billed until it is removed.