Trying to submit SMS application for toll free number, but the number is not showing

Hey Al, it sounds like you’ve got your toll-free number purchased but when you hit “Update Application” in the Regulatory Documents blade, the “Associated phone number(s)” dropdown is empty—so you can’t move past the Application Type page. Here are a few things to check and try:

1. Confirm the number is SMS-enabled
   • Go to your Azure Communication Services resource > Phone numbers
   • Verify your toll-free number has SMS capabilities. Only SMS-enabled numbers show up in the verification wizard.
2. Make sure you’re in the right resource, subscription & region
   • The verification form only lists numbers that belong to the Communication Services resource you’re currently viewing
   • On the Application Type page, double-check you selected the correct country/region for your number
3. Verify you have proper permissions
   • You need at least Contributor rights on the ACS resource to see and submit regulatory info
4. Portal UI timing (known limitation)
   • Because your application moved to “Update requested,” the portal now requires four new carrier-mandated fields (BusinessRegistrationNumber, BusinessEntityType, BusinessRegistrationType, BusinessRegistrationCountry). The portal team is still rolling out those fields—until then you may see an empty dropdown when updating older submissions.

What you can do next:

• If the number is correctly SMS-enabled, in the right resource, region, and you have Contributor permissions, it’s likely you’re hitting the UI gap where the update flow isn’t yet surfaced. The portal update is in progress, so the dropdown will repopulate once those carrier-fields are live.
• In the meantime you could cancel this application and start a fresh one (you’ll still need to wait for the new fields to appear).
• If you need to move faster or the problem persists after a few days, please open a support ticket so the team can escalate the portal-update timeline or provide a CLI workaround.

Follow-up questions if you’re still blocked:

1. Can you confirm your toll-free number shows “SMS enabled” in the Phone numbers blade?
2. Which country/region did you select in the Application Type page?
3. Are you viewing the Regulatory Documents blade under the same ACS resource where the number lives?
4. Can you share a screenshot of the empty dropdown on the Update Application wizard?

References

• Toll-free verification overview & timelines: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/communication-services/concepts/sms/sms-faq#toll-free-verification
• Apply for toll-free verification wizard (Application Type section): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/sms/apply-for-toll-free-verification

Hope that helps! Let me know if any of the above doesn’t match what you’re seeing.

Note: This content was drafted with the help of an AI system. Please verify the information before relying on it for decision-making.

Hi @Al Wilton
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Based on the behavior described, the toll-free number has already been purchased in Azure Communication Services, but the number is not being populated in the Associated phone number(s) dropdown when attempting to respond to the SMS application marked Update Requested. Normally, any eligible toll-free number assigned to the same Communication Services resource should appear automatically in that list. This issue is commonly caused by a temporary portal sync delay, browser cache/session issue, or a backend association problem between the purchased number and the pending SMS registration request. Please first retry the process using an InPrivate/Incognito browser session, confirm you are in the correct subscription and Communication Services resource, and verify the number status shows active under Phone Numbers.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/communication-services/quickstarts/telephony/get-phone-number?tabs=windows&pivots=platform-azp-new
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-portal/supportability/how-to-create-azure-support-request
Let me know if you have any further assistance needed.

Tagging @Al Wilton for visibility