Switch from Simple Voice Box to Phound

Simple Voice Box is going away, but you can recreate the same basic experience inside Phound, with improved functionality and room to grow. This guide walks you through the entire process from the very beginning, so you can have your replacement ready before the service shuts down. Even if you have never heard of Phound before, you will have a working setup ready in minutes.

Prefer to watch? This tutorial covers the entire migration from start to finish:

Our goal is focused: rebuild the part of Simple Voice Box that let people call your number, hear your message, and, depending on your setup, leave a voicemail. If you have already completed part of the process, jump directly to the step you need:

1. Download Phound
2. Create your account and first Persona
3. Understand the free Phound number vs. a dedicated number
4. Upgrade to a Premium subscription
5. Buy a number or bring your own, including transferring a Simple Voice Box private number
6. Confirm the number is assigned to your Persona
7. Set up your incoming calls
8. Test everything

What Is Phound?

Phound is an all-in-one communication platform for phone numbers, calls and messaging, voicemail and call routing, meetings, AI summaries, and a lot more. Instead of using one tool for voicemail, another for calling, and another for meetings, Phound brings those communications into one place, and it works on both desktop and mobile.

For this migration, though, we are keeping the goal simple: a number people can call to hear your message or leave a voicemail, just like your Simple Voice Box.

Step 1: Download Phound

Start by going to phound.app and selecting Download. From the download page you can:

• Scan the QR code with your phone to go straight to the mobile download.
• Search for Phound directly in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
• Download the desktop app for Mac or Windows.

This guide follows the desktop app because it gives you more room to see everything clearly, but you can manage the same account from your phone as well. For store listings and system requirements, see Download and Sign Up.

Step 2: Create Your Account and First Persona

Once Phound opens, create an account. Stay on Individual for this setup, then continue with Google, with Apple, or with your phone number. Any of those choices creates your Phound account, so pick whichever sign-in method is most convenient.

Next, Phound asks for your name and, if you would like, a profile photo. This also creates your first Persona.

A Persona is an identity inside Phound. It owns its own incoming call settings, voicemail, preferences, and any phone numbers you assign to it. If this line is for a business, an organization, or an announcement line, give the Persona a name that tells you exactly what it is for. You can change the name and photo at any time, and create as many Personas as you need later.

To learn more, see What Are Personas?

Step 3: The Free Phound Number vs. a Dedicated Number

After you enter your name, Phound asks how you want people to reach your Persona. You will see three paths:

Warning: If you had a Simple Voice Box Private Number Service, do not choose "link an existing number" here. That number needs to be transferred internally by Phound Support instead. See Transfer a Simple Voice Box private number below.

The Basic Phound plan gives your Persona a free Phound number that begins with the hashtag sign. Other Phound users can call that number directly from inside the Phound app, but someone calling from outside Phound has to dial a shared access number and then enter your Persona's access code when prompted. That is very similar to the original Simple Voice Box experience.

To find those calling details, go to Account, open Personas, choose the Persona, and select the small information icon beside the Assign Number button. That opens the How to Call This Persona window, which shows both the Phound number and the regular-phone access number and code.

Because the free option requires callers to dial a shared number and enter a separate code, most people find it more complicated than simply having a dedicated number. A dedicated number is the recommended option for most people: callers reach you directly, with nothing extra to dial.

The simplest path is the one this guide follows: choose Basic Phound now to finish creating your account with the free option, then upgrade through Subscriptions in the next step if you decide to purchase or port a number. Starting free does not lock you out of anything.

Step 4: Upgrade to a Premium Subscription

To get a dedicated number, go to Account, open Subscriptions, and choose the Premium plan. Phound shows the current monthly and yearly options inside the app, along with plans based on how many phone numbers you need. At the time of this writing, there are options for one, two, three, five, or ten included numbers.

Find the plan that works for you, complete the billing information, and then you are ready to choose your new phone number.

Warning: Phound numbers are not a replacement for emergency telephone service and cannot be used to call emergency services such as 911. Make sure you still have access to a regular emergency-capable phone service.

Step 5: Buy a Number or Bring Your Own

Once your subscription is active, return to Account, open Personas, choose the Persona you created, and select Assign Number. From here you can either choose a new Phound number or add a number you already have.

Buy a new Phound number

If you want a brand-new number, choose the option to purchase a number. You can search by area code for a local number, or browse the available toll-free options.

Pay attention to the capability badges beside each number. Those badges tell you whether that specific number supports voice calls, SMS text messaging, and MMS picture messaging. Local numbers often include all three, while toll-free numbers may be voice-only, so choose a number that supports the features you actually need. See Number Features and Capabilities for a full breakdown.

Once you select the number, Phound asks you to confirm the subscription and assigns that number to the Persona.

Link or port an existing number

If you already own a number somewhere else, choose Add Existing Number. You will see two different options, and they are not the same thing:

• Link a Number does not move the number into Phound. It simply uses that number as your identity inside the Phound app, so other Phound users can find and reach you by it. Calls and text messages coming from outside Phound still go through your current carrier, not through Phound.
• Port a Number moves the number completely from your current provider into Phound. After the port finishes, incoming and outgoing calls, along with supported messages, happen through Phound, and the old service for that number ends. Porting requires a Premium subscription.

For a Simple Voice Box replacement, porting is almost always what you want, since calls to the number should now be handled by Phound. Deciding between a brand-new number and porting the one you already own? See Get a New Number vs. Port. Ready to port? Follow the step-by-step guide in How to Port Your Number Into Phound and gather your details with What You Need Before Porting.

Transfer a Simple Voice Box private number

There is one special case for Simple Voice Box customers. If you had a Simple Voice Box Private Number Service, do not link that number and do not start a normal port request. Because the number is already managed within the same system, Phound Support needs to transfer it internally to your new Phound account.

To request the transfer, fill out the support form at phound.app/support, or email support@phound.app. Copy the message below, fill in your details, and paste it into the "Describe your issue" box on the form (or the body of your email):

Hi Phound Support,

I have a Simple Voice Box Private Number Service and would like to
transfer my number to my Phound account.

Simple Voice Box number: [your number]
Phound account email or phone: [what you used to sign up]
Assign the number to this Persona: [Persona name]

Please let me know if you need anything else to complete the transfer.

Just add your existing Simple Voice Box number, the email address or phone number you used to create your Phound account, and the name of the Persona where you want the number assigned. Send it to support, and they will let you know if anything else is needed.

Tip: Send the transfer request as soon as you have created your Phound account, so your number can be moved before Simple Voice Box service ends.

Step 6: Confirm the Number Is Assigned to Your Persona

Once your number has been purchased, ported, or transferred, make sure it is assigned to the correct Persona. Go to Account, open Personas, choose the Persona, and look under Manage Numbers. You should see the number listed with a check mark showing that it is assigned.

This step matters because the Persona controls what happens when someone calls that number.

Step 7: Set Up Your Incoming Calls

Now we are ready to build the actual Simple Voice Box replacement. Inside the Persona, open Incoming Calls. This is where you decide what the caller experiences, like choosing what happens when someone arrives at your front door.

Ring in Phound

Ring in Phound makes the call ring inside the Phound app, so you can answer from your desktop or mobile app like a normal phone line.

Message (announcement line)

If your Simple Voice Box was mainly used for people calling to hear information, choose Message. It plays information to the caller without asking them to leave a voicemail, the closest match for an announcement line. Use it for custom instructions, business hours, directions, or anything else people regularly call to hear.

You can type a custom message and have Phound read it, record the message yourself, or upload an existing audio file.

Tip: Keep the message clear and direct. Start by telling callers who they reached, give them the information they came for, and explain any next step they should take.

Voicemail (collect messages)

If your Simple Voice Box was used for collecting messages, choose Voicemail instead. When Voicemail is selected as the incoming call behavior, callers are sent directly to voicemail instead of ringing the Phound app.

To configure the greeting, go back to the Persona settings and open Voicemail. From there you can use the default greeting, type a custom greeting, record your own voice, or upload an audio file. A simple greeting could say:

"Thank you for calling. You have reached [Business Name]. Please leave your details and a brief description of how we can help, and we will get back to you as soon as possible."

Tip: If your Simple Voice Box played information and let callers leave a message, this is your path. Record or upload your announcement as the voicemail greeting, and callers will hear your information and then be able to leave a message.

For greetings, transcription, and inbox management, see Voicemail Setup and Management.

Beyond the basics

Phound also includes incoming call options that go beyond the original Simple Voice Box setup:

• One Number can give callers another way to reach you when Do Not Disturb is enabled.
• Dial Someone can redirect the call to another person, group, or regular phone number.
• Meeting can send callers directly into a meeting line, like a conference call. See Hosting Meetings.
• Custom Flows unlocks much more advanced options, including menus, conditions, routing, directories, messages, voicemail paths, and notifications. Start with What Are Phound Flows? and the ready-made Flow Templates Library.

Step 8: Test Everything

Before sharing the number publicly, test the complete setup. If the Persona has a dedicated phone number, call that number from a different phone. If you stayed on the free Basic plan, dial the shared access number from another phone and enter your Persona's access code.

Warning: Do not test by calling from the same Persona. Phound may recognize you as the owner and take you into voicemail admin instead of the normal caller experience. Call from another mobile phone, or create a second Persona, to hear what your callers will hear.

Run through this checklist:

• If you selected Message, listen to the entire message and make sure the volume, pronunciation, and instructions sound right.
• If you selected Voicemail, leave yourself a test message and confirm it appears inside Phound.
• Confirm the number rings, plays, or records exactly the way you expect.

Once your test call sounds right, your migration is complete.

Growing Beyond a Basic Voice Box

From this point on, managing your setup should be much easier than it was with Simple Voice Box. Your number, greeting, voicemail, and incoming call behavior all live in one place, so when something changes, you are not rebuilding the entire system.

You can switch between a message and voicemail, assign the number to a different Persona, or adjust how calls are handled as your needs grow. And this does not have to stay a basic voice box forever. You can start with the same simple experience your callers already know, then add more advanced features later, like call routing and menus with Phound Flows, meetings, and AI summaries, all without having to move to another platform again.

The goal is not just to replace a discontinued service. It is to give you a setup that is easier to manage today and ready to grow with you tomorrow. Welcome to Phound.