Docs · Agents & Permissions

Onboarding a new agent into an agency that's already set up

In a captive agency almost nothing is the new agent's to configure — which is exactly why onboarding goes wrong. The invite is five fields, and four of them decide things that are painful to change later.

Who this is for

Admins. In a captive agency the admin does most of the new agent's setup FOR them — the agent is left with one step, and it isn't an obvious one.

Before you begin

• A work email address for them on the domain your agency actually uses. This is not administrivia — see 'The email address is a gate, not a formality' below.
• Their position in the org chart: who is their upline?
• Their compensation rung — and note these are per line of business, so someone can sit at a different level on health than on life.
• A decision on whether they send under the agency's SMS brand or register their own. In a captive agency the answer is the agency's, every time.

What the agent inherits, and what is left for them

This is the whole difference between a captive agency and every other shape, and it is worth being explicit about because it inverts the usual advice.

Inherited — already done, not theirs, and no screen for it will ever apply to them: the telecom account, the 10DLC brand registered under the agency's EIN, the campaign, the dialing numbers, the AI's configuration, the billing. A new agent should never be sent to a carrier or compliance screen. Those pages describe an account they do not hold.

Theirs, and only theirs: their calendar. That's it. It is one item, it is easy to skip because it looks small next to everything else, and it is the item that decides whether the AI can book for them.

The five invite fields, and what each one commits you to

Name and email identify them. The other four are decisions.

ROLE is a permission class — agent, manager, contracting, admin. It is not a rank and not a position in the org chart, even though it is often used as if it were all three.

RANK is compensation, and there are TWO of them: a life rank and a health rank, kept separately, because a producer's level on one line has nothing to do with their level on the other. The rungs are your agency's own — edit them on the comp ladder, not here.

UPLINE places them in the org chart. This is the axis overrides and downline production are computed on. It is deliberately NOT the axis that decides whose leads they can open: an upline does not get their downline's book by being their upline. That needs the separate downline-visibility switch on the member's row, and it is off by default for a reason.

SMS BRAND TYPE is the one people leave blank, and the one this article exists for. See the next section.

Set the SMS Brand Type at invite time, not later

Choosing 'Inner Circle (Shared Brand)' says this agent sends under the agency's already-registered brand and campaign. The consequence is immediate and large: they never touch A2P registration. The compliance page renders for them as 'SMS Phone Number Setup' with the brand and campaign steps gone, and they can claim a texting number straight away.

Leaving it blank is not neutral. It is a third state — 'not set' — and an agent in it gets neither path cleanly: they are not routed onto the agency's shared campaign, so the number they claim can end up matched against whatever registration the system can find instead of the one you intended. If they are on your brand, say so on the invite.

'Independent (Own Brand)' means the opposite: they register a 10DLC brand under their OWN legal entity and wait days for carrier approval before they can send anything. That is a real and supported shape, but it is not the captive one, and choosing it by accident costs the new agent their first week of texting.

The email address is a gate, not a formality

If your instance's Google app is configured as internal to your workspace, Google will refuse consent from any account outside that domain. A new agent on a personal address is not procrastinating about connecting their calendar — the door is locked, and only an admin holds the key.

So the mailbox comes first. Issue the domain address, invite them at that address, and the calendar step becomes possible. Do it in the other order and you get an agent who looks onboarded, has leads assigned, and cannot be booked for.

Worth auditing on an existing team, not just a new hire: anyone still on a personal address is in this state right now.

AI handling is a separate, deliberate switch

Whether the AI may work a rep's leads is a per-rep toggle on their member row, and it is off until someone turns it on. It only decides WHETHER — where the AI works a lead and what it is trying to accomplish belongs to the workflow's AI SMS step, and your agency's AI SMS switch has to be on as well.

Turning it on for a new agent before they have a calendar connected is the wrong order: the AI will work their leads and book blind.

Contracting, licensing and E&O are a different track

Adding someone to the CRM is not the same as making them able to sell. Appointment with carriers, a state licence, and E&O cover are prerequisites that live on the onboarding track in the Academy and on the contracting admin screen — not on the member row.

Be honest with a new agent about which of these your agency actually tracks in the system versus off to the side. A progress bar reading 0% because nobody has ever populated it looks identical to one reading 0% because the agent has done nothing, and the agent cannot tell the difference from where they sit.

How this differs by setup

Solo agent You run everything yourself.

Captive agency The agency owns the numbers, the A2P brand and the bill.

1. Issue their work mailbox on the agency domain FIRST.
2. Open Team, click Invite, and enter their name and that work address.
3. Set Role to the permission class they need — agent unless they manage people.
4. Set both ranks: life and health are separate ladders.
5. Set Upline so overrides and downline production compute correctly.
6. Set SMS Brand Type to 'Inner Circle (Shared Brand)'. Do not leave it as Not Set.
7. Send the invite, then tell them the only step that is theirs: connect their calendar.
8. Once they accept, have them claim a texting number — it's one click, with no registration.
9. Check their calendar shows connected before you route any leads to them.
10. Turn on AI handling only after the calendar is connected.

Independent agent You're in an agency but buy your own number and register your own EIN.

How to check it worked

• The member row shows the 'Inner Circle' pill — that is the shared-brand setting having actually saved.
• Signed in as them, the compliance page is titled 'SMS Phone Number Setup' and shows no brand or campaign steps. If it still shows the three-step registration, the brand type did not take.
• They have a texting number assigned, and it is not the same as a dialing number.
• Their calendar reads connected on the rep calendar status screen.
• Book one test appointment and confirm it lands on their real calendar.

Common mistakes

• Leaving SMS Brand Type as 'Not Set' and assuming it defaults to the agency's brand. It does not; it is its own third state.
• Inviting someone at a personal email address on an instance whose Google app is internal — the calendar step then cannot be completed by anyone.
• Setting one rank and leaving the other blank, so the agent's comp is right on one line of business and undefined on the other.
• Assuming an upline can see their downline's leads. That is a separate switch and it is off by default.
• Turning on AI handling before the calendar is connected, so the AI books into unknown availability from day one.
• Treating 'added to the CRM' as 'ready to sell' when contracting, licensing and E&O have not been confirmed.
• Sending a captive agent to the A2P or telecom pages 'to be thorough'. They describe an account that agent will never hold.

Troubleshooting

Related

Where this lives in the app

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