How to Share SMS Verification Codes with Your Team (Without Sharing Your Phone)

Last updated: December 12, 2025 · 8 min read

You're in a meeting when Slack lights up: "Hey, can you send me the Amazon code?" Ten minutes later, another ping: "Need the Stripe verification code ASAP." By lunch, you've become your team's human SMS relay—and you're not happy about it.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Teams everywhere struggle with the same problem: critical business accounts require SMS verification, but only one person's phone receives the codes. It's inefficient, creates bottlenecks, and frankly, it's a security risk.

There's a better way. In this guide, we'll show you exactly how to share SMS verification codes with your team—securely, automatically, and without ever sharing your personal phone number.

The Hidden Problem with SMS Verification in Teams

SMS verification was designed for individuals, not teams. When you set up two-factor authentication on your company's AWS account, Stripe dashboard, or social media profiles, you enter one phone number. That number belongs to one person. And suddenly, that person becomes a single point of failure for your entire organization.

The Real Cost of Manual Code Sharing

Let's break down what actually happens when teams share SMS codes manually:

Time waste compounds quickly. If your team requests codes 5 times per day, and each request takes 2 minutes to handle (checking the message, copying the code, sending it via Slack, confirming it worked), that's over 40 hours per year spent on something that should be automatic.

Security suffers. Manual code sharing opens the door to social engineering attacks. Picture this: someone messages your finance team on Slack—"Hey, it's urgent, I need the banking code right now"—and in the rush, a team member forwards the code without verifying who's actually asking. These "CEO fraud" style attacks cost companies millions every year. When everyone receives codes simultaneously through a dedicated channel, there's no one to trick into forwarding anything—the attack vector simply disappears.

Bottlenecks create emergencies. When the person with "the phone" is on vacation, sick, or simply in a different timezone, urgent account access becomes impossible. We've heard stories of teams locked out of critical systems because one person was on a flight.

Employee privacy erodes. Using personal phone numbers for work verification means employees receive business SMS on their personal devices—blurring the line between work and life, and creating awkward situations when someone leaves the company.

Three Ways Teams Currently Share SMS Codes (And Why They Fall Short)

Before we get to the solution, let's look at what teams typically try first:

1. The "Just Text Me" Approach

The most common method: one team member's phone receives all codes, and they manually forward them when needed.

Why it fails:

  • Creates dependency on one person
  • Delays can cost minutes (or hours) during critical moments
  • No audit trail of who requested what
  • Personal phone number exposed to business services

2. The Shared Phone in a Drawer

Some teams buy a cheap phone, add a SIM card, and leave it in the office for anyone to check.

Why it fails:

  • Requires physical presence in the office
  • Useless for remote teams
  • Phone batteries die, SIM cards expire
  • No notifications—you have to actively check it

3. Virtual Phone Numbers (VoIP)

Services like Google Voice or Skype numbers seem like a modern solution.

Why it fails:

  • Many services block VoIP numbers entirely
  • Banks and financial services almost always reject them
  • Crypto exchanges detect and refuse virtual numbers
  • No reliability guarantee for time-sensitive codes

The Solution: Dedicated SMS Forwarding for Teams

What if you could have a real phone number—with a real SIM card—that automatically forwards every SMS to your entire team? No manual forwarding. No physical phone to manage. No VoIP detection issues.

That's exactly what SMS forwarding services like SIMRelay provide.

How It Works

  1. You get a dedicated phone number backed by a real SIM card (not VoIP)
  2. You add team members who should receive SMS from this number
  3. Every SMS is instantly forwarded to all team members via Slack, email, webhook, or the SIMRelay dashboard
  4. Everyone gets the code simultaneously—no waiting, no asking, no bottlenecks

The key difference from VoIP solutions: because it's a real SIM card, services like banks, payment processors, and crypto exchanges accept it without issues. You get the convenience of a shared number with the reliability of traditional SMS.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Shared SMS for Your Team

Here's how to set up SMS forwarding for your team in under 5 minutes:

Step 1: Sign Up and Get Your Number

Create an account at SIMRelay.com. You'll receive a dedicated phone number backed by a real SIM card. Choose your country code based on where most of your services are registered.

Step 2: Connect Your Notification Channels

Decide how your team should receive forwarded SMS:

  • Slack integration: Codes appear in a dedicated channel instantly
  • Email forwarding: Each team member gets the SMS in their inbox
  • Webhook: Pipe SMS data directly into your internal tools
  • Dashboard: View all messages in a searchable web interface

Most teams use Slack as their primary channel because it's where they already communicate.

Step 3: Add Team Members

Invite the people who need access. You control permissions—some team members might only see certain types of messages, while admins see everything.

Step 4: Update Your Business Accounts

The final step: go through your critical accounts and update the phone number to your new SIMRelay number. Start with high-priority accounts:

  • Cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure)
  • Payment processors (Stripe, PayPal)
  • Banking and finance
  • Social media accounts
  • Domain registrars
  • Email providers

Each time you update a number, you'll receive the verification SMS in your team channel—confirming everything works.

Which Accounts Should Use Shared SMS Verification?

Not every account needs shared verification. Focus on accounts where:

Multiple people need access:

  • Company social media profiles
  • Shared SaaS subscriptions
  • Team password managers
  • Advertising accounts (Google Ads, Meta Business)

Access is business-critical:

  • Cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP)
  • Payment processing (Stripe, PayPal)
  • Banking and financial accounts
  • Domain and DNS management

Single points of failure are dangerous:

  • Any account where being locked out stops business operations
  • Accounts with significant financial exposure
  • Services with slow account recovery processes

Keep personal accounts on personal phones. Shared verification is for business resources that genuinely need team access.

Security Considerations: Is Sharing SMS Codes Safe?

A valid question. After all, SMS codes exist to verify identity—doesn't sharing them defeat the purpose?

Here's the nuanced answer:

Shared team accounts need shared verification. If three people legitimately need access to your company's AWS account, all three need the ability to receive verification codes. The alternative—one person holding all the keys—is actually less secure because it creates a single point of compromise.

Controlled sharing beats ad-hoc sharing. When teams forward codes via Slack messages or email, there's no access control and no audit trail. A dedicated system lets you control exactly who receives codes and logs every access.

Real SIM cards provide security VoIP can't. Because SIMRelay uses physical SIM cards, you get the security benefits of traditional SMS: carrier-level authentication, resistance to VoIP-detection blocks, and compatibility with services that require "real" phone numbers.

Additional authentication layers still apply. SMS verification is typically one factor in multi-factor authentication. Even with shared SMS, team members still need passwords and potentially other factors to access accounts.

Real-World Use Cases

DevOps Teams

A 12-person DevOps team manages AWS, GCP, and dozens of SaaS tools. Previously, the team lead's phone was the verification bottleneck. Now, codes flow to a #sms-codes Slack channel, and anyone on-call can respond to incidents without waiting for someone to wake up.

Finance Departments

An accounting team needs access to banking portals, payment processors, and expense management tools. Instead of sharing the CFO's personal number (a compliance nightmare), they use a dedicated business number that forwards to authorized finance team members.

Agencies Managing Client Accounts

A digital marketing agency manages social media for 30 clients. Each client's accounts use SMS verification. Instead of one unlucky employee receiving hundreds of verification texts, codes route to client-specific Slack channels where the responsible account manager sees only what they need.

Remote-First Startups

A fully remote team spanning 6 timezones needed 24/7 access to critical infrastructure. With forwarded SMS, whoever is "on" can access what they need without waking up a colleague on the other side of the world.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can banks and financial services detect shared numbers?

Unlike VoIP numbers, SIMRelay uses real SIM cards on actual mobile networks. Banks and financial services see a standard mobile number, not a virtual one. This means you won't face the blocks and rejections common with services like Google Voice.

What happens if SMS forwarding goes down?

SIMRelay stores all messages, so even if your Slack integration temporarily disconnects, no codes are lost. You can always access them via the web dashboard. Additionally, you can configure multiple delivery channels (Slack + email) for redundancy.

How quickly are messages forwarded?

Messages typically arrive within 1-3 seconds of being sent. For time-sensitive OTP codes (which usually expire in 30-60 seconds), this latency is negligible.

Can I use this for WhatsApp or Signal verification?

Yes. Any service that sends SMS verification codes works—including WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and other messaging apps. The forwarding happens at the SMS level, so the sending service doesn't know or care where the message ultimately goes.

Is this GDPR compliant?

SIMRelay processes SMS messages according to your instructions (forwarding to designated recipients). For GDPR purposes, you remain the data controller. SIMRelay provides data processing agreements for customers who need them.

Getting Started

Manual SMS code sharing is a solved problem. You don't need to be your team's human relay anymore.

Here's what to do next:

  1. Start a free trial at SIMRelay.com
  2. Set up Slack integration in under 2 minutes
  3. Update your most critical account with your new number
  4. Experience the relief of never hearing "Can you send me the code?" again

Your team's productivity—and your sanity—will thank you.

Ready to stop being your team's SMS relay? Start your free trial →